DFS NBA Lineups for March 16, 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.
Happy March Madness! We have six games on the main slate in DFS NBA for Thursday, 3/16/17 with all six home teams coming in as the favorite. Let’s get the obvious out of the way here. Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan are both out (rest), play Mo Speights ($3.3k DK, $3.5k FD). There’s merit to fading anyone in GPPs (we’ll still have 70%+), but he’s a mortal lock for your cash games. Also, there’s plenty of value already, with more sure to come this afternoon, so Russell Westbrook is going to be very heavily owned across the industry. Fade at your own peril.
Taking a look at the DFS NBA contests for March 16, DraftKings and FanDuel are both running $6 buy-in, $660,000 guaranteed tournaments. Both contests will award the winner $150,000. These contests need over 129,000 entries to fill, and with today kicking off March Madness, people might be a little distracted. We’ll be on overlay watch, so be sure and follow @PlayPicks on Twitter and we’ll let you know if there’s any free money to be had close to to lineup lock.
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)
Kyle Korver (foot)
Wilson Chandler (groin)
Danilo Gallinari (knee)
Darrell Arthur (knee)
Derrick Favors (knee)
Sean Kilpatrick (hamstring)
Blake Griffin (rest)
DeAndre Jordan (rest)
INJURY NEWS TO MONITOR
Kristaps Porzingis (thigh)
Kenneth Faried (back)
Rodney Hood (knee)
DeMarre Carroll (ankle)
NBA GAME SPREADS, TOTALS & START TIME FOR TODAY’S GAMES
Jazz @ Cavs -7 (7:00p): 206.5
Thunder @ Raptors -2.5 (7:00p): 207.5
Nets @ Knicks -4 (7:30p): 222
Grizzlies @ Hawks -3.5 (7:30p): 203
Clippers @ Nuggets -4.5 (9:00p): 219.5
Magic @ Warriors -13.5 (10:30p): 219
Best NBA Picks for March 16, 2017
LeBron James ($10.4k DraftKings, $10.5k FanDuel)
I’ll take a discounted LeBron all day regardless of the difficulty of his matchup. Utah is a great defensive team, but if any individual or defensive scheme could contain The King than he wouldn’t be the consensus best player in the world. As long as Kevin Love (knee) remains out, and he’s not expected to return until at least next week, James and Kyrie Irving will post huge usage rates for the Cavs in defense of the top seed in the ECF. LBJ posted a triple-double over just 28 minutes of playing time in a blowout win over Detroit and the Jazz is a much, much more complete team that will force him to play heavy minutes if Cleveland (-7) wants to get a home win tonight.
Draymond Green ($8k DraftKings, $8.3k FanDuel)
The Warriors are really struggling right now and barely managed to come back from a double-digit deficit at home against the lowly Sixers. That means we should see production from someone in a Magic uniform in another home game for the Dubs, while it also means that Golden State’s starters have a much better chance of putting up big numbers. Green went nuts in Tuesday’s comeback effort with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 6 blocks and he draws a great matchup tonight against an Orlando team that ranks 25th in opponents FG shooting (.465%) and 30th in defensive rebounding this year. Orlando gives up the fourth-most FPPG (47.98) to opposing PFs over the last month and is clearly more vulnerable down low with Serge Ibaka traded.
Mid-Tier DFS NBA Plays
Guillermo Hernangomez ($6.2k DraftKings, $6k FanDuel)
With Porzingis doubtful due to a thigh injury, you might be tempted to roll with Carmelo Anthony ($8.1k, $8.4k) but he’s very inconsistent for a player in that price range and doesn’t draws as juicy of an individual matchup as Wily. Hernangomez is coming off a big-time double-double with 13 points and 16 boards against the Pacers and it only gets better as the Knicks prepare to host a Nets team that plays at the fastest pace in the league and gives up the most PPG (114.2) along with the third-most FPPG (49.98) to opposing Centers on the season. He’s far too quick for Brook Lopez and has been very efficient with averages of 12 PPG and 10.7 RPG despite playing just 18.6 MPG over three meetings with Brooklyn thus far this year.
Will Barton ($5.3k DraftKings, $5.3k FanDuel)
He was clearly a huge beneficiary with Wilson Chandler (groin) on the shelf earlier in the season and Barton becomes an even more appealing play now that Danilo Gallinari (knee) is expected to miss a couple of games for Denver. The swingman sports a 24.2% Usage Rate and averages 0.92 FPs per minute with both of those SFs off the court this season and he might be asked to do even more with the Nuggets extremely thin for this matchup. Barton went for 22 points and 6 assists over 30 minutes in a home tilt against the Lakers Monday, good for 37 DK points. Of note, the Clippers just lost a close tilt to a physical Milwaukee squad and have to travel to altitude for the second half of a B2B set.
Value DFS NBA Plays
Caris LeVert ($4k DraftKings, $4.4k FanDuel)
The Nets rotations have been messy all year but we can finally expect a little clarity with Sean Kilpatrick (hamstring) out indefinitely. Even when Kilpatrick was in the mix, LeVert had been very productive over his last two appearances with 29 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists during that span. He should remain a key part of the Nets offense in the Battle of the Burroughs tonight. New York is one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA and coughs up the fifth-most FPPG (39.11) to opposing SGs this season, while LeVert seems to match up well against a Knicks defense that he’s burned for 23 points on 8-of-13 FG shooting over two games this year.
Matt Barnes ($3.9k DraftKings, $4.3k FanDuel)
Barnes’ ascendancy into the Warriors rotation has made Andre Iguodala ($4.4k, $4.7k) a far less appealing play because he can do so many of the same things and is less expendable to the playoff-bound Warriors. Granted the Dubs were resting their starters when he played 36 minutes last weekend, but Barnes followed that up with 10 points and a full line over 22 minutes during a comeback win over the Sixers on Tuesday. Golden State is missing physicality and defensive toughness with Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, and now Kevin Durant no longer in the picture, and MB can certainly provide that in a plus matchup against the soft Magic.
If, Then Player
With two key Nuggets already out and Kenneth Faried questionable, we could see Juancho Hernangomez step up as a viable punt play. Jamal Murray is already red hot and is also worth consideration as a wing scorer who could thrive with Chandler and Gallo out.
