We have five games on tonight's NBA DFS main slate with some big names ruled out and more big names having their statuses unknown at the time of writing today's playbook. With just five games on this slate we also have two games with double-digit spreads and three games with totals over 235. Let's get into tonight's action!

NBA DFS Tools to dominate tonight's NBA DFS slate!

Make sure to check out today's NBA DFS projections and NBA DFS ownership projections before finalizing your lineups today. We also have the NBA Consistency Report to help identify players that have exceeded value based off their current price tag this season and of course our NBA DFS Lineup Generator!

 

Check out today's NBA DFS Playbook Preview Show

Notable NBA Injury Updates

Out

Questionable

Teams on Back-to-Backs

Second Leg

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First Leg

Pace Up Spots

Pace definition: Pace is the total number of possessions a team uses in a game.

*key* Green is elite pace of play, Blue is decent pace of play, & Red is slow pace of play.

Green = Fast Paced team

Blue = Neutral Paced team

Red = Slow Paced team

Notable NBA Game Totals

Top Tier Core Plays

Anthony Davis, PF/C Los Angeles Lakers

Whether or not LeBron James plays tonight really will have little impact when it comes to my feels on Anthony Davis. I already think he may be the top player overall on the late in this matchup against the Toronto Raptors and if James ends up not playing then even better. The Raptors front court matchups for Davis tonight will be a combination of Chris Boucher, Jontay Porter or a small ball lineup that may feature Pascal Siakam at the center spot. All of these matchups are elite spots for Davis to assert his domination here this evening.

Julius Randle, PF New York Knicks

While its difficult to ignore what we've seen from Banchero over the last few games, I'm going to run to Randle here tonight against the Blazers in what is a better matchup for a little bit cheaper of a price tag. Randle has been every bit as good as Banchero of late and since the trade to acquire OG Anunoby he has a team high 32% usage rate while averaging 1.28 FP/Min. Prior to the trade Randle had a 28% usage rate.

Desmond Bane, SG Memphis Grizzlies

Ja Morant is out for the season which means we go back to Bane being an absolute usage monster. With Morant off the floor this year Bane has a 30% usage rate compare to a 25% usage rate when Morant is on the floor. We also see his fantasy points per minute go from 1.11 to 1.23 when Morant is off the floor. We should get 20+ shot attempts from Bane here this evening.

Mid-Tier Core Plays

Anfernee Simons, PG/SG Portland Trail Blazers

Minutes cap removed and we get 45 minutes from Simons in an overtime game where he goes and scores 38 points. If there is no minutes limit here then we should expect to see Simons back to playing 35+ minutes a night where he has an elite scoring ceiling, especially at his price tag.

Isaiah Hartenstein, C New York Knicks

Games of19 and 20 rebounds in two of the last three but what we discussed on the show this morning was the extra stats we are now getting from Hartenstein which is really showing his ceiling. This is a great matchup against the Blazers for the Knicks tonight and we love the minutes we are getting right now from the Knicks starters.

Marcus Smart, PG/SG Memphis Grizzlies

We've seen Smart take 19 and 20 shots over the past two games and now there is no Ja Morant. I preached earlier this year that Smart is going to be an aggressive shot taker now that he is out of Boston and the Grizzlies will need all the scoring they can get now that Morant is out. IF Jaren Jackson Jr. is active tonight he too is an elite mid-tier play at his price tag.

Bojan Bogdanovic, SF Detroit Pistons

While many are going to Jaden Ivey here we looked at the numbers and Bojan gets the nice bump when Cade Cunningham is off the floor. There is a good shot that Bogdanovic could lead the Pistons in both shot attempts and scoring here tonight in this matchup against the Kings.

Value Tier Core Plays

Shaedon Sharpe, SG/SF Portland Trail Blazers

He played 40 minutes and we love to see that. Sharpe and Simons should be among the leaders in shot attempts for the Blazers now that their minutes cap is removed and he is too cheap at his current price tag if he is going to be playing all these minutes.

Alec Burks, PG/SG Detroit Pistons

Burks will continue to play 20-to-25 minutes off the bench and while the price is up a bit here he still posses strong scoring upside. There is also a good chance that he sees a minutes boost here with Cade Cunningham out with the Pistons needing to make up for the lack of scoring upside.

Chris Boucher, PF/C Toronto Raptors

Ok, so, if you saw the show this morning or you've been in the discord today then you know that I recommend this play with extreme caution. Listen, we've all loved the prospects of Chris Boucher for a while now. He has popped when given the opportunity to play minutes over the years but he rarely stays in the rotation and he can be foul happy. Tonight he has to defend Anthony Davis and that could go bad quick. He is a popular value play tonight and should see a ceiling when it comes to minutes if he can stay out of foul trouble and he is one of the few guys in this price range that has actual 10x upside.

Vince Williams, SG/SF Memphis Grizzlies

He played big minutes off the bench and that should continue to be his role, especially given how down bad the Grizzlies are tonight with Ja Morant out, Santi Aldama doubtful and Jaren Jackson Jr. listed as questionable. Williams has shown a nice ceiling at times this year and if he can be aggressive on the offensive end he will pay off the price tag.

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Player Pool

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