As we’ve been seeing the Sunday main slate for the evening games has been a bit inconsistent on FanDuel, DraftKings and Yahoo!. For tonight, FanDuel and DraftKings include the three games that start at 6pm ET while Yahoo! doesn’t, so for our coverage, we’ll exclude players playing in those games and focus on the remaining 6 games starting at 7pm ET or later. We have a few high over/under sports-book totals including Nets/Timberwolves leading the way with a 238 o/u and right behind them is the Hawks/Hornets matchup at 236.5. Donovan Mitchell, Draymond Green, Desmond Bane and Seth Curry are a few of the players who will be inactive tonight. Here’s tonight’s DFS NBA Starting 5.
PG: Luka Doncic - A little over a week ago, Doncic produced a triple-double versus the Grizzlies and Memphis is bottom-10 at defending point guards and tonight features a major pace up spot for Dallas. It was one of two triple-doubles he’d posted in his last five outings. He’s grabbed double-digit boards in five of his last seven games. When it comes to his scoring, he’s scored over his 25.2 average in three of his last five contests and in both previous contests versus Memphis. He also grabs 1.2 steals per game and he dishes 8.7 assists per outing. He’s taken no fewer than 23 shots in both of his last two games. If you don’t want to spend up for James Harden, Doncic is a little cheaper.
SG: D’Angelo Russell - Going up against the weak Nets guards who sit 23rd in the league at defending guards and with that high 238 over/under, we should see Russell produce another double-double or come close to it. Without Kevin Durant on the other side, there should be a lot of easy trips to the basket for the ‘Wolves. He should take 15-20 shots tonight and Russell has hit at least 40 percent of his three-pointers in five of his last seven games. Both the Nets and Timberwolves are top-10 in pace of play. He’s also grabbed multiple steals in two of his last three and he’s blocked shots in three of his last four contests.
SF: Miles Bridges - Not only has Bridges hit his 20 point per game scoring average in five straight games, but he’s scored 32 or more points against the Hawks in two previous matchups against them this season. He’s been hot shooting 50 percent or better in three games in a row. He’s shot an impressive 48.2 percent for the year. Bridges produced a double-double against them in one of those games and he’s actually pulled down 12 or more boards in two of his last three games. Bridges has been helpful grabbing 1.1 steals per game and he’s blocked multiple shots in three of his last five outings.
PF: John Collins - Going to the other side of the matchup, Collins enters a nice matchup in which the pace will work in the Hawks favor and Charlotte is 25th in the NBA at stopping power forwards. In his last game against the Hornets, Collins scored 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and yes both Clint Capela and Trae Young were active. Collins has actually recorded 12 rebounds in two of his last three games. He’s blocked six shots total in his last four contests and swats away 1.1 shots per outing. Collins does come with a bit of risk because he’s been in foul trouble in a few recent games, but he was able to limit his fouling the last time he played them. If you're a bit nervous about the fouling, you can spend down on De’Andre Hunter. He’s more appealing if we know Danilo Gallinari is sitting and has been returning solid value over his last few games.
C: Joel Embiid - How don’t we pay for Embiid or Nikola Jokic at this point. The Spurs are a bottom three team at containing centers and Embiid has scored 32 or more points in four straight games. A couple of weeks ago he dropped 31 points and 12 rebounds on San Antonio and the pace heavily favors Philly tonight. Embiid has recorded 12 or more boards in four of his last five outings and he’s taken no fewer than 20 shots in four straight contests. He’s been blocking 1.4 shots and has even dished 4.2 dimes per outing as well. The Magic and Clippers have been very weak versus dominant big men and seeing Embiid destroy them for 50 and 40 points brings a lot of comfort to this easy matchup against the Spurs. He shoots nearly 50 percent from the floor.