Our first late-night ESPN game of the NBA season sees Phoenix visit LA as the Clippers christen their sparkling new, state-of-the-art stadium.

Both teams are at a bit of a crossroad, to say the least. Paul George signed with Philadelphia this offseason and the Clippers no longer look like serious contenders in the Western Conference. But hey, the Intuit Dome looks incredible. So there's that?

The Suns have issues of their own, but of the salary cap variety. They have the 2nd-highest salary cap in the NBA, an aging roster, and exactly zero 1st-round draft picks until 2031. That is not a typo. Twenty-thirty-one.

Let's look at the game from a daily fantasy perspective and give you a winning playbook for your NBA DFS Showdown games on FanDuel and DraftKings.

NBA DFS Showdown Playbook & Game Preview For Suns vs. Clippers On ESPN

Even with George gone and Kawhi Leonard out, this Suns vs. Clippers showdown will have no shortage of star power. We obviously can't roster everyone in a salary-capped fantasy format, but we'll still need to do all we can to squeeze in as many studs as possible - and without selecting a stinker that single-handedly sinks our lineups with a zero, either.

This game has an uneventful 4.5-point spread and 225-point total. These are two division rivals who are terrifyingly familiar with one another from a personnel standpoint. We shouldn't see any surprises matchup-wise.

First-year Phoenix head coach Mike Budenholzer brings a championship pedigree and offensive system that values a high-volume of threes to the Valley of the Sun. His teams play at a faster pace, and if you look closely, you can quickly convince yourself that the Suns will “click” this year and enter the upper echelon of NBA offenses.

For better or worse, the enigmatic Kevin Porter Jr. will be the key to the Clippers season. He could be a key to this slate too, but more on that in a moment. Still just 24 years old, Porter Jr. has flashed superstar upside in the past and has plenty of time left to hit his ceiling if his career gets back on track. He hasn't played in the NBA since September 2023 though, so I expect there to be some rust that needs shaken off in the early parts of this season.

Suns vs. Clippers Showdown Slate In A Sentence:

A number of Clippers will have expanded roles compared to last season, but we otherwise know exactly what we're getting with players on both sides tonight.

Suns vs. Clippers Notable Injuries & Lineups

Suns Key Injuries

  • Josh Okogie, SF - Out (Hamstring)
  • Grayson Allen, SG - Probable (Achilles)
  • Damion Lee, SG - Probable (Hamstring)

Suns Projected Lineup

  • Tyus Jones, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant, Jusuf Nurkic

Clippers Key Injuries

  • Mo Bamba, C - Out (Knee)
  • Kawhi Leonard, PF - Out (Knee)
  • P.J. Tucker, PF - Out (Team Decision)

Clippers Projected Lineup

  • James Harden, Norman Powell, Terrance Mann, Derrick Jones Jr., Ivica Zubac

NBA DFS Showdown MVP Captain Picks - Suns vs. Clippers On ESPN

Devin Booker - $10,200 DK, $14,000 FD

Booker, Durant and Harden are tightly clustered in price, projections, and last year's average fantasy points alike. With Tyus Jones now running the point for Phoenix, Booker will play off the ball more and have even more scoring opportunities. There was a VERY good reason that the Suns decided to do this, so I'm starting the majority of my showdown lineups by MVP'ing Booker.

Kevin Durant - $9,800 DK, $14,500 FD

Durant needs no explanation at this stage of his career. He's one of the best players of our generation and always seems to rack up just enough rebounds, assists and defensive stats to be fantasy stud beyond scoring alone. 

James Harden is obviously fine at Captain, but I'm prioritizing KD. He's cheaper than Harden on both sites, albeit by only a few hundred dollars, and projects to be a higher fantasy scorer this evening as well. I have much more than a coin-flip's confidence in picking KD over Harden when I have to decide between the two.

Mid-Tier & DFS Value Plays For Wednesday, 10/23

Terance Mann - $5,800 DK, $9,000 FD

Mann should see a significantly expanded role tonight against the Suns. With Leonard and George both off the court last season, Mann saw his per-36 averages swell to 15.7 pts, 6.4 reb and 2.6 ast. Our DFS NBA projections forecast similar for him tonight: 13.7 pts, 5.1 reb and 2.5 ast in 32 min. In my opinion, there's a good chance he'll exceed these projections. Either way, he projects to be one of the top fantasy-point-per-dollar options on this showdown slate and makes for a fine mid-tier play.

Kevin Porter Jr. - $5,200 DK, $10,500 FD

I alluded to this earlier, but Porter has both season- and slate-breaking potential. He has looked terrific this preseason and has the pedigree to plug right back in to an NBA lineup, play at a high level, and fill up the stat sheet each time he sees the floor. He's a bit of a wild card for tonight specifically since it's Opening Night, so I'd recommend you use him in GPPs only. That said, use him liberally in those tournament lineups.

Derrick Jones Jr. - $4,800 DK, $8,500 FD

I really don't want to have to go here, but we have to save salary somewhere, so I'll inevitably have some exposure to Jones. He's a known commodity at this point of his career and is a far better real-life player than fantasy asset. If he sees minutes in the 30s tonight, he'll be able to make up for his low ceiling by having an extremely high floor. He'll be a popular value pick.

Player Pool

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