This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
Following a very busy back-to-back first pair of post-All-Star-break slates, we have a more modest, six-game ledger on tap Saturday night. What's immediately striking about the slate is that it's very light on short-term injuries, which helps afford us a near-optimal player pool to work with when building our cash game and tournament lineups.
Slate Overview
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In addition to the very clean bill of health we're treated to Saturday, oddsmakers are also foreshadowing a very competitive slate. As of Saturday morning, five of the six games have spreads of 5.0 points or less, including four that are at figures of 3.0 points or fewer. Three contests also have projected totals of 232.0 points or higher, giving us a trio of games to potentially lean heavily on.
Injury Situations to Monitor
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Kelly Olynyk, UTA (ankle): QUESTIONABLE
If Olynyk can't suit up, Rudy Gay (nose) and Juan Toscano-Anderson could see the majority of power forward minutes in a favorable matchup against the Spurs.
Tre Jones, SAN (foot): QUESTIONABLE
If Jones sits out again, Malaki Branham and Devonte' Graham could handle most of the minutes at power forward.
Other notable injuries:
- Zion Williamson, NOP (hamstring): OUT
- Aaron Gordon, DEN (ribs): OUT
- Steven Adams, MEM (knee): OUT
- Devin Vassell, SAN (knee): OUT
- Collin Sexton, UTA (hamstring): OUT
- Jeremy Sochan, SAN (quadriceps): PROBABLE
Elite Players
We have five players with five-figure salaries on Saturday's slate: Joel Embiid ($12,000), Nikola Jokic ($11,800), Jayson Tatum ($11,000), LaMelo Ball ($10,500) and James Harden ($10,000).
Embiid exploded for 77.8 FD points against the Grizzlies in his first game following the All-Star break and posted 44.9 against the Celtics in his most recent encounter with them.
Jokic got the post-ASB portion of the season started with another triple-double against the Cavaliers that netted 64.1 FD points across 35 minutes and racked up 50.1 FD points against the Grizzlies in his first encounter with them this season.
Tatum posted 60.9 FD points in the OT win over the Pacers on Wednesday, but it's worth noting he had a much more modest 37.1 in 37 minutes against the 76ers in their most recent encounter.
Ball opened post-ASB play with 59 FD points over 39 minutes against the Timberwolves on Friday -- his third straight 55-plus FD-point tally.
Harden has been a virtual lock for at least 40 FD points since early February and produced 51.1 against the Celtics in his most recent encounter with Boston.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Ja Morant, MEM ($9,900)
Morant was quiet with only 29.1 FD points in 32 minutes against the 76ers on Thursday, but his upside and the sub-$10k salary should combine to keep him very popular Saturday.
Julius Randle, NYK ($9,300)
Randle went off for 56.4 FD points against Wizards on Friday, and he'd been over 40 in 13 of the previous 14 games as well.
Bam Adebayo, MIA ($9,100)
Adebayo draws a premium matchup against the Hornets, a team he's scored 37.8 to 49 FD points against in three prior meetings this season.
Tyrese Haliburton, IND ($8,800)
Haliburton opened post-ASB play with 58.2 FD points against the Celtics on Thursday and also eclipsed 60 FD points three games ago.
Lauri Markkanen, UTA ($8,600)
Markkanen followed his first All-Star Game appearance with 54 FD points against the Thunder on Thursday and could be taking the floor without Kelly Olynyk on Saturday.
Walker Kessler, UTA ($7,400)
Like Markkanen, Kessler could benefit from a potential Olynyk absence and also just scored 52.6 FD points against the Thunder on Thursday.
Key Values
Zach Collins, SAN at UTA ($6,800)
Collins has been a revelation in the wake of the trade of Jakob Poeltl, averaging 34.7 FD points in his first five games with the first unit. The big man has three double-doubles over that span as well and is doing a solid job stretching the floor as a nice bonus. On Saturday, he faces a Jazz team that's allowing the 10th-highest offensive efficiency rating to centers (32.8), along with the third-most FD points per game to the position (57.8). Collins could also be operating without Tre Jones (foot) yet again, a scenario that would continue to afford him some extra offensive responsibility.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, DEN at MEM ($5,800)
The All-Star break didn't do much to cool off KCP, who returned to action Thursday with 36.6 FD points across 34 minutes against the Cavaliers. The veteran also eclipsed 30 FD points in two of the three games prior to the pause in play, and he's averaging 26.5 FD points with 49.5 percent shooting, including 40.8 percent from behind the arc, in the last 12 contests overall. The Grizzlies have allowed 37.4 percent three-point shooting over the last three games, along with 42.8 FD points per contest to two-guards on the season.
Gordon Hayward, CHA vs. MIA ($5,600)
Hayward has turned back the clock on a few occasions recently, as he's posted three tallies of more than 30 FD points in the last four games. That includes efforts of 49 and 57.1 FD points in two of the last three, and he's shooting a blistering 54.6 percent over the last 12 games overall while averaging 28.5 FD points. The Heat conceded 29 FD points in 26 minutes to Hayward the one prior time he faced them this season, and Miami is allowing an NBA-high 27.1 offensive efficiency rating to small forwards, along with elevated 41.6 percent three-point shooting in the last three games.
Also consider: Wendell Carter, ORL vs. IND ($6,700); Talen Horton-Tucker, UTA vs. SA ($5,900); Malaki Branham, SAN at UTA ($5,700)
