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UPDATE: Jan. 9, 10:53 a.m. — Westbrook will take his former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, for the first time in Oklahoma since being traded to the Rockets prior to this season. It’s a big time narrative for Russ, who generally shows up in massive narrative spots like this. At $8,400 on DraftKings, Westbrook will probably garner around 50% ownership in most GPPs tonight. He’s almost a virtual lock if you’re playing tournaments at this price. He’s also coming off six days of rest.
The flip side of this narrative is Chris Paul facing the Rockets — this game is packed full of narratives, I’m totally fine stacking CP3, Russ and James Harden ($12,200). CP3 is a bit cheaper on the main slate at $7,400, so that may make this work out OK. Plus, it’s a short four-game slate, so variance won’t be much of an issue with fewer options.
Houston Rockets PG Russell Westbrook will rest Wednesday vs. the Atlanta Hawks and SG Eric Gordon will start in the backcourt alongside James Harden.
Eric Gordon getting the start for Rockets in Atlanta with Russell Westbrook sitting out.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) January 8, 2020
Westbrook was expected to rest tonight with the Rockets playing the first of a back-to-back set. Houston wants Russ ready to go Thursday night in a revenge spot in his first game back in Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder.
As for tonight, Gordon is a great value play on DraftKings at $4,400 and I think Harden is the top GPP play on the slate despite being priced at $12,800. The last time Harden faced the Hawks he dropped 60 points.