San Antonio Spurs & Los Angeles Lakers
Spread: Lakers -1.5
Total: 224.5
Injuries:
San Antonio Spurs:
None
Los Angeles Lakers:
LeBron James – Probable (abdomen)
Anthony Davis – Out
Kent Bazemore – Out
Malik Monk – Out
Trevor Ariza – Out
Avery Bradley – Out
Austin Reaves - Out
**Please note that players not listed below are not necessarily a complete fade and any player listed can certainly be used as the MVP/Captain. These are merely suggestions for players to use when setting Showdown lineups.
MVP/CPT
LeBron James, PG/SF (LAL) – As per usual, we shouldn’t read anything into James being listed on the injury report but let’s hope I didn’t just jinx things. With the Lakers missing multiple pieces tonight, most notably Anthony Davis, James should likely be busy tonight in what is projected to be a close game. After grabbing double digit rebounds in three of his prior four games, James dropped down to seven on Tuesday while breaking the 30-point mark for the second straight game. His scoring upside should be out in full force again tonight as James is the best and most expensive option tonight.
Dejounte Murray, PG (SAS) – Hold me back here. Murray has three triple-doubles in his last five games and that includes 24 point, 13 assist, 11 rebound performance in his last game against the Clippers. The matchup against Los Angeles is great from a fantasy perspective and the Spurs will need all they can get out of Murray to keep pace with the Lakers. Murray has been one of the top performers this season, and at times it can be a little tough to stomach the price increase, but on most nights, he does deliver and I see a cleaner path to 50 fantasy points for him than his opponent.
Russell Westbrook, PG (LAL) – I haven’t been super keen on Westbrook this season, and based on the prices in this tier, he’s still my third option despite a recent improvement in shooting efficiency. Even with the Lakers increasingly shorthanded, we still haven’t seen Westbrook really break out from a scoring perspective. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with the 22 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists we got from Westbrook his last time out, but I want more upside for the price.
Util
Talen Horton-Tucker, SF (LAL) – Let’s play the regression angle here because we know that volume applies. Tucker is close to being the last man standing for the Lakers as he gets about 30 minutes a night of playing time. After making seven of 14 shots in 30 minutes against the Magic last week, Horton-Tucker returned from a three-game stint in the protocols to make just one of 13 shots against Phoenix. With the volume being there, we are going to assume he finds his stroke and gets back to filling the stat sheet.
Keldon Johnson, PF (SAS) – With an average of 18 points over his last five games, Johnson is beginning to show some offensive upside. The young forward looks more comfortable, and is more involved, in the offense and he has a double-double in each of last two games and three straight games of at least 32 DK points.
Derrick White, PG/SG (SAS) – White has emerged as the complementary scoring option to Murray and he gets plenty of work both from a minutes and volume perspective. Even with a five-point dud against Sacramento on his resume, White is still averaging 16.8 points per game over his last five games with five assists and 4.2 rebounds. A lot of offense is expected tonight, and that should play right into White’s DFS success.
Jakob Poetl, C (SAS) – It’s a favorable match-up for Poetl tonight and he has emerged as dependable option in the post for the Spurs. We aren’t going to get a double-double on a nightly basis from Poetl like we did on Monday (17 points and 11 rebounds), but he should come close.
Carmelo Anthony, PF (LAL) – Anthony certainly has the ability to score in bunches, and tonight the opportunity is there off the bench for him. He is on the border of being a dart throw, but based on the price, I’d slot him here for GPP lineups only assuming that we see a good amount of him offensively.
Dart Throws
Lonnie Walker, SG/SF (SAS) – Walker is a key contributor for the Spurs off the bench but we don’t know what version of him we will get offensively. With the majority of his DFS production coming from his offense and the inconsistency we have seen from him, there is some risk involved but 30 fantasy points is also very possible.
Isaiah Thomas, PG (LAL) – In Thomas’ three games, his offensive output has decreased from 19 to 13 to three points as he made just one of 11 field goal attempts on Tuesday. The volume should still be there tonight off the bench.
Doug McDermott, SF (SAS) – While there isn’t much upside in the forward, the price is right, he starts, and generally gets around 20 DK points per night. If it fits and you want a little bit of security, McDermott works here.
Devin Vassell, SF/PF (SAS) – Take what I said above about McDermott and apply it here for Vassell who brings a little more upside to the table, but also a little more risk offensively.
Wayne Ellington – SG/SF – If we want to chase minutes, we certainly can with Ellington who plays about 30 by default out of the starting lineup these days. The problem is that in his last two games, Ellington took just nine shots in 64 minutes of action with just three assists and six rebounds.