DFS NBA Lineups for March 23, 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.
DraftKings and FanDuel are both running massive low buy-in DFS NBA tournaments on 3/23/17. If you’ve got $6 in your account, you’ve got a chance at $100,000+ today. DraftKings has the Jab Step Championship. FanDuel has the Enormous Shot. Both $6 buy-in GPPs with $600k in the prize pool. DK is paying out $100k to first place, while FanDuel is awarding their winner $125k. Good luck!
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. As we enter the final weeks of the season, this is more important than ever. The Knicks play the late game in Portland tonight and their veterans played big minutes last night (Melo 35, Rose 32, Lee 35) in Utah, and Rose actually left the game briefly with a foot issue. We’ve also got a situation where the Knicks have nothing to play for while the Blazers (biggest favorite on the slate) are scraping for the final West playoff spot. With all that, there’s at least a chance one or more of the Knicks vets takes the night off on the tail end of a back to back. Unfortunately, we probably won’t know their plans before lineup lock, so be careful with your exposure.
PLAYERS RULED OUT
Kyle Lowry (wrist)
Dion Waiters (ankle)
Serge Ibaka (suspension)
Tyson Chandler (rest)
Brandon Knight (back)
Eric Bledsoe (knee)
Sean Kilpatrick (hamstring)
INJURY NEWS TO MONITOR
Hassan Whiteside (finger)
Jeremy Lin (ankle)
Alan Williams (illness)
Seth Curry (shoulder)
David Lee (foot)
Tony Allen (knee)
NBA GAME SPREADS, TOTALS & START TIME FOR TODAY’S GAMES
Raptors @ Heat -4 (7:30p): 203
Suns @ Nets -4 (7:30p): 223
Clippers -4 @ Mavericks (8:30p): 206.5
Grizzlies @ Spurs -8.5 (8:30p): 199
Knicks @ Blazers -10.5 (10:00p): 218.5
Best NBA Picks for March 23, 2017
Blake Griffin ($8.2k DraftKings, $9k FanDuel)
Griffin’s lackluster line in a massive blowout win over the Lakers is mostly the product of a lackadaisical attitude while facing the worst team in the WCF. Yet tonight the Clippers travel to Dallas to face a rapidly improving Mavs team and you’d think that Griffin would be much more aggressive in looking for his shot. Dallas still ranks dead last in total rebounding and 27th in opponents FG shooting (.469%) while giving up the second-most RPG (13.86) and ninth-most FPPG (46.44) to opposing PFs over the last month. Griffin will be matched up with Dirk Nowitzki, skinny Nerlens Noel or perhaps even Harrison Barnes tonight, so he should eat. The Clippers need to continue to win for seeding and the Mavericks need to basically win out to have a chance at the postseason, so you should get a pretty clean, competitive game.
DeMar DeRozan ($8.7k DraftKings, $9k FanDuel)
This is a slate without high-priced superstars and that makes it easy to pay up for the stars at each position where it makes sense. DeRozan offers such a high ceiling that it’s hard to leave him out of lineups after he went off for 42 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists to carry Toronto in an OT win over Chicago on Tuesday. He attempted an absurd 38 shots from the field during that game and is sporting a sky-high 44% Usage Rate while averaging 1.35 FPs per minute when Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka are off the floor this season. With Ibaka suspended, DDR should take the lion’s share of shots while Patrick Patterson ($3.6k DK, $3.6k FD) and P.J. Tucker ($3.9k DK, $3.8k FD) stand to benefit most. Jonas Valanciunas ($5.2k DK, $5.3k FD) will also be worth a look in tournament formats, especially if Hassan Whiteside can’t go tonight. The Raptors can still get the third seed, so a win is still of high priority.
Tyler Ulis ($7.1k DraftKings, $6.8k FanDuel)
While Ulis didn’t pay off as a top play in a relatively tough matchup against Miami, he played a ton of minutes (42) for a fourth consecutive game and remains a very safe play with Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight ruled out tonight. It’s an easy bounce back spot for the rookie PG in the best matchup imaginable, as the Suns face a Nets team that gives up the most PPG (113.6) while playing at the fastest pace in the NBA tonight. Brooklyn also gives up the most FPPG (48.01) to opposing PGs and should be rotating between the inexperienced Spencer Dinwiddie and a hobbled Jeremy Lin (ankle) at the 1 this evening.
Value DFS NBA Plays
Suns Bigs
Ulis is a great play out of the backcourt and Phoenix has another couple of great value options up front. Alex Len ($4.5k DK, $5.1k FD) is starting to earn more and more minutes with Tyson Chandler seemingly done for the year and he would become a fantastic play if Alan Williams is unable to play through an illness tonight. Marquess Chriss ($5.8k DK, $5.1k FD) has a bit more upside if both of those centers are active tonight since he’s grabbed a stranglehold on the PF job in Phoenix. The rookie has scored 70 points with 29 rebounds and 9 blocks over his last four appearances and played a season-high 38 minutes in a loss at Miami. Of course, the Nets give up the second-most FPPG (47.22) to opposing PFs and third-most FPPG (50.21) to opposing centers this year, so they’re ripe for the plucking.
Brooklyn Nets
It seems quite obvious which game you might stack tonight and which game you might fade. The Spurs and Grizzlies face off in what should be a low-scoring slugfest while the two worst defensive teams in terms of PPG and two of the three fastest-paced offenses meet in Brooklyn. On the Nets side of the ball, Spencer Dinwiddie ($4.9k DK, $4.6k FD) has emerged as a great value and he will be worth considering in all formats along with punt play Archie Goodwin ($3.1k DK, $3.6k FD) if Jeremy Lin ($5.6k DK, $6k FD) is inactive again. Trevor Booker has mostly fallen out of the rotation, giving Quincy Acy ($3k DK, $3.5k FD) some low-end appeal and Caris LeVert ($4.2k DK, $4.3k FD) is worth a look in tournaments given his ability to get hot. UPDATE: Lin listed as probable and is a nice tourney play on DraftKings
If, Then Player
If Hassan Whiteside is out tonight, then Willie Reed would emerge as a decent value while James Johnson would see a significant boost in usage. Tyler Johnson is also surging with Dion Waiters out while Josh Richardson can serve as a solid value in cash games.
If the Knicks are without Derrick Rose and/or Carmelo Anthony, then Lance Thomas and Justin Holiday stand to see the biggest bumps and will provide you with some salary relief.
