What the Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks do with their back-to-backs is the theme of tonight’s NBA DFS Showdown slate. The Hawks played last night in Utah and the Nuggets have to travel to Minnesota for tomorrow. Will either team rest their stars tonight, particularly with two important Nuggets players listed as questionable? If we get word of that, there are plenty of value options that will open up in this game with a strong 234-point implied total. Here are the NBA DFS top plays we can invest in for our lineups on FanDuel and DraftKings!

 

ATLANTA HAWKS INJURIES

None

DENVER NUGGETS INJURIES

Nikola Jokic – Questionable

Aaron Gordon – Questionable

 

MVP/CAPTAIN

Nikola Jokic (C)

Ever since Joel Embiid embarrassed him last Saturday, Jokic has been on a mission to show that he is, in fact, the MVP again. He has back-to-back 70+ fantasy point games and scored 53 against the Hawks in just 35 minutes the last time they played. Jokic has six triple-doubles in his last seven games and has more than 30 combined rebounds and assists in each of his last two contests. And if you need an extra boost of confidence with Jokic, the Hawks are a bottom-ten team against centers this season. Don’t overthink it if he is active tonight. 

Trae Young (PG)

Despite three 60-fantasy point games this year, Young has mostly been reliably consistent in the 42-53 fantasy point range. He has fallen in that range in 11 of his last 12 games. His salary has dropped on DraftKings from just over $11,000 recently which we will certainly take since the Nuggets are a bottom-ten team against point guards this season. Young’s usage rate has also been 30% or higher in seven straight games. 

Dejounte Murray (PG/SG)

Murray is the riskiest play in the MVP slot because he can pop off for 67 fantasy points (like he did on January 30th) or give you 36 like he did last night. But the minutes, rebounds, assists, and steals are stable so it usually just depends on how many shots are left after Trae Young gets his fill. But Murray is by far the cheapest of these three options and can rival Jokic for the best bang for your buck. In his one game against Denver this year, Murray went off for 53 fantasy points in 35 minutes. 

 

UTILITY 

Jamal Murray (PG)

Murray is hoping to keep his latest hot streak going where he scored less than 41 fantasy points just once in his last eight games. This really is one of the best stretches of Murray’s career and he is now routinely playing more than 38 minutes and shooting over 20 times per game. With Jokic and Murray firing on all cylinders, the Nuggets have evolved into the best offense this season while the Hawks are bottom-ten against point guards in their last 30 games. 

Aaron Gordon (PF)

This is a matchup where we have to hope Gordon’s ankle is fully ready for him to play, as the Hawks have been awful against opposing power forwards. Only the Spurs are worse this season against the position as Atlanta allows the second-most points and rebounds to power forwards this year. They just allowed a 25-point, ten-rebound game to Lauri Markkanen last night. The Hawks have dropped to just 24th in rebound rate this year so opposing big men have been dominating the glass against them. 

Bogdan Bogdanovic (SG/SF)

The Hawks have been very consistently rolling out a tight eight-or-nine-man rotation in games that are reasonably close, and Bogdanovic looks like a great point-per-dollar option tonight with a salary in the mid $6K range and a streak of at least 26 fantasy points in four of his last five games. Even in games like last night where DeAndre Hunter has a rare explosion game, Bogdanovic still finds a way to get it done. He contributed six rebounds, six assists, and a block in his 25 minutes on the floor and he hasn’t seen less than 24 minutes in a game since December 4th. 

 

DART THROWS

Vlatko Cancar (SF/PF)

On Thursday, we saw exactly what can happen with a bench player like Vlatko Cancar when a starter like Aaron Gordon does not play. In that game against the Warriors, Cancar started, played 32 minutes, and scored 31 fantasy points. He would be one of the most desirable beneficiaries if either Jokic or Gordon sit, and is likely to get a small uptick in minutes regardless if the Nuggets are managing minutes on the first night of a tough back-to-back. 

Onyeka Okongwu (C)

We have a pretty clear indication now that the Hawks are going to split the center minutes almost equally between Okongwu and Clint Capela. That was the case last night against Utah and Okongwu put up 33 fantasy points in just 22 minutes on the floor. His field goal percentage is other-worldly; he hasn’t shot under 66% from the field since January 14th and he has eight blocks-plus-steals in his last five games. In a game where there is a strong possibility Capela gets in foul trouble against Jokic, I like the idea of throwing some darts at Okongwu. 

 

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