Just over five weeks remain in the NBA’s regular season, and one team — the Cleveland Cavaliers — have already clinched at least an entire first-round playoff series. The stretch run is well and truly underway, and sooner than we realize, the playoffs will begin.
The NBA has a six-game slate of action for tonight, including nationally-televised matchups between the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics and New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers.
Some of the best centers in the league are in action tonight, so DFS players will have plenty to choose from. Let’s take a look at my top three:
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $300K Fadeaway [$100K to 1st].
1. Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets at New Orleans Pelicans ($9,400)
Houston has been pretty inconsistent since the All-Star break, having fallen back from the fourth seed prior the intermission to the fifth seed now. The Rockets have lost three consecutive games and are now only three games ahed of the lightning-hot Golden State Warriors with 20 games to play in the regular season. Still, despite missing a game, Şengün has been excellent; since the break, he’s averaged 23.0 points and 11.0 rebounds (44.9 FPTS) per game while shooting 49.5% from the field, even with a down game in which he scored just nine points (29.75 FPTS), his third-lowest total of the season.
Meanwhile, while the Pelicans have been significantly better after the break, going 4-3 with a middle-tertile defense, they still struggle in the areas that Şengün thrives. He’s plenty capable of controlling the glass, and New Orleans has been a bottom-10 rebounding team even after the break. They’ve also given up the third-most assists, and Şengün is averaging the third-most assists of the NBA’s starting centers. For the season, the Pelicans have conceded the most fantasy points to opposing centers, making Şengün a wise play tonight.
2. Onyeka Okongwu, Atlanta Hawks vs. Indiana Pacers ($6,400)
Since the Hawks elevated Okongwu to the starting lineup on January 20 and relegated Clint Capela ($4,500) to the bench, there have been a few positive signs. Atlanta is just 6-15, but it coincided with Jalen Johnson’s season-ending injury and the trade that sent De’Andre Hunter to the Cleveland Cavaliers, so it’s not like Okongwu’s promotion in itself has contributed to the team’s losses. The fifth-year man from USC is averaging 14.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.0 stocks since joining the starting lineup, as compared to 11.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.6 stocks as a reserve. In his last five games, he’s averaging 15.0 points and 10.2 rebounds (35.9 FPTS) per game.
The game tonight against one of the hottest teams in the league should bring plenty of fireworks and has by far the highest implied point total at DraftKings Sportsbook. Since January 1, Indiana has the seventh-best record in basketball, but it has still allowed the 10th-most rebounds and 12th-most assists. The Pacers have also played at a slightly faster than league-average pace since the start of the calendar year, which should benefit Atlanta, which has played at the league’s fastest. There should be plenty of possessions, which means plenty of time for Okongwu to stuff the stat sheet.
3. Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors at Brooklyn Nets ($6,000)
Much has been talked about how much Jimmy Butler ($7,900) has benefitted since joining the Warriors, and Stephen Curry ($9,300) — by average game score — is playing almost as well as he did during his 2016 unanimous MVP season. But Green has improved too; in the 11 games since Butler’s debut, he’s averaged 11.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 6.6 assists (34.6 FPTS) per contest, a significant increase over his season-long average of 29.4 FPTS per game. He’s gone up by 4.4 P/R/A per game and he’s recorded seven of his 21 double-digit scoring performances with Butler as his teammate. Pairing arguably the two most intense players in the league has worked about as well as Golden State could have hoped.
Plus, after a stretch in which they paired a horrible offense with an elite defense, Brooklyn has slipped in recent weeks on the less glamorous side of the ball. Since the All-Star break, the Nets have had the league’s ninth-worst defensive rating to pair with its third-least efficient offense. For the season, Nic Claxton ($5,500) has been the ninth-least effective interior deterrent among 21 starting centers who have appeared in at least 45 games this season. It’s not a surprise, then, that Brooklyn has given up the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing centers.
