DFS NBA Lineups for February 23, 2017 at Draftkings.com & Fanduel.com
DFS is back! On days that there’s a nice slate of DFS NBA games, we’ll give you the game totals, point spreads, and pertinent injury news to follow for NBA daily fantasy, as well as some players that we’re considering for our lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel.
We have six games on our DFS NBA slate for 2/23/17 as well as the trade deadline squarely upon us. Be very aware of the news today as there will definitely be players on the move throughout the morning. And keep in mind that the lines and totals we have listed below are current as of late Wednesday night, and are likely to change, perhaps drastically, as trades are made. We’ll be updating this article with the moves that go down, so check back a couple times today for some commentary.
Looking at our DFS NBA tournaments, DraftKings has their Four Point Play featuring a $4 buy-in and $500,000 guaranteed. They’ve also got a qualifier for their live final that has a buy-in of just $5. At FanDuel, they’re welcoming players back from the break with a $20,000 freeroll, along with some really great single entry and 3-max GPPs.
As always, be sure and monitor any of the injury news that breaks throughout the day, as value plays and player upgrades can arise in a moments notice.
TRADE UPDATES
Nerlens Noel from 76ers to MAVERICKS
Anthony Morrow & Cameron Payne from Thunder to BULLS
Taj Gibson & Doug McDermott from Bulls to THUNDER
PJ Tucker from Suns to RAPTORS
PLAYERS RULED OUT
Kevin Love (knee)
Evan Turner (hand)
Al-Farouq Aminu (knee)
Cody Zeller (quad)
INJURY NEWS TO MONITOR
Chris Paul (thumb)
Danilo Gallinari (groin)
Kenneth Faried (ankle)
Wilson Chandler (illness)
Darrell Arthur (illness)
Brandon Jennings (Achilles)
Courtney Lee (illness)
NBA GAME SPREADS, TOTALS & START TIME FOR TODAY’S GAMES
Blazers -2.5 @ Magic (7:00p): 213
Hornets @ Pistons -4 (7:30p): 207
Rockets -3.5 @ Pelicans (8:00p): 227
Knicks @ Cavs -10 (8:00p): 223
Nuggets -7 @ Kings (10:30p): 220.5
Clippers @ Warriors -12 (10:30p): 230.5
Best NBA Picks for February 23, 2017
Nikola Jokic ($10.5k DraftKings, $10.9k FanDuel)
The Kings should serve as a buffet of value plays tonight with DeMarcus Cousins gone, but the biggest beneficiary could be Nuggets big men such as Jokic. The Joker went into the ASB averaging 23.9 PPG, 11.8 RPG and 5.7 APG over his last 15 appearances and he’s facing a poor defensive team that should only become more vulnerable on the interior now that they’re tanking. Sacramento ranks 23rd in opponents FG shooting (.463%) and 23rd in total rebounding, while the Kings lose a player in Cousins who was sporting a 27.9% Defensive Rebounding Rate, leaving Jokic free to board up while piling up points and assists as per usual.
Steph Curry ($9.5k DraftKings, $9.1k FanDuel)
The status of Chris Paul (thumb) should go a long way in determining how you want to approach this game, because without him, Blake Griffin ($9.1k, $9.7k) could continue to exceed value as the leader of the Clippers offense. Without Paul, Curry should also thrive in a home game against a team that the Warriors hate and that he’s torched to the tune of 30.3 PPG and 7.7 APG on 53.2% FG shooting this season. Steph shot just 12-of-33 (.364%) from deep over those 3 meetings with the Clips and that’s bound to regress towards this mean, as he’s shooting 46.2% from deep at home and went nuclear in his last meeting with LAC. He should be fresh from the ASB and ready to put on a show.
Mid Tier and Value DFS NBA Plays
Aaron Gordon ($4.9k DraftKings, $4.5k FanDuel)
Gordon fought through a foot injury to meet value in his last couple appearances before the ASB but he clearly wasn’t at full speed. After an embarrassing effort in the dunk contest, we can only hope he’s back to nearly 100%. He’s looking at a huge increase in opportunity with Serge Ibaka shipped out of town, as he boasts a 22.4% Usage Rate and averages 0.75 FPs per minute with Serge off the floor this season. Tonight AG faces a Blazers team that gives up the third-most FPPG (46.15) to opposing PFs on the season and he’s back to his natural position with Ibaka gone.
Sacramento Kings
Darren Collison is grossly over priced on DK as the supposed main benefactor with Boogie Cousins gone and Rudy Gay (Achilles) out for the season. While Collison sports the highest Usage Rate with those players off the floor, he’s not a transcendent talent by any means and he should split time with Ty Lawson ($4.1k, $4.6k) now that the speedster is healthier after a week off. The obvious value play at center is Kosta Koufos ($3.5k, $3.5k), but Willie Cauley-Stein ($3.6k, $3.8k) has more upside as the potential future center for Sacramento. Anthony Tolliver ($3.9k, $3.6k) should get a lot more looks from deep and the newly acquired Buddy Hield ($3.6k, $3.5k) could turn in a solid debut.
Ish Smith ($3.9k DraftKings, $4.2k FanDuel)
Reggie Jackson is one of the most likely players to be moved ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline and if he’s not active for tonight’s game due to a pending trade, Smith should immediately take over as the Pistons starting PG. He averaged 10.7 PPG and 5.9 APG over 17 starts in November before R-Jax became active this year and would obviously be in position to exceed value at this price tag if he plays starters minutes in a good matchup. The Hornets are giving up the fourth-most PPG (25.7) and tenth-most FPPG (44.36) to opposing PGs over the last month and have struggled defensively since December began.
Portland Blazers
I would look at Jusuf Nurkic ($4.3k, $3.7k) for value on both main DFS sites now that he’s had some practice time with his new team. He should do a better job of slowing down Orlando center Nikola Vucevic than Ed Davis ($3.8k, $3.7k), who is basically Portland’s only other option at center. Maurice Harkless ($4.5k, $4.6k) is still looking at huge minutes once again with Evan Turner and Al-Farouq Aminu ruled out and Allen Crabbe ($3.6k, $3.5k) can serve as a longshot against a Magic team that ranks 25th in opponents FG defense this year.
If, Then Player
If Derrick Rose is traded (Brandon Jennings is iffy to play through an Achilles injury), Ron Baker could emerge as a viable punt play while Justin Holiday would see a lot of run with Courtney Lee under the weather as well.
