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Last night had it all: Embiid scratched after lock, chalk busting and Jokic doing Jokic things. I was able to break even on the night, which felt like a win based on how things went. Tonight we get a shortened 3 game slate as the Chicago vs. Detroit game has been postponed due to COVID issues on Chicago.  This article will focus more on cash plays today so let's dive in.

Injuries:

  • UPDATE: Kevin Durant - Questionable - If he's out we probably want to lock James Harden in all contests and we would want 3-5 Nets on all rosters.
  • Devin Booker - Doubtful - CP3 gets a usage bump and we can expect more minutes for Cam Payne, Shamet and Cam Johnson.
  • Deandre Ayton - Questionable - this one will be tricky since Javale would be a great play again should Ayton get ruled out. This is the last game of the night so it'll be risky to hold a roster spot for Javale if we don't get news by lock.
  • CJ Mccollum - Out - Bumps in usage to Simons, Lillard and Norm Powell.
  • RJ Barrett - Out - Burks sees the biggest usage bump. We also can expect more minutes for Quickley and Derrick Rose.
  • Precious Achiuwa - Out - Expecting Chris Boucher to start again.
  • Lamarcus Aldridge - Out - Minutes will go to Nic Claxton, Blake Griffin and Cam Thomas.
  • De'andre Bembry - Out - Should see Bruce Brown get more minutes and possibly start.
  • James Johnson - Out - More minutes to Blake Griffin and Cam Thomas.

We will need to monitor the Ayton injury status post lock, so plan your rosters accordingly to be able to swap onto Javale Mcgee should Ayton be ruled out.

Point Guard:

At Point Guard I really like James Harden as a spend-up tonight. He's priced at $11,200 on DK which is reasonable for Mr. Harden. In the past month he's out producing KD on a per minute basis. Harden is at 1.31 fantasy points per minute while Durant is at 1.28 fantasy points per minute. We also get Harden for $400 less than KD. What I like about Harden is he gets a lot of peripheral stats so we aren't solely reliant on his scoring. He's also playing huge minutes lately, in his last 4 games he's had at least 39 minutes in each of them. Harden feels like the safest spend up for cash games this evening.

Shooting Guard:

The Shooting Guard spot on DK is where I'll look for some value options as I'm not crazy about the spend-ups at the position. My favorite cheaper option is Cam Thomas. He's at .77 fantasy points per minute in the last month and has gone over 20 fantasy points in 4 of his last 5 games. He also should see an uptick in minutes as Brooklyn is thin tonight with James Johnson, Lamarcus Aldridge and Deandre' Bembry already ruled out. At a $4,000 price tag Cam Thomas feels like a safe value play for cash games. I also don't mind Derrick Rose for $1,000 more than Cam. Rose should get a bump in minutes with Barrett out and is typically around a fantasy point per minute guy. If he sees anywhere close to 30 minutes off the bench, Rose is a fine cash game play and I also like him in GPPs as well because of his upside and ability to take over a game.

Small Forward:

It looks like I'll have a lot of Nets in my lineups tonight as I write this article. At small forward I like paying down for Bruce Brown (another Net). With Bembry ruled out I expect Bruce Brown to start tonight. In the last month Brown is at .93 fantasy points per minute and this year without Aldridge he's at .8 fantasy points per minute. At a $4,300 price tag on DK and potentially 30 minutes of playing time he's grading out as a solid point per dollar option. Durant is a potential spend-up option at Small Forward that I'm fine fading in cash games as he's more reliant on actual points for his fantasy production than Harden. I'm guessing Durant will get some ownership at a weak Small Forward position but I'll side with Harden as my favorite spend-up this evening.

Power Forward:

At Power Forward I have 2 cheap plays I like. Larry Nance started last game and I'm expecting him to start tonight while Robert Covington has moved to the bench. Nance had some foul trouble last game so the minutes look artificially low. I'm expecting 26-30 minutes from Mr. Nance tonight and he's historically been a solid fantasy point producer. Without CJ Mccollum, Nance is at .82 fantasy points per minute this season and at a $4300 price tag he's a solid point per dollar play. There's also some upside in this play if Nance can get over 30 minutes of playing time, which is a possibility should he start again. I also don't mind going back to Chris Boucher with Precious Achiuwa ruled out. Toronto is running extremely tight rotations and Boucher should see 26-30 minutes tonight as long as this game stays competitive. Boucher is historically a great fantasy producer, on the season he's at 1.04 fantasy points per minute. He's playing with the starters now and looks to be around a .9 fantasy point per minute player when sharing the court with the starters. At a $4,800 price tag he's still too cheap on Draftkings and is a solid play tonight.

Center:

Center will be tricky this evening because if Deandre Ayton gets ruled out, Javale Mcgee once again becomes the best play on the slate. Ayton is dealing with an illness so it's anyone's guess if he plays tonight. The tough part is that Phoenix plays in the last game of the night, 2.5 hours after the other two games begin. It's likely we won't know Ayton's status before lock so we'll need to plan for potential late swaps. If we take Ayton and Booker off the court, Javale is at 1.42 fantasy points per minute, so even if we only project Javale for 22-24 minutes he looks like a great play at a $4,200 price tag on DK. We also have a cheap Nic Claxton as another source of salary relief. Claxton is priced at $3,100 on DK so it will be hard for him to fail at that price. Claxton is at .7 fantasy points per minute in the last month which is down from his career averages. With Claxton, my biggest concern is the minutes as I could see the Toronto vs. Brooklyn game going small.

For a 3 game slate we have a lot of value options and not that many places I want to spend my money. As a second spend-up for cash games I don't mind Lillard or Siakam as they both have reasonable price tags and are locked into big minutes. There are quite a few ways to go tonight so it should be a fun little 3 game slate.

Max

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