This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
We're poised for a five-game ledger Thursday night that includes a couple of particularly large favorites but also has some likely very competitive matchups in those of the Kings and Nets and the Thunder and Raptors. The injury report has some notable names, but many still have a 50/50 shot to play; consequently, our player pool may not be overly affected.
Slate Overview
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The presence of the aforementioned pair of double-digit favorites isn't ideal, but at least one of those games, the Pacers-Bucks battle, could certainly see its number narrow if Tyrese Haliburton is announced as available for Indiana.
Meanwhile, projected totals are encouraging from a DFS perspective, as each game carries a figure of 228.5 points or higher on FanDuel Sportsbook as of Thursday morning.
Injury Situations to Monitor
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Tyrese Haliburton, IND (knee): QUESTIONABLE
If Haliburton sits out, T.J. McConnell would be in line for a spot start if he can work past his ankle issue, while the rest of the starting five would see a bump in usage as well.
Brook Lopez, MIL (ankle): QUESTIONABLE
If Lopez can't suit up, Bobby Portis would be in line for a spot start at center.
Myles Turner, IND (back): QUESTIONABLE
If Turner can't go, Jalen Smith and Isaiah Jackson could be primary beneficiaries.
Buddy Hield, IND (foot): QUESTIONABLE
If Hield doesn't play, Jordan Nwora could see small forward minutes considering Bennedict Mathurin and Chris Duarte are already declared out.
Other notable injuries:
Kevin Durant, PHO (ankle): OUT
Bojan Bogdanovic, DET (Achilles): OUT
Ben Simmons, BKN (knee): OUT
Marvin Bagley, DET (ankle): OUT
Isaiah Stewart, DET (shoulder/hip): OUT
Bennedict Mathurin, IND (ankle): OUT
T.J. McConnell, IND (back): QUESTIONABLE
Jamal Murray, DEN (knee injury management): PROBABLE
Jaden Ivey, DET (COVID-19 protocols): PROBABLE
Elite Players
We have six players with five-figure salaries on Thursday's slate – Nikola Jokic ($12,200), Giannis Antetokounmpo ($12,000), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($10,600), Devin Booker ($10,300), Domantas Sabonis ($10,200) and Tyrese Haliburton ($10,000).
Jokic has scored 70.7 and 84.5 FD points in two of his last three games and draws a highly favorable positional matchup against a Pistons team ranked No. 28 in offensive efficiency rating allowed to centers (35.1).
Antetokounmpo has scored 64.4 and 64.2 FD points in his last two games, dispelling any concerns about his previously ailing knee and hand. However, he'll face a potentially very short-handed Pacers team Thursday, which could lead to him playing fewer minutes than usual.
Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 59.2 and 49.4 FD points in his last two times on the floor and hasn't scored less than 47.6 in his last four.
Booker has scored at least 40.3 FD points in seven straight, including a stretch within that sample where he eclipsed 50 FD points in five consecutive contests.
Sabonis has eclipsed 50 FD points in four of the last eight games alone, and he's scored under 48.3 just once in the sample. However, it's worth noting he'll be on the second game of a back-to-back set Thursday and playing his third game in four nights overall.
Haliburton will have to clear his questionable designation, but if he does, he'll be looking to extend a favorable stretch where he'd scored 52.1 to 67.6 FD points in four straight prior to his current two-game absence.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
De'Aaron Fox, SAC ($9,700)
Fox will be on the second night of a back-to-back but should be highly popular after draining a game-winning three-pointer Wednesday and scoring 38.1 to 55.1 FD points in his last four games.
Spencer Dinwiddie, BKN ($8,700)
Dinwiddie has scored 39.7 to 51.1 FD points in his last three games and was also over 50 five games ago, almost certainly locking in a high rostering rate for him Thursday.
Fred VanVleet, TOR ($8,600)
VanVleet just scored 57.1 FD points in his most recent contest against the Nuggets on Tuesday and has put up at least 40.3 in four of his last five games overall.
Mikal Bridges, BKN ($8,500)
Bridges racked up 50.8 FD points against the Thunder on Tuesday and has at least 38.7 FD points in five of his last seven contests.
Josh Giddey, OKC ($8,000)
Giddey went off for 50.6 FD points during his most recent time on the floor Tuesday, his fifth game of over 45 FD points in his last eight.
Key Values
Cameron Johnson, BKN vs. SAC ($6,300)
Johnson carries an appealing salary for a player that just compiled 39.3 FD points against the Thunder on Tuesday and that's already eclipsed 30 FD points overall in six of his first 13 games as a Net. The floor-spacer is shooting a nifty 50.0 percent, including 38.5 percent from three-point range, over his last pair of contests as well. He now catches what could be a fatigued Kings team that's also allowing the sixth-highest offensive efficiency rating to small forwards (24.1), along with the second-most FD points per game to the position on the season (43.2), including 45.8 per contest in the last seven games.
Michael Porter, DEN at DET ($6,100)
Porter has posted 33.6 and 37.2 FD points in his last two games, and despite a couple of single-digit clunkers that have dragged his overall average down, he's putting up 29.1 FD points across 29.1 minutes per contest in his last 17 games. Porter is shooting 52.0 percent, including 41.0 percent from three-point range, in that span as well, and he now faces a Pistons team that's allowed the third-highest three-point percentage of any team on its home floor (37.9), along with 41.3 FD points per game to small forwards in the last 30 contests.
Andrew Nembhard, IND at MIL ($5,800)
Nembhard's teammate T.J. McConnell ($5,600) would be my preferred play over Nembhard if he can play through his back issue and Tyrese Haliburton sits out with his knee injury. However, if both players sit, then the rookie second-round pick is one of several Pacers that could significantly benefit from the short-handed nature of his team's roster Thursday night, and he's proven capable of delivering nicely on his modest salary even with a healthier group around him. Nembhard has scored 22.9 to 32.6 FD points in his last three games, and he's delivered over a 5x return on his current salary on eight occasions this season while coming within less than two FD points of doing so in another two instances. It's also worth noting that Nembhard is averaging 35.3 FD points per 36 minutes when all of his teammates carrying questionable tags Thursday are off the floor, furthering his case.
ALSO CONSIDER: Jordan Nwora, IND at MIL ($5,800); Aaron Nesmith, IND at MIL ($5,700); Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, DEN at DET ($5,300)
