It doesn’t appear to be a coincidence that Jamal Murray has had his three best fantasy games of the season, in the three games that Will Barton has returned to the Nuggets lineup. Barton was entered right back into the starting lineup, which moved Murray back to the bench. That produced games of 30, 36 and 35 DraftKings points. It makes sense that Murray doesn’t have to battle for shots anymore with the starters and can lead the second-unit. Expect plenty of possessions tonight, OKC and DEN rank 6th and 8th in fastest pace.

Today’s Projections | NBA Game Logs | Player Scoring Calendar

Bradley Beal enters tonight as one of the hottest players in the league. He’s averaging 42.25 DraftKings points in the last seven days which is significantly higher than the 30.65 that he is averaging for the season. Beal has squashed all concerns about him being on any type of minutes restrictions as he’s played exactly 40 minutes in each of the last two games. Those two contests turned in 48.75 and 49 DraftKings points. Beal has heated up, hitting 26 of 48 in the L2 including 9 of 21 from deep. Beal is a mid-price option with significant upside.

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  • Russell Westbrook has scored 50+ DraftKings points in 14 of 16 games this season.
  • Draymond Green‘s 6.21 standard deviation, makes him the “most consistent” player in the league who averages more than 40 DraftKings points per game.
  • The HOU/SAC over/under opened at 217.5, making it the highest total of the year for Sacramento.

I am willing to buy back in on Gordon Hayward. He had a really poor three game stretch in the middle of the month, but appears to have emerged from that slump. He’s filled up the bucket with 22 and 25 real points in his last two games which earned his fantasy owners 36.25 and 42.75 DraftKings points. Even with the bad games, Hayward has scored 40+ DraftKings points in four of his last eight. Utah who ranks dead last in pace this season, should see a boost from Atlanta who is the 5th fastest team in the league.

How much DeMarcus Cousins can you handle? For me, it’s a lot! Boogie is another guy who is playing significantly over his season average right now. He’s scored 56.67 DraftKings PPG in the L7 days compared to “only” 48.77 for the season. Cousins is a little more volatile than some of the other studs, but he’s scored 54+ in four of his last five. Boogie enters tonight with a monster 35.8% usage rate which is second highest in the league. It should be no surprise that he is taking a ton of shots. He’s attempted at least 20 shots on nine separate occasions this season. Only Anthony David, Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan have more such games. This matchup with Houston is just screaming fantasy points. Vegas has this listed with a 217.5 o/u (2nd highest on the slate) and the spread opened as a pick.

Did you get burnt by Hassan Whiteside on Wednesday night? If so, it’s time to forgive. Whiteside only played 25 minutes in the blowout loss and didn’t do much in his time on the court, scoring only 19 DraftKings points. Don’t forget that this guy is averaging 53.2 DraftKings points in the five games prior to that dud. Whiteside has seven games of 50+ DraftKings points this season, a feat that only four guys in the league have accomplished more often. As you’d expect, Whiteside is the cheapest of those options today.
 

That’s all folks! Be sure to follow me on Twitter for more player analysis as news and injuries break closer to tip-off! Commentary based on DraftKings strategy and scoring.