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The Philadelphia 76ers will travel to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks Saturday. The visiting team will be without its centerpiece while the home side will try to take advantage of that to snap a two-game losing strak. We break the best lineup strategy for this 76ers-Knicks Showdown matchup for tonight’s 11-game NBA slate.
Captain’s Picks
Ben Simmons ($18,300) has seen an uptick in scoring as of late. He’s tallied at least 20 points in three straight contests and has also four straight double-doubles. Joel Embiid’s finger injury has forced Simmons to assume a larger workload on the offensive end, which should raise his floor and ceiling moving forward. Simmons’ rim protection, rebounding, and offensive aggression have improved in order to keep Philadelphia toward the top of the Eastern Conference.
Julius Randle ($16,500) has attempted at least 20 shots in three straight appearances and finished with a minimum of 25 points in each of those contests. Randle has been New York’s most consistent player when it comes to DFS this year and can explode on any given night. His floor and ceiling are higher than the players on the Knicks, and only Simmons averages more DKFP than him in this game.
FLEX Options
Mitchell Robinson ($6,600) is backing up Taj Gibson ($2,800) at center, but has consistenly been outpacing his senior in minutes and production. Philadelphia is undermanned in the post, so Robinson should have an advantage when playing against the 76ers’ second unit and matches up against the Kyle O’Quinn and other lower tier backups.
Al Horford ($10,200) has become the 76ers’ starting center since Embiid went out of commission and has played at least 32 minutes in seven straight contests. He’s tallied 33 or more DKFP in five straight contests and should continue to play a lot of minutes because of his team’s lack of depth at center. Horford is a strong defender, solid rebounder, and one has been one of the better playmaking bigs in the NBA in recent years. He won’t log many empty minutes without Embiid on the court, so take advantage of his role change while you can.