Thursday, March 20, brings a small but mighty slate: of the five games, three have major playoff implications. The Indiana Pacers currently have the upper hand in the three-team race for the East’s fourth seed, while the Milwaukee Bucks chase them. In the West, the Los Angeles Lakers currently hold the third seed but will likely soon welcome back LeBron James ($10,500) for the stretch run, while the the Golden State Warriors are looking to maintain the sixth seed.
Yesterday offered an 11-game slate and tomorrow will have 10, so several teams on tonight’s slate are on either side of a back-to-back. Los Angeles, Indiana, the New York Knicks, the Chicago Bulls, and the Sacramento Kings all suited up yesterday, and the Charlotte Hornets will play again tomorrow night. DraftKings Network will have you covered with today’s injury report, which will be updated as teams release player status updates, but watch out for late “injury management” scratches, like the Lakers’ surprise decision to rule out Luka Dončić ($12,700) with his ongoing ankle issue.
With the current injury news, here are my top three DFS stacks to target for tonight’s contest.
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New York Knicks at Charlotte Hornets
New York has kind of held it together after losing Jalen Brunson ($9,000) to a sprained ankle two weeks ago, and even though their talisman will miss at least another week with the injury, the Knicks shouldn’t rush him back. New York hasn’t been incredible since his injury, but a 3-3 record and a plus-3.4 net rating is enough to stay in third in the East. Giving up 34 points in 19 minutes to the San Antonio Spurs’ Sandro Mamukelashvili was probably more of a fluke than anything else, and I have the utmost confidence in the Knicks to take care of business tonight.
Core Plays: Since Brunson’s injury, Karl-Anthony Towns ($9,700) has elevated his game somewhat, and he wasn’t the problem in last night’s 120-105 loss to the Spurs. In that contest, Towns dropped an efficient 32 points and snagged nine rebounds (47.75 FPTS), doing everything he needed to do to lead the team to a victory, and he should be fine again tonight against a Charlotte defense that has allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing centers this season and has struggled mightily since the All-Star break. Mikal Bridges ($6,200), too, has benefited from Brunson’s absence, averaging 21.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists (34.9 FPTS) per game in his last five contests.
Value Options: New York is not a very deep team after gutting much of its roster in the deals to acquire Towns and Bridges in the offseason, and with Mitchell Robinson ($3,100) sitting due to injury management tonight, it might be an opportunity for Precious Achiuwa ($3,700) to get a few more minutes than usual. Achiuwa has fallen out of favor with Tom Thibodeau, recording 10 or fewer minutes in each of the past five games, but he should sop up some of Robinson’s minutes. Cameron Payne ($3,100), too, had his first double-digit night since February 12, scoring 11 points and dishing out four assists (20.5 FPTS) in just 17 minutes.
Brooklyn Nets at Indiana Pacers
Brooklyn has been horrible since the All-Star break, going just 3-12 and posting the league’s eighth-worst defensive rating, while the Pacers have been one of the league’s hottest teams since the start of January and are entering the postseason looking to prove that their Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2023-24 was no fluke. Indiana has some injury questions, since Tyrese Haliburton ($8,600) took a hard fall on his back during Saturday’s loss to the Bucks and has missed the last two games, but it should be able to beat the Nets with or without him.
Core Plays: In my weekly best bets column, I wrote that I expected Pascal Siakam ($8,300) to score 25 or more points for the fifth straight game, given that his performance hasn’t hinged much on Haliburton’s availability. Siakam has greatly improved as a shooter this season and should benefit from the absence of Cameron Johnson ($7,200), who’s one of Brooklyn’s better wing defenders and is resting tonight. If Haliburton doesn’t play, I like Bennedict Mathurin ($5,200), who’s scored 20 or more points in each of his last two games. He’s gotten to the free throw line 20 times across those contests, and the Nets have been the league’s fourth-most foul-prone team this season.
Value Options: Ben Sheppard ($3,300) will play a bigger role if Haliburton sits, given that he’s recorded 24 or more minutes in each of the past two games with the point guard inactive. He hasn’t been potent as a scorer, attempting only nine total shots across the two contests, but he’s a well-rounded player who grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists (20.0 FPTS) in the overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. Obi Toppin ($4,900) started against Minnesota and had 34 points and 10 rebounds (57.5 FPTS), including a game-winning three; he won’t start tonight with Siakam active, but expecting something similar to his 13-point, four-rebound (22-FPT) outing yesterday is reasonable.
Chicago Bulls at Sacramento Kings
Chicago has been fantasy fodder all season, given it has the league’s seventh-worst defensive rating and plays at its third-fastest pace. The count statistics are atrocious; the Bulls have conceded the second-most points, second-most rebounds, and third-most assists per game while forcing the third-fewest turnovers. With such a miserable defensive profile, it’s no surprise that that Sacramento, even without Domantas Sabonis ($9,200), is a target for stacks. This game has the highest implied point total — 234.5 — of any on tonight’s slate.
Core Plays: At the trade deadline, the Kings reunited Chicago’s former star duo of Zach LaVine ($8,600) and DeMar DeRozan ($8,200) after LaVine was included in the deal that sent De’Aaron Fox to San Antonio. It’s worked out; LaVine has had 13 20-point performances in 18 games with the team, and he’s shooting it extremely efficiently — 52.7% from the field, 44.1% from beyond the arc, and 89.4% from the free-throw line. DeRozan, too, has scored at least 20 points in each of his last four games, including a 27-point, four-assist (36.75-FPT) masterpiece last night in shockingly handing the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers their third straight loss.
Value Options: Keon Ellis ($4,800) won’t start like he did last night — when he scored 13 points and nailed all four of his field goal attempts (24.0 FPTS) in the win over the Cavaliers — since LaVine is likely back, but he should receive at least 20 minutes, as he’s done all season. He’s also recorded at least one steal in each of his last eight games, a positive trend against a team that has been only about league-average in terms of ball security. Trey Lyles ($3,700) should also get a few minutes at the backup center spot when Jonas Valančiūnas ($7,700) sits, just as he did last night, when he dropped 13 points, seven rebounds, and five assists (31.25 FPTS).
