This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
There are only five games on FanDuel's NBA main slate Friday, certainly one of the smallest numbers we've seen for this night of the week in quite some time. The injury report is at least very compact, but there are some notable names on it.
Slate Overview
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Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Friday, 3/15 @5:30 a.m. EDT:
*Phoenix Suns (-9) at Charlotte Hornets (O/U: 217.5)
Miami Heat (-7) at Detroit Pistons (O/U: 213.5)
Orlando Magic (-7) at Toronto Raptors (O/U: 216.0)
*Los Angeles Clippers at New Orleans Pelicans (-6.5) (O/U: 215.5)
Denver Nuggets (-9.5) at San Antonio Spurs (O/U: 221.5)
*denotes team on second night of back-to-back set
Only two of the 10 teams in action are on the second night of a back-to-back set, but we still are saddled with extremely modest projected totals by this season's standards. That dampens the DFS upside of the slate as a whole on paper, as does the fact there aren't any truly small spreads. Nevertheless, as has been proven on countless occasions this season, games often play out differently than what oddsmakers project.
Injury Situations to Monitor
For all the latest updates, visit RotoWire's NBA Injury News page and our comprehensive NBA Injury Report.
James Harden, LAC (shoulder): QUESTIONABLE
If Harden can't suit up, Bones Hyland, who went off for 50.5 FD points in 31 minutes in Harden's stead Thursday, would likely draw another start.
Cade Cunningham, DET (knee): QUESTIONABLE
If Cunningham can't play, the likes of Marcus Sasser and Malachi Flynn could handle the majority of point guard duties, while the rest of the starting five will be primed for big bumps in usage.
RJ Barrett, TOR (personal): OUT
In Barrett's second straight absence, Jordan Nwora could potentially draw a spot start at power forward, while Ochai Agbaji could see extra run as well.
Other notable injuries:
LaMelo Ball, CHA (ankle): OUT
Tyler Herro, MIA (foot): OUT
Scottie Barnes, TOR (finger): OUT
Jakob Poeltl, TOR (finger): OUT
Ausar Thompson, DET (illness): OUT
Gary Trent, TOR (groin): QUESTIONABLE
Bam Adebayo, MIA (back): PROBABLE
Elite Players
We have two players with five-figure salaries on Friday's slate – Nikola Jokic ($12,000) and Victor Wembanyama ($11,200).
Jokic scored an unbelievable 95.4 FD points two games ago, and he's scored over 50 in three of the past four contests. The matchup against the Spurs could turn out to be uncompetitive at some point, but Jokic has already scored 63.7 FD points against them once this season.
Wembanyama has double-doubles in his first two games back from injury and should be heavily involved as the Spurs face Jokic and the defending champs.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Kawhi Leonard, LAC ($9,400)
Leonard posted 40.5 FD points against the Bulls on Thursday and has exceeded the 40-mark in seven of his last nine games.
Devin Booker, PHO ($9,300)
Booker has scored 45.7 and 35.9 FD points in his last two games and draws a good matchup against the Hornets, which should keep him popular Friday.
Zion Williamson, NOP ($8,900)
Williamson is averaging 50.1 FD points over his last four games, which should keep him very highly rostered at his salary Friday.
Miles Bridges, CHA ($8,800)
Bridges is averaging 40.8 FD points in his last seven games, and that's factoring in an 18.1 FD-point tally against the Magic.
Immanuel Quickley, TOR ($8,500)
Quickley's average of 45.8 FD pointws over his last seven games and the fact RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl all remain out will make the talented guard very popular.
Key Values
Wendell Carter, ORL at TOR ($6,000)
Carter is averaging 32.4 FD points per contest over his last five games on averages of 13.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 blocks, making him an intriguing play Friday against a very short-handed Raptors team. As just mentioned in Quickley's entry in the prior section, the Raptors frontcourt will be very short-handed Friday, and Toronto already checks in allowing the seventh-highest offensive efficiency rating to centers (34.6). The Raps are also surrendering an NBA-high 66.2 FD points to centers over his last 15 games, furthering Carter's appeal.
Grant Williams, CHA vs. PHO ($5,600)
Williams has been a terrific fit in Charlotte, and he's averaging 27.3 FD points over his last eight games while shooting a crisp 52.1 percent. The floor-spacing big has five tallies of more than 28 FD points within that sample, certainly making him an eye-catching option at his salary. The Suns will be on the second night of a back-to-back set as well and have given up over 52 FD points per game to centers in the last 30 games, making Williams a consideration as a key source of second-unit scoring on the Hornets.
Bones Hyland, LAC at NOP ($4,100)
Hyland will naturally be an incredible bargain if James Harden is ruled out again, but the talented guard is a consideration under any circumstance. Hyland actually had totals of 21.9 and 24.9 FD points three and four games ago off the bench, before exploding for 50.5 on Thursday night in a starting role. The Pelicans are also allowing 46.6 FD points per game to point guards in the last seven games, and Hyland's salary is such that there is virtually no risk in rolling with him whether Harden is available or not.
ALSO CONSIDER: Jordan Nwora, TOR vs. ORL ($4,100)
