RADIO
What a weekend of hoops! The NBA has a lot to live up to over the next few days before they go back to sharing the spotlight with the NCAA Tournament - which delivered a lot of excitement over the weekend, namely in the form of crazy upsets. The NBA is giving us a healthy sized eight game slate for this evening, with the action tipping off at 7pm Eastern.
Based on the Vegas lines I am seeing this morning, we should see a lot of points across the board tonight. There are a handful of games with really juicy over/under lines, and that's where I'll be concentrating my game-stack efforts. A few of the games with big totals are Bucks at Cavs (223), Hornets at 76ers (222.5), Lakers at Pacers (219.5) and Nuggets at Heat (215.5). Seeing as the largest spread in that group is just eight points (76ers favored in that one) I will likely have exposure to each and game stack a few of these in tournament entries. My favorite, at the moment, is the contest between the Lakers and Pacers - great game context, fast pace, stars that can exceed 50 fantasy points, and strong value plays. The Bucks and Cavs are interesting as well, seeing as Cleveland will be using a tighter-than-usual rotation with Larry Nance Jr. and Rodney Hood already ruled out tonight.
Below you will find our daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on 3/19/18. These DFS lineup picks can vary from higher-priced players and elite options, to lower-priced players and value picks on FanDuel.
FanDuel DFS Guards
Cameron Payne - PG, at NYK ($4,900)
Even with the slight price increase (+400 since his last game), I see no reason to ditch the Payne train in cash game formats. He's done a great job of cashing value and has done so, impressively, in five straight games for the Bulls. In each of those games, the minutes have been reliable and that trend looks to continue this evening, where he's projected for upwards of 30 minutes on the court. Tonight, he gets a really enticing matchup against the Knicks, who rank 21st in the Association in team defensive rating. Over the past month, Payne has been producing 1 FanDuel point per minute on the court, so with the chance at 30 minutes tonight, a Usage rate around 20% and a matchup against a bottom-feeder defensive team, I am all in in cash. Update: Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine didn't even fly to New York for the game tonight - that's a bigger bump to Payne.
Khris Middleton - SG, at CLE ($7,400)
This game features the highest projected point total of the night, a low spread, and one of the most porous defensive units in the NBA. That all adds up to me being all-in on Khris Middleton, who has a fantastic matchup on paper and great game context to go with it. Middleton has been pretty impressive over his last few, beating his price implied total in four of his last five games. In that stretch, he's been playing his usual allotment of big minutes (34+ in four of the 5), which is a good sign for tonight in what could be an Eastern Conference playoff series preview. Speaking of the porous Cleveland defense, this season, they've allowed over four points above salary based expectations to opposing shooting guards - which is the highest margin of this slate by far. If this game stays close, Middleton has the capability to return 6-7x on the dollar tonight.
Also Consider: George Hill - PG, vs MIL ($4,600); Victor Oladipo - SG, vs LAL ($9,100)
FanDuel DFS Forwards
Jeremy Lamb - SF, at PHI ($4,800)
Nicolas Batum has already been ruled out tonight, and with that news, my attention shifts to Jeremy Lamb. Lamb should receive an injection of minutes tonight, and his Usage rate is likely to climb a few percentage points as well. Seeing as he has those two things going for him, and a price that doesn't reflect Batum's absence - I have a lot of interest tonight in all formats. For the season, the 76ers have allowed more than two points per night above salary based expectations to opposing small forwards, and Lamb is a strong candidate to do some damage tonight with his 0.98 FanDuel point per minute marks this season. The minutes boost and low salary cost put him at the top of my point-per-dollar projections tonight, making him an excellent value play. He also happens to get a slight pace up game, which should benefit him as well.
Bam Adebayo - PF, vs DEN ($3,600)
Despite Adebayo's strong fantasy totals, the price does not seem to budge on FanDuel at all. In fact, it has come down over his last three games despite destroying value in each. Tonight, he gets a fairly neutral matchup in terms of the fantasy points Denver surrenders to opposing power forwards, but with his minutes likely over 25 again, I can't imagine not using him in cash and as a salary saver with upside in tournament formats. For the season, he has a really strong point per minute mark of 0.9, which has only improved with his recent play, bringing it up to 0.95. In other words, we can expect these types of performances from Bam, which makes him a strong play in cash - especially at this price point.
Also Consider: Robert Covington - SF, vs CHA ($6,000); Noah Vonleh - PF, at NYK ($3,800)
FanDuel DFS Centers
Brook Lopez - C, at IND ($6,900)
Keep an eye on Lopez's status for tonight because he hasn't been confirmed playing yet, but is currently Probable. If he's able to go without restrictions tonight, there's a lot to love about the Lopez twin who has been crushing it on all fronts of late. In his past 8 games, he's exceeded his salary implied total six times - by a very impressive average margin of over six points per night. The price has climbed up appropriately in this time, too, but we've seen him pay off this tag just a few nights ago. And the matchup tonight is a very strong one, one in which he should get a lot of looks against their soft interior defense and be a menace on the boards.
Also Consider: Enes Kanter - C, vs CHI ($5,900)
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