We have a nine-game DFS NBA slate to destroy and there are a lot of questionable impactful players heading into this evening. What we do know is that Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, Nikola Vucevic, Jaylen Brown, OG Anunoby and Michael Porter Jr will all sit tonight. Here’s tonight’s DFS NBA Starting 5.
Fensty's Starting 5:
PG: James Harden: Not only will Kevin Durant be out, but Joe Harris will also be out and Nicolas Claxton is still sick. It’ll be the Harden show and even though he’s pricey, the Magic aren’t the best at defending point guards and he should have a bit of a safer floor. Expect Harden to take 18-20 shots tonight. He’s scored 24 or more points in 3 of his last 4 games and he’s shot at least 46 percent from the floor in 4 of his last 5 outings. Harden will get a massive amount of time with possession of the rock and he’s dished 8.8 dimes per outing. He’s grabbed swipes in five of his last six contests and he’s even pulled down 7.6 boards per game. The Nets are without a lot of shooting tonight and it will be on Harden to keep them in the game. Even with the pace working against the Nets, Harden enters this game with an expected 34-plus percent usage rate.
SG: Terry Rozier: Rozier has been on fire shooting the basketball in recent games shooting at least 47 percent from the floor in 4 of his last 5 games. The Pacers aren’t the strongest team defensively and Rozier has scored 18 or more actual points in 4 of his last 5 battles. He’s been splitting his time between the arc and driving the lane. He’s been committed on defense grabbing nearly four rebounds per contest and he’s even rotated to point guard a good amount this year, and he contributes three dimes per outing. He’s been helpful in other areas as well grabbing steals in five of his last six games and he’s even blocked shots in three of his last four. He does a little bit of everything and has been consistently playing over 30 minutes per game. Let’s give him a look tonight especially because of his hot shooting. He’s taken 13 or more shots in each of his last seven games.
SF: Andrew Wiggins: A lot of the Warriors will be out for tonight’s game and it will be up to Wiggins and Jordan Poole to carry the offense tonight. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Otto Porter won’t play. Wiggins has struggled from a production and minutes standpoint over the last two games but that ends tonight because he’ll have to play at least 30 minutes this evening and he should take between 15-20 shots. He’s grabbed over four rebounds per game and even though Poole see’s the big usage bump between the two, Wiggins has shot over 63 percent from the field in 3 of his last 5 outings. Wiggins has also swatted away shots in three of his last four contests. He hasn’t been producing swipes as consistently, but with more minutes will come a lot more opportunities and Detroit isn’t the hardest team to battle.
PF: Domantas Sabonis: Attacking Charlotte is too easy and Sabonis and Myles Turner should tear them up tonight. Sabonis has posted double-doubles in eight of his last 10 contests and he’s scored 18 or more points in 3 of his last 5 games. The Hornets are a bottom-seven team in the league at guarding power forwards and tonight presents an incredible pace-up spot for the Pacers. Sabonis has also blocked shots and grabbed steals in three of his last five games. He rips down 11.5 rebounds per contest. He’s the Pacers second leading scorer and takes 12-13 shots per game. As I’ve mentioned before, Sabonis draws a lot of double teams in the post and he’s a decent passer and he’s dished 3.7 assists per outing this season. Charlotte’s frontcourt has been easy to pick on all year because Mason Plumlee is a poor defender, PJ Washington has been hurt and Miles Bridges can’t size up against bigger forwards
C: Deandre Ayton: We succeeded with this exact matchup two days ago and why not go right back to it? Kristaps Porzingis isn’t good at defending the post and Dwight Powell won’t stop Ayton from having his way under the basket. Ayton scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds when Dallas and Phoenix locked up on Wednesday. He’s exceeded his 11.6 rebounding average in 4 of his last 5 games. The Mavericks are near the bottom of the league when it comes to defending centers and they simply don’t have a skilled big man with true size to box Ayton out. He’s also blocked shots in seven of his last 10 and grabbed steals in 3 of his last 5 contests. He’s scored no fewer than 16 points in each of his last 5 games. Like Charlotte, Dallas will continue to be very easy to attack in the post and while Porzingis has the size, he has trouble getting positioning inside and Ayton, who is a banger, will be too tough for him to contain.