This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
This is one of the biggest Sunday slates of the season. We actually have five day games and then six night games. We're going to go ahead and focus on the six-gamer because that's the main slate on FanDuel. With that in mind, let's get into it!
Slate Overview
DAL vs. IND: Dallas enters this matchup as a 6.5-point favorite. The key difference is the top-ranked Mavs' offense facing a fifth-ranked Pacers' defense.
HOU vs. ORL: Houston enters this matchup as a 9.5-point favorite with a 232-point total. Houston actually sits fifth in pace while Orlando ranks 27th in that statistic.
MIA vs. WSH: Miami enters this matchup as a 4.5-point road favorite, with a total of 231. This is another contrasting-style game, with Miami sitting 11th in total defense and Washington ranked dead-last.
CLE vs. SAN: This is a battle of two terrible defenses, with San Antonio ranked 24th in defensive efficiency and Cleveland in 29th. That's led to San Antonio being a 3.5-point favorite with a projected total around 230.
NYK vs. DET: Here are the clubs ranked 22nd and 23rd in defensive rating. With that said, we have a low 211-point total, as the Knicks come in as a 5.5-point favorite. That total shows how poor these offenses are.
SAC vs. TOR: Toronto enters this matchup as a 5.5-point road favorite despite Sacramento's stellar form. We also have a 228-point total and injuries will need to be monitored closely in this game.
Positional Breakdown
PG: Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard are right above $10,000, with De'Aaron Fox and Kyle Lowry following them up in the upper-$7,000s. Collin Sexton is on fire at $7,000 while Elfrid Payton represents a great value at $6,200. Dejounte Murray and Markelle Fultz are fantastic plays in the $5,000s.
SG: James Harden is the highest-priced player at $11,000. Bradley Beal is at $10,100, while Jimmy Butler and DeMar DeRozan sit around $8,000. Norman Powell and Buddy Hield are in play just below $6,000 while RJ Barrett, Duncan Robinson and Bogdan Bogdanovic make for solid, cheap pivots.
SF: Pascal Siakam is the best option here at $8,400. T.J. Warren enters as the only other one above $6,000, with Harrison Barnes being a nice value at $4,800. This is undoubtedly the weakest position on the slate, with Cedi Osman and OG Anunoby being the only other viable choices.
PF: Kristaps Porzingis has been on fire recently, getting his price up to $9,900. Bam Adebayo, Domantas Sabonis, Kevin Love, Julius Randle and Christian Wood all sit right around $8,000. Aaron Gordon is at $7,100 while Larry Nance, Serge Ibaka and Robert Covington are good picks around $6,000. Maxi Kleber, Nemanja Bjelica and Harry Giles III are all in play below $5,000.
C: The center option appears extremely weak, with Nikola Vucevic up top at $8,400. Myles Turner sits next at $6,200, while Mitchell Robinson is at $5,800. Tristan Thompson, Thomas Bryant and P.J. Tucker are the only other options, but all represent poor choices.
Injuries to Monitor
T.J. Warren/Malcolm Brogdon/Jeremy Lamb/Victor Oladipo (IND): Lamb and Brogdon will definitely sit, while Warren and Oladipo are questionable. That leaves Domantas Sabonis with a lot of touches while giving Aaron Holiday and T.J. McConnell plenty of ball-handling duties.
Seth Curry/Tim Hardaway Jr/Dorian Finney-Smith (DAL): Curry has been ruled out while the other two are questionable. It doesn't really matter because Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis take all the usage anyway. If they're all out, Delon Wright and Maxi Kleber are interesting pivots.
LaMarcus Aldridge/Jakob Poeltl (SAN): Both big men are out. It has forced Derrick White into the starting lineup, with the Spurs playing small.
Derrick Rose/Luke Kennard/Blake Griffin (DET): All of these Pistons remain out. Brandon Knight has been starting recently while Christian Wood has served as the team's best player.
Darius Garland/Andre Drummond/ (CLE): Both sat out on Saturday. Matthew Dellavedova dished 14 assists as the starting point guard while Kevin Love dropped a monster double-double.
Marvin Bagley III/Richaun Holmes (SAC): Holmes finally suited up on Saturday, but might sit here in the second half of a back-to-back set. That has forced Harry Giles III into the starting lineup and Nemanja Bjelica into a 30-minute role.
Fred VanVleet/Marc Gasol (TOR): Both are questionable and that's been the case for a while. Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam are the only trustworthy ones on this team while Norman Powell is a viable GPP play.
Elite Players
Russell Westbrook vs. Luka Doncic
These guys are just $200 apart up top at the point guard position. Picking between the two is going to be critical and we're going to go with Westbrook. The reason for that is because he's been one of the best players in the NBA over the last month. In fact, Russ has notched at least 41 FanDuel points in 18 of his last 19 games while averaging 56.1 fantasy points per game during that span.
Expected Chalk
Pascal Siakam, TOR ($8,500)
With T.J. Warren as the second-highest priced player at SF, everybody and their mother will be using Siakam. That doesn't even take into consideration that Warren is injured, along with Kevin Porter, Tim Hardaway Jr and Dorian Finney-Smith. All of that will make everyone click on Siakam and it's easy to see why when you look at his 41-point average and favorable matchup against the Kings.
Nikola Vucevic, ORL ($8,400)
This is another chalk play because of position depth. Andre Drummond is the only player above $6,200 at center besides Vucevic, with Myles Turner owning that $6,200 price tag. The other options are a bunch of inconsistent guys and that's going to make Vooch very chalky. What adds to his intrigue is the matchup, with Houston having no bigs and allowing the second-most fantasy points to opposing centers since trading Clint Capela. That should allow Vucevic to feast and it also helps Houston plays at the fifth-fastest pace in the league.
Key Values
Jimmy Butler, MIA ($8,000)
It's weird to call Butler a value play, but he's just that. This is a guy who should be $9,000, as he possesses one of the best floors in basketball. In fact, Butler has at least 36 FanDuel points in 26 of his last 29 games while averaging 42 fantasy points per game for the season. The main reason we like him today is the matchup against a Washington team who ranks dead-last in both defensive efficiency and points allowed. That's pretty clear when you see that Jimmy Buckets is averaging over 50 FanDuel points per game in three meetings with the Wizards this season.
Markelle Fultz, ORL ($5,000)
With Evan Fournier now out of the picture, Fultz represents the primary ball-handler. In the first game without Fournier, Fultz collected 24 points, five rebounds and five assists en route to 43 FanDuel points. That extends a rather impressive run, with the Orlando PG averaging 30 fantasy points per game since the beginning of January. Not to mention, he gets to face a Houston team who ranks fifth in pace and 22nd in points allowed. Why is Fultz only $5,000 with so much in his favor?
Other good value plays include: Elfrid Payton, Dejounte Murray, T.J. McConnell, Terrence Ross, Harrison Barnes, Bam Adebayo, Robert Covington and Maxi Kleber
