RADIO
Well, folks, I believe it was Boyz 2 Men who said it best back in 1992 - I am afraid "we've come to the end of the road." We have an eight-game slate tonight with several teams wrapping up their preseason schedule. Tomorrow, there are only two games and then Friday there are NINE, and as much fun as that slate will be, I simply won't have the time or energy left by that point of the week to cover it for you as I will deep into NFL prep for Sunday. But don't worry, I will still tweet out some stuff over the next few days and I know I can find us some angles on this one today.
Last night, you had to do some pivoting as a lot of the big names on the slate were ruled out, but not all at once. I was heavy on DeMar DeRozan and it was already after the first games had started that I saw he had been ruled out. I should have given myself more flexibility to get the Milwaukee backups in there, but I did manage to get Jordan Nwora in a few last-minute. And then the Warriors sat their guys too, so I have to get off Steph and roll with some Donte DiVincenzo. I have a feeling we are going to see some similar scenarios tonight, so be prepared to pivot and if you don't want to be bothered with changing lineups post-lock, you may want to sit this one out.
If you're interested in following NBA beat writers on Twitter and trying to keep up with the latest info about which players are in or out and if coaches mention any plans for minutes, then you can follow this list (I am constantly updating it each season). I highly encourage you to follow me on Twitter as well. In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 10/12/22. You can always find me in the RotoBaller Discord or @ThunderDanDFS on Twitter.
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NBA DFS Games
Here are some game-by-game notes and what I've been able to gather about each team so far.
Charlotte @ Philadelphia
Charlotte is all banged up, with LaMelo Ball getting injured the other night and set to miss a few weeks of the regular season. Mason Plumlee, PJ Washington, and Kelly Oubre Jr. are all listed as out or doubtful too, so it could be Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward as the last men standing for Charlotte.
The Sixers sat Joel Embiid the other night, but there's been no indication he will rest again. He could feast on this Hornets team, but I also don't think we see them push his minutes. And we could easily see Harden or others rested here too, since Charlotte is going to be rolling out so many reserves. It's the last game of the preseason for both teams, so we are going to have to wait and see how these coaches want to approach it. Luckily, the Sixers have multiple solid beat writers and there is usually plenty of information out there about them.
Atlanta @ Cleveland
Both teams play again on Friday so...is this the dress rehearsal? If so, it should be a really fun first half to watch as both teams are playoff-caliber squads with dynamic players to watch.
The Cavs will likely be without Evan Mobley again but could get Kevin Love back for this one. I was rewarded last time out when I pivoted some of my Porzingis shares onto Jarrett Allen as he had a solid double-double on Monday night and he's a guy I might be eyeing again here against the Hawks.
Not much on the injury report for Atlanta, other than they are still missing their sixth-man extraordinaire, Bogdan Bogdanovic. Both Trae Young and Dejounte Murray are expensive, but DeAndre Hunter, Clint Capela, and John Collins are all rather affordable here.
NY Knicks @ Indiana
The same scenario applies to these teams as both play again on Friday and could view this as the final tune-up for starters. They played each other last Friday with the Knicks racking up 131 points in that one and playing their starters in the low to mid-20s. If this is indeed the dress rehearsal, I will have interest in several players on both teams for sure.
Brooklyn @ Milwaukee
This would be a fun regular-season matchup and heck, maybe we do get some star players to play here tonight. But we already know Kyrie Irving is not likely to play as he left training camp to be there for the birth of his child and the Nets will also be without Seth Curry and Joe Harris. KD should have to do a lot of heavy lifting for Brooklyn again.
The Bucks rested most of their entire team last night, which makes you think they'll roll out Giannis and the starters here at least for a little bit. But it's Milwaukee's last game of the preseason, and the starters don't have much left to prove either. Their rotation is set. I am a tad skeptical we could see reserves here for much of this game, but hopefully, we know Coach Bud's plan before the games tip.
New Orleans @ Miami
This one might be a weird one based on what we know so far. The Pelicans are listing a bunch of players as questionable (McCollum, Ingram, Daniels, and Nance) so stay tuned as to which Pelicans actually suit up in this one. New Orleans does have another game Friday, so they could roll out bench players tonight and still get their core guys some run then.
