DFS NBA Lineups for February 25, 2017 at Draftkings.com & Fanduel.com
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 seven games on our DFS NBA slate for 2/25/17 that has a game between the Warriors and Nets with a spread about as high as I’ve ever seen. The Dubs are 22.5 point favorites in this one as they take on the Nets at Oracle this evening. Pay attention to the LeBron news very closely. He missed shootaround this morning with what’s being called an illness. If he sits, Kyrie Irving is a close to a mortal lock for 6x salary. On the lower end, Lou Williams and Terrance Ross both have salaries to be be exploited.
Looking at our DFS NBA GPP rundown, DraftKings has their Four Point Play featuring a $4 buy-in and $350,000 guaranteed. They’ve also got the Saturday Spin Move that has a $40 buy-in and $350,000 guaranteed with $50,000 going to the winner. We’ve got the Shot at FanDuel with a $3 buy-in and $300,000 guaranteed. And for you big bankroll players, FanDuel has a $1500 buy-in qualifier for their World Fantasy Basketball Championship live final.
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.
PLAYERS RULED OUT
Kevin Durant (hand)
Joel Embiid (knee)
CJ Watson (achilles)
Omer Asik (illness)
Aaron Afflalo (hamstring)
Kristaps Porzingas (ankle)
Michael-Carter Williams (tendinitis)
E’Twaun Moore (personal)
INJURY NEWS TO MONITOR
Patrick Beverly (groin)
LeBron James (illness)
Paul George (leg)
Nerlens Noel (trade)
NBA GAME SPREADS, TOTALS & START TIME FOR TODAY’S GAMES
Hawks -3 @ Magic (7:00p): 209.5
76ers @ Knicks -5.5 (7:30p): 217.5
Pacers @ Heat -4.5 (8:00p): 208
Pelicans -2 @ Mavericks (8:30p): 204.5
Bulls @ Cavs -10 (8:30p): 215.5
Timberwolves @ Rockets -12.5 (9:00p): 227.5
Nets @ Warriors -22.5 (10:30p): 236
Best NBA Picks for February 25, 2017
Kevin Durant ($9.9k DraftKings, $10.3k FanDuel)
I’m not going to waste this space telling you that James Harden is a good play. Of course James Harden is a good play. If you can fit him in your lineup and feel good about it, play him. As for Durant, this is reserved for large field GPPs only due to the very likely blowout that is going to happen in Oakland tonight. The Warriors are massive 22.5 point favorites against the Nets and the game is going to get out of hand. That said, for us to win one of these huge field GPPs, we have to make plays others aren’t willing to make. Durant is going to see lighter ownership because of the spread and that gives us an opportunity to get a piece of a team that’s projected to score 128 points and gain some leverage on the field. The thing about Durant is that he always ‘gets his’ in these Warriors games that aren’t close. Durant does so many things on the court, that if the Dubs are crushing in the 4th quarter, he’s likely stuffed his sheet to get them to that point. He’s had fewer than 40 DraftKings points just once in his last 15 games, hitting 50+ in seven of those contests. I don’t need to convince you the Nets are bad, but just to help you out here, they play at a fast pace, they’re dead last in the league versus small forwards, and they’re on the second half of a West Coast back to back. It’s going to get ugly, but let’s have Durant lock in 50 DK points before taking a seat.
UPDATE: Isn’t the NBA fun? Durant has been ruled out with a hand injury. We can make a pretty easy move here to Steph Curry. He’s $100 cheaper at DK and a full $1k cheaper at FD and gets a 6.7% bump in usage per 36 with Durant off the court. Klay Thompson is also going to find his way into my lineups as well. He’s cheap ($6.8k DraftKings, $7k FanDuel) and sees a massive 7.2% usage bump as well as a +8.6 +/- differential with Durant off the court. I will have ample exposure to Klay.
Dario Saric ($6.9k DraftKings, $5.7k FanDuel)
Enjoy the last day you can get Saric for less than $7k on DraftKings for the rest of the season (and and FanDuel, what the hell?). Now freed, Saric has double-doubled in his last three games while playing at least 31 minutes in each of those contests and seeing his usage skyrocket. With Nerlens and Ersan out of the equation, Saric is going to continue to get this kind of run and will be a double-double machine down the stretch. Add in that he’s facing a Knicks team that will be without the services of Kristaps Porzingas, and you’ve got a cash game LOCK at FanDuel and plenty of GPP upside on both sites.
Guillermo Hernangomez ($6.5k DraftKings, $5.9k FanDuel)
As we mentioned, Kristaps Porzingas is going to sit this one out tonight, so Hernangomez is going to be expected to play some big minutes down low. This is a fantastic spot for Willy. The Knicks have an implied team total of 111 points in a game that should stay competitive. For all the things Jahlil Okafor is, a good defender, he is not. Willy is averaging 1.1 DraftKings points per minute on the season. He’ll probably see somewhere between 28-33 minutes tonight. Math, math, math…that’s a baseline projection of nearly 31 DK points. Should he get the high side of the minutes, given the matchup, we’ve got a play with a reasonable ceiling of 45+ DK points.
If, Then Player
If Nerlens Noel suits up tonight for the Mavericks, his price does not yet reflect the expanded role and minutes he’s going to receive in Dallas. He’s dual position eligible on DraftKings as well.
