Philadelphia 76ers @ Boston Celtics -5; Total - 210.5

The 76ers and Celtics kick off the 2018 NBA season in what could very well be an early look at the Eastern Conference Finals in May.  The Celtics last season eliminated the 76ers in the second round of the playoffs, winning the series 4-1.  Missing from that series for the Celtics were Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward who will both be on the court tonight for Boston.  Hayward was one of the prized off-season acquisitions by Boston last season but tragically his season lasted just five minutes as he suffered a broken ankle on opening night.  Irving battled a nagging knee injury which ultimately required surgery to remove an infection and cost him the end of the regular season and all of the playoffs.  With those injuries the Celtics saw their young core of Jaylen Brown , Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier lead the team into the Eastern Conference Finals.  With the entire group healthy heading into tonight's game the question becomes who can we trust to put up the fantasy points?  Now we already know that Gordon Hayward is going to be limited to around 25 minutes a night so he is likely the odd-man out when it comes to rostering him on this slate.  Hayward's limited minutes should give a bump in value to Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum who can both play the small forward position when the Celtics bring in the likes of a Marcus Smart , Terry Rozier and Marcus Morris off the bench.  If I had to rank the Celtics players in terms of reliability I am going with Kyrie Irving , Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown tonight against the 76ers.  Marcus Smart is somewhat intriguing just because of his ability to rack up defensive stats which you get an extra point for over on FanDuel.  Also in the FD GPP 1 lineup I am using Semi Ojeley but only as a punt play with FanDuel now dropping your lowest scoring player.  On the 76ers side of things the team is going to be starting Markelle Fultz along side Ben Simmons in the backcourt with JJ Redick coming off the bench.  Fultz was the No.1 overall pick in last year's draft but was an utter disaster due to injury and shooting woes.  Now healthy he looks to make his mark on the league.  Right now Fultz is a real solid price but it remains to be seen just how much he will contribute given the usage monsters that Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are.  Embiid could be the highest owned player on this slate given how shallow the center position is and the fact that he has the upside to be the highest scoring player on any given slate. Dario Saric is somebody I have in the majority of my lineups tonight given his ability to play multiple positions and the news that Mike Muscala has been ruled out for tonight's game.  An interesting value play here for the 76ers is backup point guard TJ McConnell who seems to have the Celtics number and is expected to see a bump in playing time tonight with Muscala being ruled out as it appears Philadelphia will utilize the versatility of Ben Simmons and play him in the front court as well with McConnell running point.  This game has a nice 210.5 game total and is expected to be close.  Of the two games on tonight's slate I think you can make the best cash games lineup of the players in this group as the late game has the potential to be a serious blowout.

Oklahoma City Thunder @ Golden State Warriors - 13.5; Total - 220.5

So this game if all parties were healthy would easily be the best game to stack on tonight's DFS slate.  Unfortuantely, Russell Westbrook has already been ruled out of tonight's contest and Steven Adams is currently a game-time-decision with a back injury.  The lack of Westbrook really makes the blowout potential in this one a very high possibility and therefore makes all the top tier players a bit more risky as they might actually find their minutes a bit limited even on opening night.  We will start with the Thunder because the injuries to Westbrook and Adams open up some real nice value plays.  First, with no RWB you almost have to play Dennis Schroder and Paul George .  Both of these players are going to carry the majority of the Thunder's offensive attack with Schroder being an incredible price on all formats.  The potential for Adams to miss tonight's game would lead to Nerlens Noel getting the start at center.  Noel is just above min-price on DK and $4,000 on FanDuel where I actually like him more given the boost to blocks and steals.  The injuries also put the likes of Raymond Felton and Jeremi Grant more in play.  Felton will likely see time at both guard positions tonight off the bench for the Thunder and is again near min-price on both formats.  Grant is going to come off the bench to replace Patrick Patterson who could only end up playing 15-to-20 minutes anyhow given his limitations outside of shooting the three-point shot.  With the small slate, anybody who is going to play around 20-to-25 minutes has value and both of them should see that plateau. A few more dart throws for OKC consist of Terrance Ferguson who is expected to start at shooting guard and Hamidou Diallo who had a strong preseason and could also spell minutes at shooting guard and small forward.  For the Warriors I think Steph Curry is the top play.  Dennis Schroder is one of the worst defenders in the NBA at the point guard position so I see almost no way he is capable of stopping Steph Curry in front of his home crowd on opening night.  If spending up at point guard is not your thing then Kevin Durant will be your guy.  Durant has as much upside as anybody in the NBA when it comes to DFS scoring and though Paul George is a strong defender there are few in the league that can really disrupt Durant from doing what he wants to do with the basketball in his hands.  On FanDuel I have some interest in Draymond Green because again of the boost to steals and blocks which is something he can very easily rack up in this contest.