New York Knicks @ Boston Celtics

Total: 217.5

BOS -12.5

 

These two teams squared off on November 21st this year and the Knicks actually won that game eight 117-109. That was only two weeks ago, but the Celtics are playing much better right now winning three straight and four of their last five. 

Knicks

The Knicks will be without Trey Burke who became one of their most reliable scorers but now Emmanual Mudiay has played 36 minutes in back-to-back games while scoring 29 and 44 fantasy points. With Courtney Lee back, he impacts Alonzo Trier and the minutes he could potentially play. Trier is only in play if this becomes a blowout. The only guards I'm interested in are Mudiay and Tim Hardaway Jr. but THJ will likely see a lot of Marcus Smart defense, so you can do it in tournaments, but it's not necessary. I do love his team-high 28-percent usage rate, however.

Moving over to the forwards, Noah Vonleh is quite interesting. Anytime he seemingly stays out of foul trouble he has a solid floor/ceiling combination. Vonleh has actually a huge reason as to why the Knicks pulled out the victory against Boston the last time they faced one another going for a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double. Kevin Knox has now played 23 minutes or more in three straight games and has gone over 20 DK points in three straight as well. Not totally against the idea of Mario Hezonja either. He continues to start and if it becomes a blowout there is no reason he shouldn't be on the floor. If Enes Kanter ever gets consistent minutes.....I'm not sure how many times I'm going to say that this year.

Celtics

The Celtics are scary on this slate because the monster spread. If this game stays close, Kyrie Irving will pop off like he did the last time these two teams met as he went for 50-plus DK points. With Jaylen Brown back, I'm not touching Brown or Marcus Smart . Gordon Hayward continues to come off of the bench and take all of the second unit shots and he's going to play nearly 30 minutes regardless.

I prefer Marcus Morris to Jayson Tatum simply based on price and plus Morris' upside isn't that far off from Tatum's. I'm interested to see if Morris remains in the starting lineup even with Brown returning today. I'd prefer if Morris was starting. Al Horford draws a very nice matchup against Enes Kanter who has a 112 DRtg.

If you speculate that this becomes a blowout, guys like Terry Rozier , Aron Baynes and Daniel Theis are all in play as well.

 

Phoenix Suns @ Portland Trailblazers

Total: 215.5

POR -2

Suns

Without Devin Booker and T.J. Warren, the Suns have no shot at beating really anyone. Elie Okobo started their last game, but De'Anthony Melton was the one who started the second half at point-guard and he's the one who scored 21 actual and 34 DraftKings points. I still think Okobo is in play because everyone is going to play Melton, he's just a secondary option. Mikal Bridges should draw another start at SG here and is a decent play he's just been struggling from the floor shooting 29-percent over his last five games.

The Suns will run their guys into the ground because if they don't they'll constantly be embarresed by their opponents, so Trevor Ariza should be fine here once again. Portland actually ranks dead last at defending the small-forward position. Something notworthy. Josh Jackson is going to be very chalky again, but he has tremendous upside despite his showing last time out. Jon's BOY Richuan Holmes i likely going to be chalky as well. This could become a blowout very fast and if it does, Holmes will be one of the slates better values, at least on DK. Deandre Ayton is the Suns most talented offensive player with Booker and Warren out and he just plays 25-plus minutes every game. He's solid too.

Trailblazers

The Blazers will be without C.J. McCollum today which means either Nik Stauskas , Seth Curry or Evan Turner will likely draw the start. Whichever one of them starts will likely be the chalkiest but I think all are in play. If and when this becomes a blowout, Curry and Stauskas will get run anyways. Oh yeah, Damian Lillard . He's a guy. He's a play. He's scored 31 or more actual points in three of his last four games and has eclipsed 57 DK points in three of his last four.

I really despise using Mo Harkless in DFS because he NEVER takes shots and I'd rather take a shot on Evan Turner , but with Turner likely seeing minutes at backup shooting-guard as well, there is a path for Harkless to see big minutes on this slate and let the slate dictate who we play, as the saying goes.

With McCollum out, it's hard for to envision a lot of the offense not running through Jusuf Nurkic . Nurkic is going to be a primary offensive option from start to finish and he's definitely someone we should build our lineups around when you consider the Suns and their 30th rank defense against centers according to DvP. Al-Farouq Aminu is fine on this slate although I prefer him in pace up spots and this is not what that is. I'd actually consider Meyers Leonard as well and I can't believe I just typed that. Before the Blazers last contest against the Mavericks Leonard had played 13 or more minutes in seven straight games. When the rout comes, Leonard will be getting burn.

 

Houston Rockets @ Utah Jazz

Total: 216

UTA - 2

Rockets

With Utah's defense finally coming back around ranking 11th in defensive efficiency, this isn't my favorite  matchup for the Rockets. I honestly have interest in just four guys. Chris Paul should have a bigtime bounceback game here and hopefully we'll get him at depressed ownership after his five actual point performance in his last game. James Harden is next as he has more upside than anybody on this slate, the issue is Utah ranks first at defending the shooting-guard position.

The two others I'm interested in is Clint Capela and P.J. Tucker. With the Jazz electing to use a lot of small ball lineups and running Jae Crowder at power-forward, the Rockets will counter that with P.J. Tucker who has a chance to push for 40 minutes here like he did the first time they squared off when he played 38 minutes. Clint Capela has an interesting matchup because generally we don't want to attack last year's defensive player of the year, but on paper the Jazz rank 24th in DvP versus the center position. He could be unowned and we could get him at a lower ownership.

Jazz

Starting at guard, Ricky Rubio is slightly too expensive on a regular slate, but seeing how it's a three-gamer and hes gone for 29-plus fantasy points in seven of his last 10 games, He struggled against Houston the last time around, but the Rockets rank 23rd in DEFF and he should be much better this time around. Donovan Mitchell is a wild card, but the fact he might draw defense from the likes of James Harden and Eric Gordon have me salivating at the mouth.

I have more interest in the forwards and centers for the Jazz. Rudy Gobert 's consistentcy has been refreshing and his ability score the basketball has been an added bonus going up over 18 actual points in three of his last four games. I don't love Derrick Favors because P.J. Tucker will extend him out to the three-point line far too often for Favors and his bad knees to deal with, so we should see a ton of Jae Crowder here. Crowder's last game should depress his ownership and could help us seperate from the field. Joe Ingles is a strong play too, but how about getting a little crazy with Royce O'Neale ? O'Neale is carving out a nice role off of the bench as he's played 15-plus minutes in seven straight games.

Example Lineups will be posted approximately one hour before lineup lock which is 7PM EST tonight.