To keep things consistent regarding coverage of tonight’s slate, we’re going to eliminate Wizards/Magic and Pelicans/Raptors from the equation since Yahoo! didn’t include them in their main slate contest tonight. We’ll cover the remaining six games of DFS NBA action starting from 7pm ET on. The Blazers continue to be without their backcourt, Kristaps Porzingis remains on the COVID list and we have a few impact guards who are questionable heading into tonight headlined by Luka Doncic. When it comes to sports-book totals for the later games Timberwolves/Rockets sits at 230 and Lakers/Grizzlies are behind them at 226. Here’s tonight’s DFS NBA Starting-5.
PG: D'Angelo Russell: There’s going to be a lot of scoring in tonight’s Timberwolves/Rockets game and with both of these teams being top-six in the league in pace of play, let’s put our faith in the T-Wolves floor general because Russell scored 22 points against Houston earlier this year. He’s produced three double-doubles in his last four games dropping 12 or more dimes in all three of those contests. He’s actually exceeded his scoring average of 18.6 in three of his last five games shooting no fewer than 12 shots in any game. He’s even grabbed steals in three of his last four. Expect him to play 35-40 minutes. Houston is the second weakest team in the league at defending point guards.
SG Anfernee Simons: With Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum still out, Simons will continue running the point and he’ll log heavy minutes. Simons has scored 14-plus points and dished seven dimes in three straight contests. He’s even grabbed three or more boards in three of his last four and swiped balls in his last two games. He’s taken 13 or more shots in each of his last four games and this game is a major pace-up spot for the Blazers. The Kings are a bottom three team in the league at guarding guards. All is setting up nicely for Simons who has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in three of his last five outings.
SF: Anthony Edwards: After scoring 22-plus in six of his last seven games and shooting over 47 percent from the field in his last three games, let’s go back to the Timberwolves prioritized scorer. Edwards has posted steals in each of his last four contests and blocked shots in three of those games. The Rockets rank 28th in the league at defending midcourts and Davis has even been helping distribute a bit more with Patrick Beverley banked up dishing four or more dimes in three of his last four outings. He’s even pulling down five-plus rebounds per contest as well. Edwards scorched the Rockets for 29 points last time he matched up against them.
PF: LeBron James: When James faced the Grizzlies a couple of weeks ago he scored 37 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. Anthony Davis is still out and James has taken 24 or more shots in four of his last five outings. Both of these teams play at a quick pace and James even dishes 6.6 assists per game. He’s produced four multi steal outings and three multi-block outings in his last five games. He’s even exceeded his rebounding average of 7.4 in eight of his last 10 battles. The high-volume of shots continues to stay intact and Memphis back and mid court continue to be banged up and with Steven Adams out for the game, James should be attacking it with ease.
C: Jusuf Nurkic: In two games versus the Kings this season, Nurkic scored 20 and 28 points and grabbed 14 and 17 rebounds in both contests and the Kings rank 24th in the league at defending centers. Nurkic has produced three straight double-doubles grabbing no fewer than 12 rebounds in any game. He’s grabbed multiple steals and blocked a shot in three of his last four games. With the Blazers backcourt injury issues, Nurkic has been taking more shots as he’s taken 17 or more in two of his last three games. He’s even been more helpful hitting the cutter from the post, dropping four-plus dimes in three of his last four games. We should expect him to hit the 30s in this game when it comes to playing time as the Kings are favored by just a point heading into this matchup.