On Sunday, February 21st, the NBA has a full slate of games scheduled, and as exciting as this makes daily fantasy sports leagues, it does make drafting your team a little bit more difficult simply because there are more players to choose from. We’ve broken down the player choices by position for this one, and hopefully it will act as a good starting point for drafting your top players.
Point Guard
The highest point scorer in the PG slot is Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers with 24.3. He hasn’t seen a lot of attention this year because Portland isn’t a top contender, but when it comes to fantasy contributors, he’s one of the best. He also has 7.3 assists per game and 4.4 rebounds, giving him a pretty good edge over his competitors at PG. He may be expensive depending on the league that you are playing in, but he’s likely worth it, especially because he’s shown recently that he can put up great numbers against good teams. His 31 points against Houston proved this without doubt. When he goes up against the Utah Jazz on Sunday, the competition will not be nearly as good.
Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder is the other big name here. Westbrook is only 0.2 points per game behind Lillard, and is better in other categories such as assists and rebounds. When it comes to fantasy points, Westbrook has the slight edge over Lillard, but Lillard should still be your top choice because of the fact that the Thunder are going against the Cavs for this game. This is discussed a bit more below, but the bottom line is that the competition will be tougher for Westbrook than it will be for Lillard, giving Westbrook a small disadvantage in a fantasy setting.
Guard
The best guard playing on Sunday is C.J. McCollum of the Portland Trail Blazers. He’s putting up 20.7 points per game, 4.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. Because Steph Curry dominates this position, McCollum hasn’t been getting the same level of attention, but Curry’s not playing this night, and this could allow you to grab a top player at a big discount.
Forward
There are two big names at forward playing each other on Sunday: Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Interestingly, when it comes to points scored per game, there’s a name right behind these two giants of the game when it comes to stats: Anthony Davis. And because the Thunder and the Cavs are both great teams, it’s likely that Durant and James will see diminished stats as a result of this. The New Orleans Pelicans are not a powerhouse on the court, but despite this, Davis is putting up 23.4 points per game. He also has more blocks per game than either Durant or James with his 2.2, and this counts more heavily than points do in most daily fantasy leagues. Davis did hurt himself last week, but should be good to go for this game.
Center
The Brooklyn Nets are not a strong team this season, but Brook Lopez is having a great year. He’s putting up 20.2 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game, and 1.6 assists. His stats aren’t great, but he’s the best center out there right now, and this means you can pick him up for a decent price without sacrificing quality at this position. That puts you in a strong position. You may also want to consider Marc Gasol here. He’s not a top center, ranking at number four in the NBA in this position, but he’s getting a lot of playing time, averaging 16.6 points per game, and has been putting up 7.0 rebounds and 3.8 assist per game. This makes him pretty competitive when it comes to his stats. The downside of Gasol here is that the Memphis Grizzlies are playing the Toronto Raptors, who are having a very strong year. This might hurt his ability to score points, but not in a huge way, especially at his position.
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