***EXAMPLE LINEUPS ((1) DK GPP, (1) FD GPP) WILL BE POSTED AT LEAST 30 MINUTES BEFORE TIP***
GAME 1
LA Clippers @ DAL Mavericks (LAC -2.5, Total: 227)
Both teams head into tonight’s game on a 5-0 winning streak, so who is the one to lose? Both teams have been very good as of late, obviously, and this game should be extremely good to watch. We have stars on both sides of the ball, and the total seems to show that this game might have some decent flow. The Mavs are fresh off a win over an in-state conference foe in the Houston Rockets, while the Clippers laid the Pelicans to waste in their most recent tilt in New Orleans. The Mavericks can put all their energy into tonight’s contest, as they will have a nice little two-day rest for the Turkey break before heading to Phoenix to take on the Suns on Friday night. Not the same case for the Clippers, as after they finish tonight’s game in Dallas, they are then headed off to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies in the second leg of a back-to-back set on Wednesday night.
A little data to look over for tonight’s game. The Clippers come in ranked as the 12th fastest team in the NBA at the current moment, while the Mavs rank right inside the top 20 at 19th for the season. So, this game shows to be a decently paced spot here for the Mavs, as the Clippers have shown they want to run a bit faster, interestingly, the Mavs have shown this a bit lately as well. Clippers coming in as the 8th fastest team over their last five games, while the Mavs come in as the 11th fastest. A little bit of a usage report, over the last five games for the Clipps: Kawhi 31.6%, PG 30.0%, Lou Williams 27.6%, Montrezl Harrell 25.0%, and Zubac 17.7%. For the Mavs: Luka 39.5%!!, KP 22.4%, Hardaway Jr. 20.7%, Jalen Brunson 19.0%, and Delon Wright 17.5% to round out the top five for each squad over their last five contests. Only one DvP spot in this game, as the CLIP have allowed the 4th most fantasy points to opposing PGs over their last five games.
DAL TOP TIER: Luka Doncic
DAL MID TIER: Kristaps Porzingis , Tim Hardaway Jr.,
DAL PUNT: Dwight Powell , Dorian Finney-Smith , Boban Marjanovic , JJ Barea
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LAC TOP TIER: Kawhi Leonard ,
LAC MID TIER: Paul George , Lou Williams , Montrezl Harrell
LAC PUNT: Pat Beverly, JaMychal Green , Ivica Zubac
GAME 2
WAS Wizards @ DEN Nuggets (DEN -9.5, Total: 225)
We get a matchup here with one of the fastest teams in the league (Wiz), with one of the slowest teams in the league (Nuggets). The Nuggets have been white hot, winning 9 of their last 10 contests, while the Wiz have also picked up wins in their last three of five games. Wizards were dealt a loss in their last time out to the Sacramento Kings, while the Nuggets won their 5th straight game over the Suns. The Nuggets will be the main beneficiary of rest once tonight’s game is concluded, as they will have a Turkey day break of three days before hosting Western conference foe Sacramento Kings, while the Wizards will look to play a back-to-back set against the Suns in Phoenix on Wednesday.
To scour the data a bit here, as mentioned above, the Wizards come in as one of the fastest teams in the league, as they have ranked 2nd fastest in terms of PACE of their last five, while ranking 5th on the season. The Nuggets are literally the opposite, as they rank dead least in terms of PACE on the season, however, have saw a jump over their last five games to the 20th ranked spot. A little usage breakdown over both team’s last five games (top 5 usage players), for the Nuggets: Jamal Murray 26.3%, Malik Beasley 23.3%, Mason Plumlee 22.9%, Jokic 22.4%, and Paul Milsap 22.2%. For the Wiz: Beal 29.8%, Mortiz Wagner 21.8%, Rui Hachimura 19.3%, Isaiah Thomas 18.9%, and Jordan McRae 18.4%. It is very important to note that the Nuggets have blown the doors off a couple times in their last 5 games, so these numbers are a bit skewed for some bench players. Nonetheless, most are guys that see time off the bench typically anyways, so don’t read too far out of context. We do have a few DvP spots here for mainly WAS, as we know they have been known to give up some nice fantasy point games this season, as they aren’t near as defensively sound, as they are offensively. WAS is allowing the 9th most fantasy points to the SG spot over their last 5, while also allowing the 5th most to the SF over those same five. On the season, they are also allowing the 9th most to the PG spot, the 7th most to the SG spot, as well as the 8th most to the SF spot. Nothing for DEN, as they are typically a really good overall defensive team.
DEN TOP TIER: Jamal Murray , Nikola Jokic
DEN MID TIER: Will Barton
DEN PUNT: Mason Plumlee
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WAS TOP TIER: Bradley Beal
WAS MID TIER: Mortiz Wagner, Thomas Bryant , Davis Bertans
WAS PUNT: Isaiah Thomas , Ish Smith , Jordan McRae