DFS NBA Lineups for March 17, 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 St. Patrick’s Day! We have eight games on the main slate in DFS NBA for Friday, 3/17/17 with only Harden, KAT, and Brow topping the five-figure mark. The Suns have decided to shut down their veterans, including Eric Bledsoe, which leads to the most expensive player on their squad being Devin Booker at $7.2k. What you do with Suns will be a difference maker today. Dwyane Wade has also been shut down for the rest of the season, so Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo will be GPP options on a nightly basis unless their price tags get out of control. And finally, it’s hard to truly trust any of the Nets (basically unusable for cash), but rolling the dice on these guys at their cheap price tags can really help round out a lineup and sometimes, they smash (Lin went for 36.5 DK points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 35.5 DK points last night).
Taking a look at the DFS NBA contests for March 17, DraftKings is rolling out a $40 buy-in, $300k guaranteed as well as their $4 Four Point Play with a $250k guarantee. At FanDuel, they’ve got the $3 Shot with $250k guaranteed, and they’ve juiced up the $7 Layup, giving it a $250k guarantee and payout out $50k 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
Isaiah Thomas (knee)
Kyle Lowry (wrist)
Dwayne Wade (elbow)
Michael Beasley (knee)
Nemanja Bjelica (foot)
Sean Kilpatrick (hamstring)
INJURY NEWS TO MONITOR
John Wall (foot)
Wesley Matthews (calf)
Nick Young (finger)
Brandon Knight (back)
NBA GAME SPREADS, TOTALS & START TIME FOR TODAY’S GAMES
Mavericks -4.5 @ 76ers (7:00p): 203.5
Bulls @ Wizards (7:00p): TBD
Celtics -8 @ Nets (7:30p): 218.5
Raptors @ Pistons -3.5 (7:30p): 200.5
Rockets -5 @ Pelicans (8:00p): 228.5
Timberwolves @ Heat -4.5 (8:00p): 205.5
Magic @ Suns -3 (10:00p): 220
Bucks -7 @ Lakers (10:30p): 214
Best NBA Picks for March 17, 2017
James Harden ($11.8k DraftKings, $11.8k FanDuel)
Harden and Westbrook are the only two names mentioned in the MVP race right now, but one player remains priced amongst mere mortals below $13k. Getting Harden into lineups tonight in what will almost assuredly be a shootout with Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins is worth stretching salary at other positions at a night that should feature plenty of value plays. The Beard’s averaged 21 PPG and 13.5 APG over 2 meetings with the Pelicans this season and those were 20 and 30-point wins for the Rockets. With his team only slightly favored on the road in a game with the highest Over/Under on the slate, Harden is a cash game lock.
Anthony Davis ($10.2k DraftKings, $11.2k FanDuel)
Stacking The Brow and Beard seems much more possible on DraftKings with his very reasonable price tag. Yet he’s clearly a great bet to post a double double with huge point totals and other peripheral stats in an uptempo matchup with the run-and-gun Rockets. Houston is giving up the seventh-most FPPG (44.76) to opposing PFs and fourth-most FPPG to opposing centers (49.85) this season. Davis topped 20 points in brutal matchups against at Utah and at Miami recently and he’s always more dangerous at home against softer defensive teams.
Giannis Antetokounmpo ($9.9k DraftKings, $10.5k FanDuel)
Getting Giannis at below $10k on DraftKings against the worst defensive team in the NBA right now is a dream come true. He’s coming off B2B lackluster games against two stingy teams in the Grizzlies and Clippers, but should be able to pile up ample peripheral stats against a Lakers team that coughs up the most overall FPPG (228.89) by far over the last month. As far as scoring goes, the Lakers also rank dead last in defensive rating and cough up the most PPG (117.6) during that span, while The Greek Freak has already burned them for 41 points, 8 rebounds and 6 dimes in one of his best performances of the year.
Mid-Tier DFS NBA Plays
Jeremy Lin ($6k DraftKings, $5.9k FanDuel)
It’s all about usage with Lin, who is easily the top option on a Nets team that’s struggling to score or defend right now. He should be able to overcome the hounding defense of Marcus Smart and/or Terry Rozier with his ability to penetrate off the dribble. Once in the paint, he’ll be able to score against a Celtics team that completely lacks rim protection and is giving up an above average 23 PPG to opposing PGs over the last month. Lin is averaging 17.3 PPG and 5 APG despite playing just 26.3 MPG over his last 6 appearances and he’s getting much healthier as he was able to ramp up and play 30 minutes in a win over the Knicks last night.
Tyler Ulis ($5.7k DraftKings, $5.4k FanDuel)
Eric Bledsoe has been shut down, Brandon Knight apparently exaggerates his back spasms so that he doesn’t have to play for the Suns, and Ulis is more than happy to step into the spotlight as a rookie. He went for 13 points and 13 dimes in his first game with Bledsoe out of the picture and should thrive in a plus matchup against an Orlando team that gives up the fifth-most FPPG (45.23) to opposing PGs this season. You’re going to keep using Ulis until he’s priced closer to $7k on both these sites, so he’s a no-brainer play right now.
Value DFS NBA Plays
Caris LeVert ($4.2k DraftKings, $4.4k FanDuel)
This guy can certainly score in the league. LeVert poured in another 17 points with 7 boards last night and he’s securing a steady role on a hapless Nets team that has very little going offensively. Tonight the Nets host the Celtics in a bit of a prideful match, as they’ll soon be giving up a potential top overall draft pick to Boston and don’t want to take a loss without the C’s MVP in the lineup. The playing time and shots are there for LeVert and his matchup isn’t particularly daunting.
Denzel Valentine ($4.1k DraftKings, $3.7k FanDuel)
You could look at a few different options with Dwyane Wade ruled out for the season and the Bulls looking for ways to replace him. Yet Valentine seems like the most promising with at least 23 minutes over his last 5 appearances and increasing production during that span. He draws a somewhat difficult matchup against Washington tonight, but the Wizards happen to give up the most PPG (27.45) to opposing SGs over the last month and he has a decided physical advantage against Bradley Beal if that wins up as the matchup down the stretch.
Boston Celtics
There are an insane amount of options here with Isaiah Thomas and his massive usage rate out of the Celtics lineup and the woeful Nets on tap. Jae Crowder ($5.4k, $5.6k) and Avery Bradley $6k, $6.4k) will be taking a lot more shots while the volatile Marcus Smart is always an option as his usage rate climbs to 24.8% with IT inactive this season. Terry Rozier ($3k, $4.1k) and Jaylen Brown ($3.9k, $3.7k) are volatile value plays whom you might consider in GPP formats along with Kelly Olynyk ($4k, $3.8k) depending on how Brad Stevens chooses to exploit a Nets team that ranks dead last in PPG allowed (114.2) this season.
If, Then Player
John Wall told reporters that he’s “50-50” to play tonight and if he sits, Bradley Beal will see a huge increase in usage in a plus matchup against the Bulls. Brandon Jennings would also become a very viable punt play in his first opportunity to see big minutes for Washington.