Miami is done after today and they've rested their main players a lot this preseason, allowing young guys like Nikola Jovic and Jamal Cain to become mainstays in our lineups. Bam is looking doubtful tonight after not practicing yesterday and neither did Omer Yurtseven, so we could see more youth in the front court again for Miami. I won't play Jimmy Butler, I think he's the first guy out of this game if he does play.
Minnesota @ LA Lakers
These teams already met once this preseason and both teams play again in their final games on Friday. So far all I know is that Rudy Gobert will be rested again for Minnesota. Will we see the Lakers' big three here tonight? I have no clue and there hasn't been much talk about their plan for these final two games. My gut says they play tonight and rest Friday, but my gut has been wrong before!
Sacramento @ Phoenix
Both teams are playing again on Friday, so this sets up nicely (potentially) as a few of the other games do for a dress rehearsal. The Suns' starters sans Torrey Craig all played minutes in the high 20s against Denver, so I am very interested in Phoenix tonight. Sacramento has yet to push their guys over 20-22 minutes yet and their best young player (and the absolute lock for preseason DFS slates) Keegan Murray could be out tonight with an illness. I am much less interested in the Sacramento side.
Denver @ LA Clippers
The Clippers are done after tonight and haven't pushed their older guys really at all this preseason. Paul George led all starters with 23 minutes last time out and was very productive, but I'm pretty skeptical that Kawhi Leonard gets a full run tonight. John Wall started at point guard, but will probably move back to the bench. This team is deep and could easily play everyone again here, I am not overly interested.
Denver rested a bunch of guys last time out and still has another game on Friday. I am pretty confident that Jokic is done for the preseason, but Jamal Murray and Bones Hyland are both questionable. Those are two really important guards for Denver and I'd be surprised if they push either into action before they're 100%. Aaron Gordon should be back in the lineup and I'll be eyeing up Michael Porter Jr. again as well.
DraftKings DFS Top Plays
Deandre Ayton, C ($7,900) - We've been playing big men against the Kings now for what feels like forever, and perhaps that trend won't continue this year but I'm willing to test it out here with Ayton, who looked fantastic last time out with 19-11 on a very efficient 9-12 from the floor.
Tyrese Haliburton, PG/SG ($8,300) - We finally saw some scoring from Haliburton last time out as he dropped 20 points on 6-10 from the floor and added seven assists in just 24 minutes. He's going to have such a big year. If we get close to 30 minutes for him tonight, watch out!
Terry Rozier, SG ($6,800) - We get to see what Rozier can do tonight as the main guy for Charlotte. He should play on the ball a lot more in this one and Dennis Smith Jr. isn't going to be a threat to steal many shots. I like this price if we get 25+ minutes of Scary Terry.
Tyrese Maxey, PG ($5,700) - His price just dropped 1500 since the last slate for no apparent reason as this preseason pricing is once again wacky. I'm playing him even if Harden and Embiid play because he's simply been awesome this preseason and is scoring with ease.
Jalen Brunson, PG ($5,500) - Another weird pricing here as we were seeing Brunson up around 7k. Randle is 8k and Barrett is 7.4k, I'll gladly drop down and play Brunson for less, I think he has just as much upside here.
Trey Murphy III, SF ($6,200) - Don't scoff at this price, Murphy is legit and put on a show last time out. If the Pelicans are down Ingram and CJ again, Murphy should draw the start and it will be bombs away from downtown again.
Naz Reid, PF/C ($5,600) - We should see Naz slot in next to KAT tonight as Gobert is out and Minnesota wants to get used to playing big. He had 20-11 with a steal and a block in his last game and has always been a very efficient per-minute fantasy player.
DraftKings DFS Value Plays
My favorite plays on DraftKings for 5k or less. DK really tightened up pricing so there are fewer guys here than usual.
Jamal Cain, PF ($4,900)
Myles Turner, C ($4,800)
Miles Bridges, SF ($4,700)
Nic Claxton, C ($4,000)
Jose Alvarado, PG ($7,000)
Dennis Smith Jr., PG ($4,000)
