DFS NBA Lineups for March 1, 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’ve got a big 11-game slate in NBA DFS for 3/1/17, led by James Harden and LeBron James. Anthony Davis has seen his price get back into five figures, which aligns with his recent output. Boogie Cousins will be a spectator tonight (stop getting technicals!), so The Brow will be the whole Pelicans team. And finally, Nikola Jokic showed us what he can do again last night. The Denver big man triple-doubled, going for 19/16/10 while playing 33 minutes. You like to see him jack up more shots (he only took 10), but for $8.8k on DraftKings, he’s in play for GPPs as he has legitimate 60 DK point upside.
Looking at our tournaments for Wednesday, DraftKings has a $4 buy-in, $340k Guaranteed Four Point Play that’s maxed at 20 entries. This is a bold move by DK and you should support it. With the field limited to 20 entries, nobody should feel like they can’t compete to win this GPP.
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
DeMarcus Cousins (suspension)
Joel Embiid (knee)
Kyle Lowry (wrist)
Kevin Love (knee)
Kenneth Faried (back)
Wesley Matthews (hip)
Michael Beasley (knee)
Guillermo Hernangomez (ankle)
INJURY NEWS TO MONITOR
Aaron Gordon (quad)
Tony Parker (quad)
Caris LeVert (illness)
Willie Reed (ankle)
NBA GAME SPREADS, TOTALS & START TIME FOR TODAY’S GAMES
Knicks @ Magic -2 (7:00p): 215
Wizards @ Raptors -4.5 (7:30p): 211
Mavericks @ Hawks -6 (7:30p): 196
76ers @ Heat -9 (7:30p): 213
Nuggets @ Bucks -2.5 (8:00p): 224
Pistons @ Pelicans -2 (8:00p): 208
Cavs -1 @ Celtics (8:00p): 223.5
Pacers @ Spurs -10 (8:30p): 208
Timberwolves @ Jazz -7 (9:00p): 201
Rockets @ Clippers -2 (10:30p): 232.5
Nets @ Kings -2.5 (10:30p): 216
Best NBA Picks for March 1, 2017
Anthony Davis ($10.4k DraftKings, $11.6k FanDuel)
With Boogie out tonight the Pelicans offense will clearly run through The Brow and he’s certainly capable of carrying his team to a home win. Davis has somehow been better since the acquisition of Cousins with averages of 35.3 PPG and 10 RPG over his last 3 appearances and he’s been better at home all season with averages of 29 PPG and 12.9 RPG. Tonight he’ll face a Pistons team that he burned for 31 points, 12 rebounds earlier this season and Detroit is pretty ill-equipped to deal with a talented PF like Davis considering they use two natural SFs at that position in Jon Leuer and Tobias Harris.
Giannis Antetokounmpo ($10.5k DraftKings, $11.1k FanDuel)
The Nuggets are currently ranked dead last in defensive rating and cough up the third-most FPPG (212.54) overall this season, so a player who leads his team in every statistical category is bound to have a good game against them. Giannis put up 23 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in typical stat-stuffing fashion in a previous meeting with Denver and he should be even more productive in this home game. He’s averaging 24.4 PPG while shooting 54% from the floor in Milwaukee and should see even more of the ball tonight with Michael Beasley (knee) ruled out. The Greek Freak sports a 29.5% Usage Rate and averages 1.26 FPs per minute with B-Easy and injured teammate Jabari Parker off the floor and he will look to carry the load tonight in a potential shootout.
Isaiah Thomas ($8.5k DraftKings, $9.4k FanDuel)
Mr. Fourth Quarter has been quiet lately, but I could definitely see him erupting down the stretch in this game. The Cavs travel to Boston for a potential ECF preview and Thomas draws a fantastic individual matchup against known turnstile Kyrie Irving. Cleveland coughs up the seventh-most FPPG (45.11) and second-most APG (11.18) to opposing PGs over the last month and the Cavs have been torched by talented signal callers for longer than that. Isaiah is averaging 30.5 PPG and 7.5 APG over 2 meetings with Cleveland and he’s still at 30.9 PPG over 28 home games this season despite losing his 20-point scoring streak in a rare off game on Monday night.
Mid Tier DFS NBA Plays
Willie Cauley-Stein ($5.5k DraftKings, $5.4k FanDuel)
Sure enough, WCS bounced back with a solid game in his third game as the new centerpiece of the Kings frontcourt and he should carry that momentum into a dream matchup tonight. Brooklyn still plays at the fastest pace in the NBA and coughs up the most overall FPPG (226) while giving up the fourth-most FPPG (50.64) to opposing centers this season. This is a juicy matchup for all the Kings value plays including Ty Lawson ($4.2k, $4.9k) and Ben McLemore ($3.9k, $4.2), but Cauley-Stein should lead the way as a great mid-tier option.
Kyle O’Quinn ($5.2k DraftKings, $4.7k FanDuel)
There might not be a more productive center on a per minute basis, yet the biggest obstacle to O’Quinn’s value has been playing time (and probably conditioning as well). He still managed to meet value over 15 minutes of run on Sunday and he’s looking at a very heavy workload tonight with Joakim Noah (hamstring) potentially out for the season and both Guillermo Hernangomez and Kristaps Porzingis questionable due to ankle injuries. The matchup is also prime against a Magic team that gives up the sixth-most FPPG (49.27) to opposing centers this year and O’Quinn has some added motivation to face his former team as well.
Value DFS NBA Plays
Brooklyn Nets
The Nets and Kings are both equally porous defensive teams and that should make for a great game to target in DFS contests tonight. Trevor Booker ($4.9k, $5.3k) stands out as a solid mid-tier cash game play, while Rondae Hollis-Jefferson ($5k. $4.8k) should continue his stat-stuffing ways in a fast-paced matchup. With Bojan Bogdanovic traded and Caris LeVert (illness) questionable, Sean Kilpatrick ($4.4k, $3.8k) could serve as a great value play in GPP formats.
Rodney Hood ($4.1k DraftKings, $4.1k FanDuel)
He was a great value play last night with 18 points and 6 rebounds over 31 minutes and Hood’s price tag remains unchanged on both main DFS sites ahead of a much better matchup. The Jazz host the Wolves 24th-ranked defense tonight and Minnesota has been more vulnerable against 2s since Zach LaVine (knee) went down for the season, as they give up an above average 21.5 PPG to the position over the last month. Hood averaged 15 PPG on 46% FG shooting over 4 meetings with Minnesota last year and he’s starting to round back into form now as he works back from a sprained knee.
If, Then Player
If Tony Parker (quad) is out tonight we could see more of Patty Mills while Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard would do more to initiate the Spurs offense.
Aaron Gordon’s potential absence would significantly raise the stock of Evan Fournier and new Magic acquisition Terrence Ross.
