This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
We're down to three games for Wednesday's slate after the Heat disposed of the Pacers in Game 4 on Monday. Wednesday's ledger takes on some extra intrigue with the absence of Damian Lillard (knee), a development that naturally will have a major ripple effect on the fantasy outlook for many of his teammates. We'll explore that further, along with the two potential elimination scenarios and another Thunder-Rockets battle that could certainly be the best source of fantasy production overall for the day.
We'll begin by diving into the three games Wednesday, followed by an examination of the general state of each position, a review of key injuries, a look at expected chalk plays and both under-the-radar and popular value plays to consider.
Before delving into the slate, a reminder that FanDuel has reverted to its previous format of NOT dropping the lowest scoring in lineups after a one-year experiment with that feature. Therefore, it will be important to be prudent with each selection, as each player's total will count toward your final score.
Without further ado, let's get into Wednesday's slate!
Slate Overview
Here's a further look each of the three games on Wednesday's slate:
Orlando Magic vs. Milwaukee Bucks (Projected total: 227.0 points)
Aaron Gordon once again shapes up as a game-time decision for this contest, but with the Bucks continually putting up at least 120 points in this series thus far except for one game, the oddsmakers are apparently expecting they should be able to replicate the feat. The Magic has been stuck between 96 and 107 points in the last three contests after broadsiding Milwaukee with a 122-point tally in Game 1. The one potential deterrent to this contest hitting or exceeding the total could be a Bucks blowout that allows coach Mike Budenholzer to empty his bench early.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets (Projected total: 224.0 points)
Contrary to Magic-Bucks, this could be a true wire-to-wire battle yet again, leaving open the possibility this total is actually a bit of an underestimation. The two teams have combined for 226 and 231 points in the last two games, and they also put up a total of 231 in Game 1 of the series. Russell Westbrook will continue to be sidelined with his quadriceps injury, but otherwise, both clubs come in with all of their key pieces available.
Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Lakers (Projected total: OTB)
We don't have a total yet as of Wednesday morning presumably due to Lillard's absence and questions about who'll replace him in the lineup, but we could certainly see a big drop in offensive production for Portland overall. The Blazers have struggled to put up points against Los Angeles with Lillard during the series, with team totals of 100, 88 and 108 over the first three games before reaching the 115-mark in Game 4. The trio of CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic and Carmelo Anthony are among those capable of making up plenty of the scoring vacuum, but it wouldn't be surprising to see this total set at about 220 points when it does come out.
Positional Breakdown
PG: We have the two biggest confirmed absences of the slate at this spot, as Damian Lillard (knee) joins Russell Westbrook (quadriceps) as superstars that are already declared out for Wednesday. Needless to say, the depth at PG is comprised significantly, and the rostering of Chris Paul should go through the roof as a result. Eric Bledsoe, Markelle Fultz and D.J. Augustin are among the options below him, but there is a bit of a blowout risk attached to their contest. One value play that could skyrocket in popularity is Anfernee Simons, who may be starting in Lillard's place at minimum price.
SG: James Harden spearheads a shooting guard pool that's once again at full health, with McCollum and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Khris Middleton and Dennis Schroder as strong alternatives that will cost you significantly less. McCollum should particularly find himself on a ton of rosters with Lillard out, and teammate Gary Trent could certainly also be a very noteworthy value play for the same reason.
SF: Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James are the best 1-2 punch of any position, while Danilo Gallinari, Carmelo Anthony and Eric Gordon are some of your top alternatives outside of the two five-figure salary stars. Evan Fournier and Danuel House make for very appealing value options.
PF: Anthony Davis is fully expected to play through his probable designation due to back spasms, making him your clear-cut top choice at the four. Aaron Gordon shapes up as a 50-50 proposition yet again. The rest of the pool is fairly thin in terms of upside, but Jeff Green and Gary Clark have particularly delivered some solid returns on investment on multiple occasions in their respective series.
C: Nikola Vucevic, Jusuf Nurkic and Steven Adams are the top three choices, and all are very easily rostered without breaking the bank. Brook Lopez arguably constitutes the best of the rest for fantasy purposes, with Hassan Whiteside and P.J. Tucker potentially offering good value.
Injury Situations to Monitor
NOTE: Injury reporting is especially fluid in the NBA, where the status of multiple players can change during the course of a day. Therefore, although the following serves as a foundation for the latest injury report as of the time the article is written (usually late morning Eastern time), check back throughout the course of the day with RotoWire for the latest news regarding the status of all players on that night's slate.
Russell Westbrook, HOU (quadriceps)
Westbrook remains out for Game 5. Eric Gordon, Jeff Green and Danuel House should continue be the biggest beneficiaries of Westbrook's absence outside of James Harden.
