DFS NBA Lineups for March 9, 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 five games on the main slate in DFS NBA for Thursday, 3/9/17 with three of those games topping game totals of 217 points. As for blowout risk, there’s only one really sizable spread with the Blazers playing at home against a 76ers squad that’s lost five of its last six. One thing to note as you start building your lineups, while the Spurs are on the second half of a back to back tonight, Pop sat Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge last night to have them rest up for this game against the Thunder. They’ll be fresh and Leonard, in particular, is an elite play. At the point shooting position, CJ McCollum figures to be the chalkiest of all chalk tonight. The position is ridiculously thin, so if you wanted to take a stand, hope for a blowout, and pray he gets rested in the process, you’d separate yourself from about 40% or more of the field at FanDuel.
The massive tournaments from yesterday did so well that DraftKings and FanDuel decided to run back two more with big guarantees on Thursday. DK is going with the Hall of Fame Encore, a $33 buy-in with $600k guaranteed and $100k to first place. At FanDuel, it’s the Epic Slam, a $55 buy-in with $500k guaranteed and $100k to first place.
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 Love (knee)
Evan Turner (hand)
Ed Davis (shoulder)
Kyle Korver (foot)
INJURY NEWS TO MONITOR
Jahlil Okafor (knee)
Richaun Holmes (hamstring)
Larry Nance Jr. (wrist)
Ivica Zubac (quad)
DeMarre Carroll (ankle)
NBA GAME SPREADS, TOTALS & START TIME FOR TODAY’S GAMES
Cavs -5.5 @ Pistons (7:30p): 217.5
Clippers @ Grizzlies -2.5 (8:00p): 207
Spurs -3 @ Thunder (8:00p): 211.5
76ers @ Blazers -9.5 (10:00p): 221.5
Lakers @ Suns -5.5 (10:30p): 229.5
Best NBA Picks for March 8, 2017
Russell Westbrook ($12.5k DraftKings, $13.3k FanDuel)
He doesn’t see much of a price drop on FanDuel, but it was foolish in retrospect to fade Westbrook on a short slate the other night and it would be foolish to fade him just because he’s facing San Antonio. The Spurs are a tough defensive team of course, yet they’ve had trouble with Westbrook, as he went for 27 points and 14 assists in his only other meeting with them this year. He’s been sporting an insane Usage Rate (46.3%) since the ASB and just poured in a career-high 58 points on 21-of-39 FG shooting in a losing effort, so he’ll have to dig even deeper to give his team a shot against the elite Spurs tonight.
Kawhi Leonard ($9.7k DraftKings, $9.6k FanDuel)
If Westbrook manages to go off and keep the Thunder (+3) competitive at home tonight, Leonard is almost assuredly going to have a big game for the opposition. He’s clearly third in the MVP race at this point with averages of 25.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.9 SPG and the second-highest Player Efficiency Rating (28.5) on the year in addition to the best defensive efficiency numbers in the league as well. Leonard put up huge numbers with at least 31 points and 54 DK points in 4 consecutive games before getting last night off to rest. The Thunder give up an above average 39.64 FPPG to opposing SFs over the last month and lack the necessary personnel to slow down the unflappable Leonard.
Kyrie Irving ($8.6k DraftKings, $9.4k FanDuel)
In terms of pure scoring, very few players can compete with Irving and he’s going to have to continue to fill it up with Kevin Love (knee) out indefinitely. LeBron and Kyrie are doing all the heavy lifting for the Cavs and maintaining their teams’ status as the top seed in the East through herculean efforts on a nightly basis. Tonight, he should be to roast a Pistons defense that’s been consistently bad against opposing PGs (coughing up the seventh-most FPPG, 44.72, to the position) and can’t decide on a rotation of Reggie Jackson and Ish Smith. Kyle Korver is also out, which gives life to Iman Shumpert as a potential punt play, but likely just means more usage for Kyrie.
Mid Tier DFS NBA Plays
Jusuf Nurkic ($7k DraftKings, $6.5k FanDuel)
His price tag continues to rise but Nurkic could definitely be worth the money in tonight’s matchup. Philadelphia has been terrible defensively since Joel Embiid and is coughing up the third-most FPPG (52.85) to opposing centers over the last month, as they use a patchwork combination of non-centers combined with maybe the league’s worst low post defender in Jahlil Okafor. Both Okafor and Richaun Holmes are questionable tonight, potentially leaving Dario Saric and Robert Covington in isolation situations against one of the strongest big men in the league.
Maurice Harkless ($5.5k DraftKings, $4.8k FanDuel)
When looking for mid-tier options that are just reliable enough to use in cash games on this relatively short slate, Harkless stands out as a quality option against a Sixers team that’s back to being a train wreck defensively. Philly gives up the third-most PPG (113.8) in the NBA over the last month and Harkless is the type of steady role player who can take advantage of defensive lapses in transition or in the halfcourt. He’s averaging 10.3 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 2.6 STL/BLK per game since Evan Turner (hand) suffered a significant injury around the ASB and remains a great source of salary relief on FD.
Value DFS NBA Plays
Tyler Ulis ($5k DraftKings, $4.5k FanDuel)
If Ulis had made this run earlier he would probably be the front-runner for Rookie of the Year with Joel Embiid with each of them playing only around 30 games. He was barely seeing the floor for most of the year but has certainly come around with 49 points and 25 assists over his last 4 appearances. Even after a modest game against the Wizards, I’ll be willing to roll with Ulis against the Lakers sieve-like defense tonight, as that struggling team is allowing the most FPPG (50.73) and APG (12.89) to opposing PGs over the last month.
Justin Anderson ($4k DraftKings, $3.9k FanDuel)
Justin Anderson’s relative breakout game as a member of the Sixers is probably not a fluke. Philadelphia thought high enough of the young wing to give up Nerlens Noel for him and he’s a pretty good find as a versatile SF who can rebound, defend, and fit in offensively. Anderson put up 19 points on 9-of-16 FG shooting in a tough matchup against Milwaukee and played 30 minutes in the game prior despite providing much less scoring, so he’s a good bet to stick in the rotation, especially with two of Philly’s bigs questionable going into a plus matchup at Portland.
If, Then Player
If Jahlil Okafor is unable to go for the Sixers, Dario Saric and Robert Covington will become even more reliable as upper-tier options with great floor-ceiling combinations against Portland.
