There are only three NBA games for us to breakdown tonight, but there is a lot to talk about with all the injuries plaguing the league right now. We must start off the discussion with the Charlotte Hornets today, as they just announced four players are going into the league’s health and safety protocols. Included in those sidelined are franchise cornerstone LaMelo Ball and top option Terry Rozier. Everyone has been priced up proactively from the Hornets, but we still have a lot of value here. We also have a gutted Houston Rockets team playing tonight, who will remain without Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green tonight We also have a huge questionable tag for this one, as Trae Young could sit here.
Here’s Two Core Plays For DFS Basketball 12/5/21 (using DraftKings Values)
| Point Guard | |||
| Shooting Guard | E. Gordon | $5,200 | |
| Small Forward | |||
| Power Forward | |||
| Center | M. Bridges | $8,400 | |
| Guard | |||
| Forward | |||
| Utility |
Eric Gordon was one of our favorite plays going into the last Rockets game as we expected his role to be huge with Green and Porter out of the rotation. Gordon went for 35 FPTS in 32 minutes last time out, and we expect him to see another big opportunity in the starting lineup again tonight. Gordon is still way too cheap here, which makes him one of our favorite plays on the slate at $5,200. His floor is great in this role, and there is upside for him to see even higher usage then last game.
The top end of this slate is very strange. We only have one guy in five digits, and we don’t even know if he is going to play in Young. Our top end stud’s tonight are mostly guys who are about $1,000 more than usual, but some guys have good opportunities. Miles Bridges is somewhat at expensive tonight, and we would not have much interest in this $8,400 tag if everyone was healthy for Charlotte. However, that is far from the situation. Ball is the number one piece for this team, and with Rozier also out it seems very likely Bridges is the number one guy tonight. The upside is crazy in this spot, and the price tag on Bridges really is not too bad compared to the other options at the tope
Here’s a Fade DFS Basketball 12/5/21 (using DraftKings Values)
One guy star who has not been the producer he was last year in the NBA is Bradley Beal. Beal was neck and neck with Steph Curry for the league’s leading scorer last year, but he has really struggled with efficiency this year. Beal is averaging 39 FPTS on the season, and only 33.7 FPTS across the past ten days. As DraftKings has not been bumping stars down this year, Beal is still near the price he was at last year at $9,100. We have no interest in him here, as he has not shown that classic Beal upside in a long time.
Now what do you get if you sign up now for $99?
• A starting guard who has gotten cheap here.
• A stud big man who has been crushing lately.
• A budget wing who is playing a ton of minutes.
• Our general strategy for Tournaments vs. Cash games.
Point Guard
Devonte Graham – PG ($4,800 DK) Graham is way cheaper than anyone would expect him to be playing 30 minutes a night starting at point for the Pelicans. He has not had the highest usage lately and has been inconsistent with most of the things that he does on the floor. However, we don’t have a ton of options at this position tonight, and we expect Graham to pick up the production at some point. He is averaging 26.8 FPTS on the season, and he is very cheap for his role on this team.
Shooting Guard
Garrison Mathews ($4,600 DK) Mathews is certainly nothing special as a per minute fantasy producer, but with the minutes he is playing he is a nice value for this price. Mathews has played 38, 32, 36, and 32 minutes in the last four games respectively, and he is a shoe in for big minutes again with all the Guards out. Mathews went for over 27 FPTS last game, and he has consistently been finishing over 25. Mathews has yet to show huge upside, but anything is possible with this team. Regardless, we are using Mathews as a high floor budget play tonight.
Gordon Hayward – ($7,000 DK) The forward positions are extremely strong on this slate for stud options, as we have a lot of forwards playing on teams where all the key guards are hurt. For the Hornets and Rockets here the forwards are taking on huge roles as they must use the deep bench guard rotation. Hayward is a little bit expensive tonight, but he is too cheap for the situation with Ball and Rozier out. Hayward is the second guy we expect to lead this team after Bridges in this spot, and he should see a massive usage bump. If this Hornets – Hawks game stays close, there is room for a few of these Hornets studs to hit value.
Jae ‘Sean Tate – ($6,600 DK) Tate has gotten priced up significantly recently, as he is $2,000 more then we saw him just three games ago. However, he is still a priority for us given the Houston situation. Tate has played well over 30 minutes in the last two since Porter was hurt alongside Green, and he has been fantastic. He went for over 36 FPTS last game, and a monstrous 69 FPTS in the game before. Tate is taking all star level usage right now, don’t let the price tag scare you away.
Christian Wood – ($9,600 DK) If the price on Tate makes you nervous here, the price on Wood has probably sent you packing. However, he’s another guy who is a priority despite the inflated price. We know that $8,000 is usually expensive for Wood, as we were able to roster him at only $7,200 last Saturday. When we look at Woods production, the price bump makes a lot of sense. Wood has gone for 50, 60.25, and 63.5 FPTS in his last three healthy performances. We saw him take 19, 17, and 19 field goal attempts respectively in those games, and we expect him to be the Rockets first option again tonight. Houston must go to Wood inside all the time on offense, as the Rockets do not have their dynamic guard play.
General strategy
We have a ton of value tonight, and there could be a lot more if we get the news that Young is sidelined. This is a fantastic slate for Cash games, as we can get a ton of cheap high floor plays with all the injuries. Our Cash core here will involve Wood and Miles as our core spend ups, and we will be using the cheap plays we mentioned throughout the article. For tournaments we are looking at playing a bit more from the Washington and Toronto game, as no one is going to be looking there with all the injuries elsewhere. However, Washington and Toronto is a nice DFS matchup and we would usually be getting there on bigger slates. Good luck tonight, and make sure to watch for news from Atlanta.
