The NBA has seven solid games on the slate for Sunday night’s fantasy basketball contests. It’s a jam-packed day of sports action, but don’t forget to get your NBA DFS lineups together for what should be a great nightcap. The NBA regular season still has plenty of drama remaining as it gets the final playoff push cued up for the next few weeks.
Of the 14 teams on the slate, the Sixers and the Spurs are the only two teams playing for the second day in a row, while the Hornets and Rockets are finishing their back-to-back tomorrow. Be sure to check back on the daily injury report before tip-off and adjust your lineup if needed.
The NBA DFS main slate includes a variety of contests and pay-out structures on DraftKings, headlined by the NBA $100K Fadeaway [$25K to 1st].
Toronto Raptors at Philadelphia 76ers
The Raptors and Sixers clash in Philly as the Sixers finish their back-to-back. The Raptors are resting Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl as they have been in often recent contests. The Sixers are resting Quentin Grimes in addition to all their injuries, which include Tyrese Maxey (finger), Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee) and Andre Drummond (toe) in addition to both Paul George (groin) and Joel Embiid (knee), who have been shut down for the year. With so many key absences, the Sixers have given up the most points per game in the NBA over the last 10 games, averaging 124.1 points against them over that span.
Core Plays: Without Quickley, Scottie Barnes ($8,600) and RJ Barrett ($7,900) usually carry the load on offense. Since March 1, IQ has missed five games. Barnes averaged 37.6 fantasy points and Barrett 33.0 fantasy points in those contests. Barnes has put up 40+ fantasy points in four of his last six games while Barrett has over 27 fantasy points in eight straight.
Value Options: The key options in the Raptors stack, though, is in the players who will have a chance to step up with Poeltl and Quickley out. In the five games without Quickley since March 1, Jamal Shead ($4,800) has averaged 26.4 fantasy points. He has looked very sharp recently whether Quickley plays or not, scoring double-digit points in six of his last eight games with at least 30 fantasy points in three of his last four. He had 17 points and 32.5 fantasy points on Friday in his most recent game and is a great play with Quickley out.
Up front without Poeltl, Orlando Robinson ($4,700) and Jonathan Mogbo ($4,300) are both good plays. Poetlt has sat six games in March, and Robinson averaged 30.5 fantasy points while Mogbo produced 25.25 fantasy points per contest. Ja’Kobe Walter ($4,200) has also been a great value lately, with double-digit points and 20+ fantasy points in five straight.
Charlotte Hornets at New Orleans Pelicans
The Hornets are starting their back-to-back with a favorable road matchup against the Pelicans, who have also struggled on defense lately. They rank in the top 10 in most points allowed over the last 15 games, averaging 121.2 points allowed per game over that span. The Hornets will be short-handed as well, leaving the rest of their roster with extra usage that makes them good plays to stack for NBA DFS. The Hornets won’t have LaMelo Ball (elbow) for the rest of the year and will also be without Mark Williams (foot) for this contest.
Core Plays: Without Ball and Williams, Miles Bridges ($9,000) will carry the load on offense. He only had 11 points against the Raptors on Friday but took 20 field goal attempts. He has at least 17 field goal attempts in four of his last five games, and so much volume gives him an extremely high ceiling. He had four straight games with 54+ fantasy points earlier this month and could be in for a similar stretch with Ball out.
Value Options: Bridges is the only Hornets player with a salary over $5,000 on Sunday night, so there should be great value options. Josh Okogie ($4,500; hamstring) is probable after missing 27 of the team’s last 28 games. Without Williams, both Jusuf Nurkic ($3,800) and Moussa Diabate ($3,100) should get good minutes and be strong values under $4,000. Nurkic will likely start, and in his last start he had 29.25 fantasy points in 24 minutes against the Thunder.
In the backcourt without Ball, the play is KJ Simpson ($4,400), who had 23 fantasy points in 25 minutes on Friday against the Raptors and should continue to start the rest of the year. He has both a high floor and a high ceiling in his expanced role while Nick Smith Jr. ($4,300), DaQuan Jeffries ($3,900), and Tidjane Salaun ($3,300; ankle, questionable) have also flashed upside.
Milwaukee Bucks vs. Atlanta Hawks
With so many value plays, you should have enough salary to pay up for some options as well. The Bucks are in a great spot as they take on the up-tempo Hawks, who rank second in the NBA in pace this season. Milwaukee has the second-highest implied team total on the slate, and this matchup has the highest over/under on the board. The Bucks won’t have Damian Lillard (calf), but are mostly healthy aside from that huge absence.
Core Plays: Without Lillard, the offense is even more focused on Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,900), who is a great pay-up option. He is officially probable with a foot injury but has been playing through the injury effectively lately. On Friday against the Knicks, he had 30 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and 50.75 fantasy points. He has over 50 fantasy points in eight of his last nine games and averaged 62.9 fantasy points in his three games against the Hawks earlier this season. Atlanta ha struggled to defend opposing power forwards since losing Jalen Johnson (shoulder), and Giannis lit them up for 74 and 61 fantasy points in their last two meetings.
Value Options: While Kyle Kuzma ($6,400) and Brook Lopez ($6,300) are solid midrange values, you can go even cheaper since Gary Trent Jr. ($4,600) and Ryan Rollins ($4,100) are getting more work while Dame is out. Trent has made at least three three-pointers and scored 11+ points in five straight games with over 30 fantasy points in two of those contests. Rollins has 27+ fantasy points in three of the five games since Dame went down, including good performances with 17 and 20 points for 27.75 and 31.75 fantasy points in his last two games.
