Pending injury news: Jonathan Kuminga, Quinten Post, Jusuf Nurkic
Draftkings Must Have: Sandro Mamukelashvili
Fanduel Must Have: Rui Hachimura
GPP Edge: Running back the Reaves chalk with a Raptors stack and/or lesser owned Lakers
We have a nice, manageable 5-game slate on our hands this evening for both sites, so let’s get right into it.
Starting with the injury news: Jaylen Brown will be out for the Celtics, which is making a lot of their pieces pop in our projections as optimal plays. We also have a similar situation with the Lakers, as Luka Doncic has also been ruled out. Finally, Jakob Poeltl is out for the Raptors, which opens up some opportunities as well.
With Poeltl out, Sandro Mamukelashvili becomes our DK must-have tonight in all formats. He is a strong play on Fanduel as well, but with just one C position there, we do not want to lock you into a build if he doesn’t fit what you are doing. He is one of the top point/$ plays of the night, but the ownership is not really catching up to that. At sub-$5K, he really does not need to do much to pay off his price tag and will now see a good chunk of the C minutes that Poeltl leaves behind. We love him in all formats.
Moving on to the Celtics: Peyton Pritchard, Derek White, and Neemias Queta are among the best point/$ plays on the slate on both sites. Starting with Pritchard, he has seen some high-volume games of late, even with Brown on the floor, and should be one of their primary scoring options. It also helps that he gets one of the best matchups possible for a guard against the Wizards. He will be popular and is a lock for cash games, as he is sub-$7K on both sites. He also carries the upside to use him in GPPs, showing some serious ceiling games of late even with Brown in the lineup. The other main scoring option for the C’s tonight will be Derek White, who seems to be heating up a bit after a slow start shooting-wise. He is another guy that has shown high usage and a solid ceiling with Brown on the court. With Brown out, it elevates both his floor and ceiling, making him a great play in all formats. Finally, Neemias Queta is the top point/$ play and is fine to be played alongside Pritchard and White. While he will not soak up as much of the scoring usage, he is a rebounding machine and is projected for 26 minutes as a solid FPPM player. He has had games where that pushes to 30, which would make him even more of a smash play. If looking for some lower-owned GPP pivots that should also see an increased role, Jordan Walsh, Anfernee Simons, and Sam Hauser can all be considered with solid point/$ projections. Hauser is the biggest wild card, as he has shown nights where he can’t miss and can really smash, but he is quite scoring-dependent, which makes him a GPP-only play. Jordan Walsh seems to be going the most overlooked, but when given the opportunity, he has been a solid producer that rebounds well.
Moving on to the Lakers: Austin Reaves is an optimal play, as he has shown a very high ceiling with Luka off the floor. He is a lock in cash games but also has the upside we like in GPPs. Projecting for nearly 6x value at his price makes him a very tough fade. LeBron seems like the obvious click, but he might be finally showing his age a bit with a pretty slow start after missing the beginning of the year. Maybe he pushes it to the next level with Luka out, but at $200 more than Reaves and a lower projection, he is a tough play, especially if he ends up being chalky. The next guy to consider would be Deandre Ayton. He has a solid ceiling in GPPs and has a decent enough point/$ projection at potentially low ownership. The minutes have been inconsistent, but if he finds his way on the floor for the 31 minutes we project him at, he could really smash., Rui Hachimura is a Fanduel must have as he is much cheaper when compared to DK, making him a very solid point/$ option. On Draftkings where he is priced up a little bit more, he should be GPP only in a game stack.
In GPP contests, we love getting the other side of that Lakers game and running it back with not only Sandro as well as Scottie Barnes and/or Immanuel Quickley. Both have solid point/$ projections but modest ownership. The game has one of the higher totals on the night, and Vegas thinks it will stay close with the Raptors favored by just 2.5. Most lineups will have Reaves, but not many will run it back with multiple Raptors. If this game stays close like expected, these Raptors correlate well when paired with Reaves. Barnes has really turned it on of late, getting all of the minutes he can handle as he is pushing close to 40 in his last handful of games. That paired with a nearly 30% usage rate gives him a very high ceiling. Quickley has also seen consistent minutes with solid peripherals and the ability to score in bunches. Given the 5-game slate, we are fine overstacking the Raptors with Sandro, Barnes, and Quickley with Reaves on the other side. If you really wanted to lean into it, Ayton is in play and Hachimura, especially on Fanduel.
Similar to last night, we really wanted to highlight the best spots and the edge we see in GPPs. We recommend using the projections to fill out around your build and, as always, will be active in the discord up until lock to answer any questions. We are also always on the lookout for late-breaking news.