Thursday night NBA action has three games in store for us, some of which have more daily fantasy basketball potential than others. Here, we’ve broken down a couple of the games and outlined our thinking when it comes to how you should proceed with drafting a fantasy team.
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Cleveland Cavaliers
This is the big game of the night, and the big news is that Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving will not be playing. He was expected to come back from injury for this game, but just recently announced that he is not yet ready. This is an obvious fantasy blow if you were planning on trying to pick up a talented player for cheap, but this opportunity is now gone. Exactly when his season debut will be is still completely unknown.
At forward, LeBron James might seem like a good pick, and if he plays a lot of minutes, he’s a great choice. However, James has not been playing as much this season, and although he’s averaging over 36 minutes a game right now, he’s played less than that his last two games. James is still one of the top forwards in the game though, so even with limited playing time, he will still produce. It just might not be as much as you would expect for the price that your daily fantasy site will be expecting for his salary.
From Oklahoma City, there’s Kevin Durant at forward, who is currently averaging more points per game than James. Durant’s price will likely be higher than James’, especially because he is such a good defensive player, and he is likely to play more minutes than James is. However, the higher price might scare you away. Don’t let it; Durant will be more expensive, but there’s more value here than with LeBron. Durant is the better pick at forward.
Other players to consider include Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook at point guard. He’s averaging almost as many points as Durant, has more assists than Durant, and about the same number of rebounds. He’s a great player, although he does have some competition at PG with other players in the league. You may also want to consider Cleveland’s Kevin Love at center. He has a strong defensive style of play and is currently averaging 10.9 rebounds per game.
Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers
In spite of everything that you’ve heard, Kobe Bryant is still a good player. He leads the Lakers in points this year with 16.5 per game. However, the last time the Lakers played Houston, although Houston won by 29, Bryant had a standout game, scoring 25 points. He will be undervalued for this game, and he’s already shown that he plays well against this team. He is a good sleeper for Thursday night, even though it’s strange using that term to describe Bryant. Still, there’s great value to be found here.
On Houston, James Harden is the obvious choice. The GF is averaging 29.0 points per game, and had 30 points when Houston played LA last. He is going to be expensive, though, and that’s really the only complaint you can find in his play. He will produce points, it really is just a matter of whether or not you can afford him with the rest of your team in place. It’s all a matter of what you need.
You may also want to consider Houston’s Dwight Howard. The center has just 12.6 points per game, but is putting up 11.6 rebounds per game, which is a phenomenal number and will definitely help your daily fantasy team for a pretty small price.
We also have a Football game on tonight.
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