We have five games with three late-night hammers for tonight’s DFS NBA slate. Ja Morant, OG Anunoby and Joe Harris are some of the players who won’t take part in tonight’s action. The Lakers/Kings game has the highest sports-book total on the board at 226. Warriors/Suns (Potential Western Conference Final) is at 221.5. Here’s tonight’s DFS NBA Starting-5.
PG: Fred VanVleet: VanVleet has been on a scoring spree over his last few games and we should test his hot scoring out tonight against a bottom five team at defending point guards in Memphis. Last week VanVleet filled up the stat sheet against the Grizzlies by scoring 23 points, grabbing 6 boards, 2 steals and he dished 7 dimes against them. He even blocked two shots and he’s blocked shots in three of his last four contests. He’s been shooting over 47 percent from the floor in each of his last 3 games. He’s scored at least 23 points in his last 3 outings. This is also a major pace-up spot for the Raptors. VanVleet should take 15-18 shots tonight and he’s taken at least 16 in 3 of his last 4 games. VanVleet swipes 1.7 balls per game. The Raptors are a bit banged up and VanVleet will log heavy minutes, take a lot of shots and he’s even dished 6.5 dimes per contest.
SG: Cade Cunningham: Even though his shooting percentage has been poor over his last few games, it’s clear that the Pistons will continue to let Cunningham have a lengthy leash so he can adjust to playing at the NBA level. He’s grabbed at least eight boards in three of his last five games. Cunningham is very agile and it’s going to be tough for Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum to stop his drive. He’s taken at least 13 field goals in 3 of his last 5 battles and produced 2 double-doubles during that span. Cunningham has been a four-category producer who pulls down 6.5 boards per game and dishes 4.8 assists per outing. He’s exceeded his assist-average in seven of his last eight contests. He’s even produced 1.3 steals per game as well. He is the second prioritized scorer behind Jerami Grant, but Cunningham will have more time with the ball and even if he’s not shooting well, he’ll stay on the floor.
SF: Alec Burks: This is a bit of a cheat code because while Burks qualifies as a SG/SF on FanDuel and Draftkings and at SF on Yahoo, the Knicks will actually be starting him at point guard for the foreseeable future. Kemba Walker is out of the rotation for now and the Nets are a bottom 10 team in the league at defending point guards. Burks played 39 minutes against the Hawks the other night and we should expect him to play mid-30s minutes as the Knicks could be without Derrick Rose once again. Burks has scored 12 or more points in 5 of his last 6 games. Despite averaging 3.8 boards per game, Burks has grabbed at least 5 rebounds in 5 of his last 6 outings. By running the point, Burks assist-numbers should rise. He’s a much better defender than Walker and that will result in steals on the perimeter. He swipes 1.1 balls per game and he’s recorded multiple steals in 3 of his last 5 games. He’s taken double-digit shots in two of his last three contests. The expected minutes, shots and pace of play all line up nicely for a good matchup for Burks.
PF: Anthony Davis: This is a no-brainer because everybody knows Sacramento can’t defend the interior and Davis should once again tear the Kings apart inside. A few days ago, he scored 23 points against them and even grabbed 3 steals and swatted away 4 shots. Harrison Barnes is unlikely to play and Richaun Holmes will have a tough time keeping Davis out of the paint. The Lakers have no reason not to continuously attack the inside tonight. Davis has grabbed nine steals collectively in his last four games he’s blocked 2.3 shots per game. The Lakers and Kings are two of the top 10 fastest teams in the league and there should once again be a ton of scoring in this game. Davis pulls down 10.1 boards per game and he’ll even provide some assist help dishing 3 per outing. He scored 52 points on DraftKings last time out versus Sacramento and should have a similar line tonight. He’s taken 17 or more shots in 4 of his last 5 games.
C: Jusuf Nurkic: While Nurkic’s minutes can be concerning, tonight is a good matchup because he’ll beat Isaiah Stewart up in the post. He scored 24 points and grabbed 10 boards versus Rudy Gobert the other night in 27 minutes of action. The Pistons rank 22nd at defending centers and Nurkic is cheap. He’s taken double-digit shots in each of his last three games and scored 24-plus points in 2 of those games. Nurkic grabs nearly 11 rebounds per game and he’s notched a double-double in 4 of his last 6 contests. He’s also grabbed steals in five of his last six games and blocked shots in three of those games. He’s played 27 minutes or more in 2 of his last 3 games and he’s even dished 3 or more dimes in 4 of his last 5 outings. The Blazers are a bit banged up in their mid-court and they’ll need to rely on Nurkic to produce inside so Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum aren’t suffocated on the perimeter all night long.