Damian Lillard, POR (knee)
Lillard will not play in Game 5 due to the right knee sprain that forced him from Monday's Game 4. His absence, which will be his ninth overall since the start of the regular season and first one of the postseason, naturally leaves a sizable void in the Blazers' starting five that McCollum, Carmelo Anthony and Jusuf Nurkic will be primarily asked to fill. Anfernee Simons and Gary Trent may be the players that directly pick up Lillard's minutes, although it could be McCollum who actually takes Lillard's place at point guard.
LeBron James, LAL (groin)
James is probable with the groin soreness he's played through previously in the series.
Anthony Davis, LAL (back)
Davis is probable with the back spasms that led to him taking an early seat in Game 4. According to latest reports, he's fully expected to play.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, LAL (knee)
Caldwell-Pope is considered probable with right knee soreness.
Aaron Gordon, ORL (hamstring)
Gordon is questionable for Game 5 with the hamstring issue that's now cost him eight games. If he's unable to suit up, Gary Clark is likely to draw the start at power forward again in his stead.
Michael Carter-Williams, ORL (foot)
Carter-Williams remains out for Game 5.
Other injuries to monitor:
Luc Mbah a Moute, HOU (knee)- OUT
Deonte Burton, OKC (illness)- QUESTIONABLE
Longer-term injuries of note: Nassir Little, POR; Zach Collins, POR
Elite Players
We'll have four players sporting five-figure salaries Wednesday, with James Harden ($11.6K) and Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11.5K) once again flipping places at the top of the salary scale. Lakers teammates Anthony Davis ($11.1K) and LeBron James ($10.6K) are the other two players priced over $10K, and both have seen slight bumps over their Game 4 salaries. As mentioned, Davis and James carry injury designations that shouldn't be of concern.
Below them, Chris Paul ($7.9K) has delivered over 40 FD points in three of his last four contests and therefore is certainly capable of delivering a better than 5x return on his salary, while Trail Blazers teammates Jusuf Nurkic ($7.5K) and McCollum ($7.2K) could well outpace their costs as well with Lillard out of action. The same could be said for Carmelo Anthony ($5,400), who would have an even easier time producing a spectacular return when considering how much less of an investment he requires.
Expected Chalk
All of the players just listed in the prior section are certainly going to be on plenty of rosters, with the Trail Blazers potentially rivaling the popularity of some of the bigger-name, more expensive stars. The Rockets' complementary players such as Jeff Green, Danuel House and Eric Gordon should also continue seeing plenty of clicks on their names in the ongoing absence of Russell Westbrook.
As usual, I've also compiled the names of some sub-$6K value plays (including Anthony and a couple of his teammates) that should also find themselves on plenty of rosters and listed them under the next section.
Key Values
James Ennis, ORL vs. MIL ($4,400)
Ennis bounced back to an extent after getting the hook from the refs in Game 3, as he posted 19.1 FD points over 22 minutes in Game 4. The modest playing time is somewhat of a concern, but with the Magic facing elimination in Game 5, Ennis should be back to a more robust workload. The versatile wing can check off every box on the stat sheet and posted 32.6 and 25.0 FD points in the first two games of the series, and he delivered over 20 FD points in every seeding game as well.
Danny Green, LAL vs. POR ($4,300)
You certainly won't have to worry about rostering percentages being high on Green, but the veteran guard has a couple of appealing characteristics that could make a him a viable cost-savings large-field tournament play Wednesday. To begin with, Green and the rest of his teammates won't have to worry about defending Damian Lillard, which could certainly help him focus more on the offensive side of the floor. The three-and-D asset has also been more involved offensively the last two games, taking eight shot attempts in each and draining five of eight three-point attempts during that span on his way to 20.3 and 27.3 FD points in Games 3 and 4, respectively. Green has also logged 24 minutes or more in three of the first four games of the series and could certainly continue to benefit from facing a Blazers squad that allows the sixth-highest three-point shooting percentage (38.2) to small forwards.
Other under-the-radar value play to consider: Luguentz Dort, OKC ($4,000); Wesley Matthews, MIL vs. ORL ($3,900)
Popular value plays to consider: Eric Gordon, HOU ($5,800); Brook Lopez, MIL ($5,500); Jeff Green, HOU ($5,500); Carmelo Anthony, POR ($5,400); Evan Fournier, ORL ($5,300); Terrence Ross, ORL ($5,000); D.J. Augustin, ORL ($4,800); Danuel House, HOU ($4,800); Gary Clark, ORL ($4,400); P.J. Tucker, HOU ($4,200); Gary Trent, POR ($4,000); Anfernee Simons, POR ($3,500)
