The NBA returned for a proper nine-game slate yesterday after just a single offering on Wednesday, and there were a few incredible games — another New York Knicks overtime thriller and a LeBron James second-half masterclass to hold off the Portland Trail Blazers.
There are nine games on tap tonight, six of which will be on DraftKings’ featured early slate. Here are three must-start players from those six games.
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PG Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons at San Antonio Spurs, $10,300
San Antonio’s defense was surprisingly good last night after losing runaway Defensive Player of the Year favorite Victor Wembanyama ($10,800) for the season, as the Spurs held the Phoenix Suns to just 109 points and forced 18 turnovers. Still, I trust the general trend — obviously, San Antonio is better with Wemby, and even with him, San Antonio owned the 12th-worst defensive rating in the league. Without the seven-foot-three Frenchman to clean up all of their mistakes at the rim, the Spurs will likely struggle more against the likely Most Improved Player, who most recently averaged 43.4 FPTS per game in a two-game set against the Chicago Bulls before the All-Star break. Overall, San Antonio allowed the 11th-most fantasy points to opposing point guards before losing Wembanyama. Cunningham is one of the league’s best scorers from floater range, and the Spurs no longer have the league’s best floater deterrent.
PG Kyrie Irving, Dallas Mavericks vs. New Orleans Pelicans, $9,300
Obviously, the Mavericks’ flurry of injuries benefits nobody, least of all General Manager Nico Harrison, who will remain on the hot seat — from fans, anyway — until, and possibly after, Luka Dončić retires. Most teams’ injury lists are fairly short after the All-Star break, but Dallas will be without Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, and Dereck Lively II — its top three centers — as well as Caleb Martin, with Dwight Powell and P.J. Washington both carrying injury designations as well. However, with all of his supporting cast injured, Irving has played at least 40 minutes in each of his last five games, dropping 50 or more FPTS in three of those contests. Most recently, he scored 42 points and added seven rebounds (54.75 FPTS) in a 111-107 win over the new-look Golden State Warriors on February 12.
Meanwhile, the Pelicans have been even more hit by the injury bug than Dallas has. New Orleans has lost Dejounte Murray and Herbert Jones for the season and traded Brandon Ingram to the Toronto Raptors for pennies on the dollar. The Pelicans have seen Trey Murphy III ($8,400) take a major leap as a scorer this season, but besides him, CJ McCollum ($8,000), and Zion Williamson ($8,500), New Orleans doesn’t have much NBA-level talent. This season, the Pelicans have the league’s second-worst defensive rating, and they’ve allowed the third-most points, third-most rebounds, and fourth-most assists per game. Unsurprisingly, they’ve also allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to opposing point guards.
SF Franz Wagner, Orlando Magic vs. Memphis Grizzlies, $8,700
I wasn’t sure whether to take Wagner or his teammate, Paolo Banchero ($8,300), but in the end, I decided to go with Wagner. He’s the more consistent player, and has a slightly higher usage rate over the last 10 games — 32.8%, marginally higher than Banchero’s 31.7%. Although it was Banchero who went off in yesterday’s win over the Atlanta Hawks — scoring 36 points and adding 10 rebounds and five assists (57.5 FPTS) — Wagner is still the more trustworthy option, especially since Banchero has played 87% of his minutes at the power forward position, where likely Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. ($8,200) suits up.
Although Memphis has had the league’s seventh-best defensive rating this season, it’s been surprisingly mediocre against opposing wings, allowing the third-most fantasy points to opposing small forwards. The Grizzlies have mostly employed rookie Jaylen Wells ($4,700) against small forwards, but while Wells has been good overall, he has still allowed opponents to shoot only 1.8 percentage points worse from beyond the arc as they otherwise would. Jackson, too, is a surprisingly mediocre perimeter defender and defensive rebounder for a six-foot-10 player with a seven-foot-four wingspan, holding opponents to merely 2.6 percentage points worse from beyond the arc and posting just a 13.9% defensive rebounding percentage, the sixth-best on his own team.
