Finally, with around 20 games remaining in the season for most teams, it seems like the 20 teams who will participate in the postseason in some form have been settled, meaning we enter the part of the NBA season that is meaningful for different teams in different ways. Playoff-bound squads like the Cleveland Cavaliers will probably rest their guys in a rotating fashion — unless they’re chasing 70 wins — while the Philadelphia 76ers will try their hardest to keep losing.
Only the New York Knicks are on the second night of a back-to-back, so the injury reports for tonight’s eight-game slate should be pretty clean, but with the Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors suiting up again tomorrow, watch out for players like LaMelo Ball ($9,500) and Tyler Herro ($8,700), the latter of whom has missed Miami’s Wednesday game with an illness.. DraftKings Network will have you covered with today’s injury report, which will be updated as teams release player status updates.
Here are my top three DFS stacks to target for tonight’s contest.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $300K Fadeaway [$100K to 1st]
Cleveland Cavaliers at Charlotte Hornets
It’s pretty simple; Cleveland is on a league-high 12-game winning streak, and the Hornets are on a league-high eight-game losing streak. Across Charlotte’s skid, it’s been outscored by 23.8 points per 100 possessions, 10.4 points worse than any other team in the league, and in the Cavaliers’ winning streak, they’ve outscored teams by 15.4 points per 100 possessions, 2.4 points per 100 possessions better than any other squad. The only reason not to hammer Cleveland players here is if the game is effectively over by halftime.
Core Plays: As I wrote in my must-starts column, the Cavaliers are Donovan Mitchell ($8,600)‘s team, and he’s averaging 27.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists (42.4 FPTS) per game since the All-Star break. He should have absolutely no issues against a team that has allowed the seventh-most points, second-most rebounds, and third-most assists per game since the intermission and will be without at least Mark Williams ($7,400), who is managing a foot injury. Without the seven-foot Williams manning the middle, I also like Mitchell’s running mate, Evan Mobley ($8,100), given that the Hornets have given up the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing centers on a season-long basis.
Value Options: I’m convinced that Ty Jerome ($5,100) should be getting more Sixth Man of the Year love, despite being only the second-best bench player on his own team. The former Virginia teammate of De’Andre Hunter ($5,700) has averaged 16.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists (29.2 FPTS) per game over his last five games, and he might get a ton of minutes if the game quickly gets out of hand and Mitchell and Darius Garland ($7,300) pack it up early. I also like three-point specialist Dean Wade ($3,700) against a team that has conceded 17.6 made three-pointers per game over its losing streak, by far the most of any team.
Memphis Grizzlies at Dallas Mavericks
Mavericks fans are frustrated, and I can’t blame them; Kyrie Irving is done for the season with a torn ACL, and it might still be a while before Anthony Davis ($10,000) and Dereck Lively II ($5,600) return. Dallas is experiencing the worst of all worlds; two and a half games ahead of the utterly disastrous Phoenix Suns, the Mavericks can’t realistically drop far enough to get good odds at a high lottery pick, and they’re absolute fodder for whichever team finishes in ninth and hosts them in the Play-In Tournament, unless Davis can return to form soon. Couple that with Luka Dončić’s perceived joy in Los Angeles and the fact that Dallas will reportedly raise ticket prices by 8% next season, and it’s a dark time in the 214.
Core Plays: Jaren Jackson Jr. ($8,000) — who could be in line for his second Defensive Player of the Year trophy — will be sidelined for at least the next week with an ankle sprain that he suffered on Monday, so for the time being, Memphis’ second-best player is Desmond Bane ($8,100). The Block Panther had been remarkably durable this season, missing only the first two games of the season, so there’s not a large sample size of Ja Morant ($8,300) and Bane without Jackson. But on Wednesday, Morant had 24 points, three rebounds, and six assists (37.25 FPTS) against the Oklahoma City Thunder’s league-best defense, even though he shot the ball inefficiently. In the game in which Jackson got injured, Bane recorded his first career triple-double, a 35-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist (66.0-FPT) masterpiece.
Value Options: At this point, the San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle seems like the favorite to win Rookie of the Year, but that shouldn’t diminish how good Zach Edey ($4,800) has been. Although he posted just a modest six-point performance on Wednesday against the Thunder, the seven-foot-four Canadian had recorded three consecutive double-digit scoring performances entering that game. It isn’t rocket science to predict that Edey should have a good game against a team without centers. His fellow Rookie of the Year candidate Jaylen Wells ($4,700) should also be able to take advantage of a mobility-limited Klay Thompson ($5,500) to get to the rack, and Gregory Jackson ($4,000) could also see increased minutes with the Block Panther shelved.
Phoenix Suns at Denver Nuggets
It’s pretty clear that the last 20 games of Kevin Durant ($8,900)‘s Suns tenure are upon us, and what a disastrous tenure it’s been. It has little to do with Durant, who’s been pretty good; the team has not been built to maximize his strengths. Barring a further collapse by the Mavericks, Phoenix is going to miss the Play-In Tournament, and it’s posted the league’s fourth-worst defensive rating since January 1. The Nuggets, meanwhile, are trying to keep pace with the red-hot Lakers for second in the Western Conference. Nikola Jokic ($12,300) may well finish with the second-best Player Efficiency Rating ever and still not win MVP.
Core Plays: Jokić has inflammation in his ankle and is technically questionable, but he hasn’t missed a game since January 15, so I’d expect him to play. If he does suit up, I wouldn’t be worried about him being hindered by the injury; he first appeared on the injury report with the issue prior to Wednesday’s game against the Sacramento Kings, and he still recorded 22 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists (49.75 FPTS), a poor game by his lofty standards but an excellent one for anybody else. His fantasy output in that game, in fact, would be above average for any center not named Davis, Victor Wembanyama, or Karl-Anthony Towns ($9,900). As for who to stack him with, take Jamal Murray ($7,800), who’s scored 20 or more points in each of his past four games and shouldn’t have trouble against a team that’s allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing point guards.
Value Options: Because Denver is such a top-heavy team, there isn’t anyone trustworthy whose salary is less than $5,000 on DraftKings; in lieu of a true value option, I’m going to go with Russell Westbrook ($5,900). The Brodie dropped 25 points, five rebounds, and three assists (43.75 FPTS) in his spot start on Wednesday, and he could open the game again if Aaron Gordon ($5,400) misses his fourth straight game with a sprained ankle. Plus, Westbrook should benefit from the knee sprain to Julian Strawther ($3,400), one of the other guards in the Nuggets’ thin rotation. A deeper bench option who could see time, especially if Gordon sits, is Peyton Watson ($3,300), who’s missed the last month with a knee sprain of his own.
