Daily Fantasy Basketball Matchups 3-28

Finally have some free time tonight to work on one of these Daily Fantasy Basketball Matchup posts again. If you’re new to the post, what I’m going to do is break down by position what players I think have an excellent chance of hitting their value for salary today, or exceeding it.

This will be another 2 part column, the 1st part will have the Point Guards, Shooting Guards, and Small Forwards. The 2nd part will have the Power Forwards, and Centers, as long with an Offensive/Defensive Efficiency Chart.

Daily Fantasy Basketball Top PGs

• Kyrie Irving:Kyrie has had three subpar games recently, but you can’t ask for a better opponent then Detroit to end that streak. He’s averaging 19.5 points, 7.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals in 2 games vs Detroit. And in their last 10 games Detroit is 26th in the league in PG defensive efficiency, as that team has seriously tanked following the All-Star break losing 5 of their last 6.
• Jose Calderon: Jerryd Bayless is out for the season with a torn oblique, and Toronto really has no depth behind Calderon so he’s playing a massive amount of minutes. Combine that with playing the Denver Nuggets, who are giving up 19.5 pts/gm and nearly 11 assists to opposing point guards in their last 10, and Calderon looks like a real nice play tomorrow. He’s scored 30 and 24 Daily Fantasy Basketball points in his last 2 outtings, and both Orlando and Chicago are far better defensively then Denver.



• Jarrett Jack:Since coming back from injury his earlier season Jack has been one of the most consistent Daily Fantasy PG’s in the game. Over his last 10 he’s averaging 17.6 points, and 6.9 assists, with 4.3 rebounds game. Golden State has been giving up 21.6 ppg at the PG spot over their last 10, and Nate Robinson coming off an injury is unlikely to slow him down. He had a triple double in their last game vs the Warriors going for 17/11/10, and while I don’t expect quite that much production, I do like his chances for a 30+ fantasy point game.

Other plays: Nate Robinson is likely back for the Warriors tonight, although I expect him to split time with Charles Jenkins, so cross both them off your list of possible starters. Tony Parker scored 20 points, with 4 rebounds and 7 assists the last time the Spurs played the Suns, but I have a natural aversion to any Spurs player so I’ll be avoiding. Luke Ridnour on the other hand could be a very nice play tonight vs the awful Bobcats. With no JJ Barea, Ridnour is going to log heavy minutes again as basically the only point guard on the T-Wolves, he’s averaging 12.9/3.0/7.5 with 1 steal a game over the last 10, and I’d expect higher numbers tonight. CJ Watson is another value-pick that has high upside, but a definite element of risk in it. CJ has been solid replacing Derrick Rose this season(20.3 fantasy pts/gm over his last 7), but with John Lucas’s vulturing minutes lately he doesn’t quite deserve the ‘must-start’ title.

Daily Fantasy Basketball Top SGs

The Thinnest position in Daily Fantasy Basketball is exceptionally thin today, even with the big Wednesday slate of games. Players like Manu who has a great matchup, aren’t worth playing because Popovich isn’t going to play him more then 28 minutes. Joe Johnson has been on fire since coming back from injury, but he gets the Bulls today, and he’s only averaging 13 pts and 4 assists per game vs the Bulls in 3 games this season. I’m really only a fan of the following 3 plays tonight:

• Rodney Stuckey: Stuckey who had been on a tear prior to injuring his toe 2 weeks ago, made a nice comeback vs the Wiz scoring 24 points in 35 minutes. Going off that heavy workload, I’m going to guess he’s fully recovered from his toe injury and we can expect a return to the production he was experiencing before the injury. Luckily he gets another less then stellar defense to work his way back into a groove. Cleveland is 22st in the league on the season vs shooting guards giving up nearly 22 points a game. Also Ben Gordon injured his groin on monday, so there is no worry about the hot Gordon stealing minutes and attempts from Stuckey. To me he’s the #1 option in Daily Fantasy Basketball at SG tonight.
• Klay Thompson:On a team with a ton of injuries, and not many other options, Klay Thompson is getting a ton of minutes and shot attempts. He jacked up 25 attempts last night, and while he only hit 10 of them, he’s obviously got the green light from Marc Jackson. Over his last 10 games, Thompson has averaged 19.7 points, 3.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals. New Orleans is 21st in the league vs SG’s on the season giving up 21.6 ppg, so expect Klay to have a solid night vs a subpar defense.



• DeMar Derozan: DeRozan is expected to be back from an ankle injury vs the Nuggets tonight, after he’s missed his last 2. Now normally I wouldn’t be advising you to run with a player coming directly off an injury, however he was a full participant at practice, and was a GTD the previous game. Even more importantly Jerryd Bayless has just been shut down for the season, so while Gary Forbes has played well in DeRozan’s absence, we can expect him to pick up some minutes backing up Calderon at the PG spot. Denver is 29th in the league on the season defending the SG spot giving up 24.5 ppg, and they’re a league worst in total defense over their last 5 giving up 113 ppg. DeRozan doesn’t typically fill up the stat sheet outside of his shooting, but this should be a great matchup.

Daily Fantasy Basketball Top SFs

SF is another position that’s fairly thin tonight for a 10 game slate. With no Durant, LBJ, or Rudy Gay, most of the higher priced options are gone, and we’re left with some guys like Pierce and Melo who have underperformed as often as not this season.

• Paul Pierce: Pierce has seen an increase in production with Ray Allen out of the lineup the last 3 games, and while Allen could be back tonight, he’s still likely the best overall player at SF tonight. He should be a touch matchup tonight for Gordon Hayward, or CJ Miles, and with no Raja Bell in the lineup I really don’t see how the Jazz will be able to slow him down. Even if Allen does come back, Pierce has been in such a groove offensively(40.5 fantasy ppg in his last 3 games) over his last couple, I’m expecting him to still be the focal point of the Boston attack.
• Carmelo Anthony: Melo had his 1st big game in a while the other night, with Amare out and Jeremy Lin also sidelined due to injury. While he’s still experiencing soreness from that strained groin, he has a great matchup vs the Orlando Magic. ORL is 20th in the league over their last 10 defending the SF spot, and the Knicks really have no other offensive options with their injury situation. Expect Anthony to get heavy minutes and put up a ton of shots tonight, as the Knicks are currently 8th in the playoff standings and need to keep winning if they want to see the post-season. The one game Melo played previously vs the Magic, he went off for 33 points, 8 boards, 5 assits, and 3 steals, so heres to hoping that he can put up a similar stat line.

The rest of the group is a grab bag at the SF position: Jared Dudley is averaging 16.5 ppg and 6.5 rebounds per game in 2 games vs the Clips this season. Gordon Hayward has really take off since moved into the starting lineup, averaging 13 ppg, 4.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, with 1 steal and block. Boston isn’t the greatest matchup, but for the price he should hit his number. Derrick Williams got 41 minutes last night, and on sites that you can play him at multiple positions he’s probably worth a gamble tonight vs Charlotte. He’s averaging 9.9ppg and 6.1 rebounds over his last 10, but obviously we expect a boost vs CHA.

To go to Part II of our Matchup column, click here: Part 2 Daily Fantasy Matchups 3-28