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It goes without saying, but Chris Paul ($9,800) has been outstanding as of late. He’s been great all season, but with the absence of Blake Griffin, Paul has been able to be an even larger focus of the Clippers offense. In the 11 games that Griffin has missed, CP3 has averaged a whopping 1.46 DraftKings points per minute. That is an elite rate across the league in its own right, but he’s actually pouring in 1.53 DKPPM if you look at his last six games. He’s becoming a safe double-double with triple-double upside. He takes a bit of a hit against the slow paced Cavaliers, but on a small slate, he will still be an appealing option.
It was really encouraging to see Mike Conley ($6,200) pick up right where he left off before his injury. Conley was sidelined for six games and posted 34.25 DK points in just 27 minutes against the Pelicans on Monday night, thanks to a 15-10 line. This is an opportunity to buy a player who was playing excellent basketball before his injury and will likely be under-owned as people tend to “forget” about injured players. A nice, fast-paced matchup with the Nuggets is expected tonight.
A razor thin shooting guard position has me grasping for Jamal Crawford ($4,700). Crawford is instant offense for the Clippers, coming off the bench and earning 30+ minutes in four of his last five games. Crawford takes full advantage of his time on the court, launching 16 shot attempts per game over the course of his last six contests. To put that into perspective, 16 FGA per game is more than what Kyle Lowry, Kemba Walker, Dwyane Wade and Rudy Gay average for the season. He is very dependent on real points, but he’s scored double digit points in ten straight games. You’d be thrilled to get away from this position with 25 points from Crawford which is exactly what he’s averaged in the last four games.
Surfacing as one of the more consistent scoring options, Danilo Gallinari ($7,100) has provided his fantasy owners a solid 5x return in eight of his last nine games. That’s fairly impressive for a guy who costs as much as Gallinari does, meaning he’s cracked 33+ DraftKings points in the same eight of nine game stretch. He cooked the Grizzlies in their one meeting this season, dropped a 29-8 line for 43.5 DraftKings points. He’s a solid, mid-tier priced option in all formats tonight.
A very interesting option in Paul Millsap ($8,200) tonight. He’s been trending upwards lately, averaging 43.8 DK PPG over his las 11 outings, which includes a 1.38 DKPPM pace. In fact, he’s cracked 44 points on six occasions during that same stretch. Millsap needs 49.2 DK points tonight to reach full 6x value, which I don’t think is out of his range. He been a massive producer for his owners and the Hawks recently, and dropped 58 DK points on the Kings in their only meeting this season. That game was Millsap’s best fantasy outing of the year.
Marc Gasol ($7,600) has been a monster for the Grizzlies lately, averaging 44.9 DraftKings points per game in his last four outings. He’s a rare breed at center as he can contribute in all five categories. During this stretch his piling up numbers across the board to the tune of 23-7-4-2-1. I’d obviously like to see more rebounds from the seven footer, but he makes up for it in other areas. Denver is a team that has been really hit or miss against centers this season. Gasol poses an interesting dual threat of being a solid interior scorer with the ability to knock down a 17 footer.
I don’t know how realistic it would be to roster Boban Marjanovic ($3,200) tonight. He would only be an absolute punt if we get word that Tim Duncan isn’t going to play. There haven’t been any reports of that, but the Spurs rested some stars against Phoenix a few weeks back, so it’s conceivable they take the opportunity to do so again. Boban is the biggest beneficiary of a Tim Duncan absence, going from 7 DK PPG to 22 DK PPG in the six games without the future Hall of Famer. In the last five games that Boban has played 10+ minutes, he’s scoring a ridiculous 1.6 DraftKings points per minute. That would lead the league if it was his season average. So Boban is the ideal “if you’re desperate”, “I only have $3,200 left” play if we hear Duncan is out.
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.