Indiana Pacers' Victor Oladipo, right, dribbles past Atlanta Hawks' Dennis Schroder, of Germany, in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in Atlanta, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017. Indiana won 105-95. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
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Opponent - HOU
Proj Pts FD - 44.56 DK - 44.91
These guys played on Thursday evening and put up 241 combined. This should, once again, be a pace up, low defense matchup. Fox finished with 22 points, six assists, and five rebounds in his 35 minutes. In a rematch, that’s probably a low line. It’s worth it to note that he shot 9-23 from the field. That crazy usage should carry over in this matchup and it’s realistic to think the points tick up here. Fox is close to a lock in cash games on FanDuel where the price is kind of a joke. DraftKings is closer.
Opponent - NY
Proj Pts FD - 41.55 DK - 43
Opponent - NY
Proj Pts FD - 24.16 DK - 24.43
With TJ Warren out of the Pacers’ mix for the foreseeable future, there’s usage to go around for this team. That’s well-timed with the matchup against the Knicks on Saturday. It didn’t totally bear out on Thursday against the Knicks with Brogdon putting up only 13 shots, but in general over the last year plus, Brogdon goes from a full-strength 24% usage to 27% when Warren is off the court. The price didn’t move all that much on the implied uptick in opportunity and though the Knicks have found some defensive identity this season, it’s hard to imagine it sustains with this personnel.
Meanwhile, Holiday got the start for Warren on Thursday playing 22 minutes on the wing. He had some foul trouble and it was a blowout which led to only 22 minutes. But he still put up 12 points and two assists with some other stats around the fringes. It’s an unspectacular play, but he’s cheap which often fits a need on these kinds of slates.
Opponent - NY
Proj Pts FD - 35.83 DK - 37.33
With Warren out of the mix on Thursday, Oladpio put up 14 shots against the Cavs in 34 minutes. He put up his most threes of the season (8) in the win. The points didn’t necessarily follow and he finished with a 16 point, eight assists, and four rebounds. With Warren off the court, Dipo should continue to see solid usage and more on-ball time than before. This matchup is solid as well and his price hasn’t fully adjusted for Warren out of the Pacers’ rotations.
Opponent - HOU
Proj Pts FD - 33.36 DK - 35.69
Tyrese Haliburton is out the next couple of games and that should continue to open up minutes and usage for Hield. He played 38 minutes on Thursday evening, finishing with one of his best games of the season scoring 19 points while adding in five rebounds and three assists. The minutes are ultra-safe at this point with little resistance coming off the bench and the usage should be there as well. He doesn’t add a ton across the box score, but the Kings are in quasi-win now mode and have no problem giving the starters tons of run.
Strongly consider playing Collin Sexton (FD $6800 DK $7100) against Atlanta.
Opponent - IND
Proj Pts FD - 33.64 DK - 34.23
The good news is he’s playing a ton of minutes. And a lot of the peripheral stats are there because of it. He’s averaging seven rebounds and four assists this season along with 15 points per game. That final stat is the interesting one because it is likely way on the low end going forward. That’s because he’s missed his last 21 shots from three. You read that right. He’s 0-21 from beyond the arc in his last four games. Dude isn’t a great volume shooter, but this is just dumb. We are getting him at a value here.
Opponent - ATL
Proj Pts FD - 33.96 DK - 35.16
From a fantasy perspective, it hasn’t been great with Nance since he took over the starting power forward slot for Kevin Love. What seemed like a slot made in heaven hasn’t really worked out that way over the last two games. He’s averaging just nine points and seven rebounds this season on more than 34 minutes per game. That’s nowhere close to a projected total for the guy with this kind of run. I expect some of the numbers, especially the FG% to tick up over the short term. This is still a good price considering the opportunity.
Opponent - NY
Proj Pts FD - 47.3 DK - 49.92
Sabonis has played a ton of minutes this season and it’s paying off from a fantasy perspective. In his 37 minutes, he’s averaging 22 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists per game. Those dimes are the big uptick he’s seen this season, facilitating more of the offense through the high post. It’s a great sign for his upside as the Pacers continue to move their offense through the bigs. Sabonis isn’t exactly a Jokic comp, but there are similarities statistically. Against the Knicks, he should be able to fill it up.
Opponent - CLE
Proj Pts FD - 40.31 DK - 39.87
Collins hasn’t been all that impacted by the addition of Clint Capela to the starting lineup. The former is still getting into the offense, very active in the pick and roll but also able to stretch from beyond the arc. He’s running bad from three, shooting only 27% on the season and still mostly paying this price. When the shot starts dropping it’s game over. This is a crazy value at a weaker position. Collins against a defensively compromised Cleveland defense is a plug and play option.
Opponent - ATL
Proj Pts FD - 53.09 DK - 53.46
The per-minute stats are as good as you’ll ever get. You typically need only worry about the foul trouble. He’s averaging 18 points and 14 rebounds in 31 minutes per game and is adding on an insane five steals+assists in that span as well. For FanDuel purposes, this is kind of just a free square considering how overweighted the defensive stats are on that site. The matchup against Atlanta is choice as well considering they play at a breakneck pace this season and are on the second half of a back-to-back. Drummond is a near lock at the position and you just need to worry about the minutes getting burned if he turns into a foul box. Even then, the floor is so high.
Opponent - HOU
Proj Pts FD - 36.77 DK - 37.15
We are only a game away from Holmes ripping apart Houston in a 22 point, 13 rebound affair. That’s what happens when the other team has no defense against the interior at all. Or in other words, you have Christian Wood as your center. Holmes should be in line to put in work again in this game and the Kings have no issue with running him major minutes. He’s an easy cash game play at these prices.
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