This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
We continue with the final week of the regular season in grand fashion Tuesday, as there are 13 games on tap. There are plenty of teams that are still playing to either secure a postseason spot or improve/firm up the one they're already holding. The combination of some of those scenarios and the massive player pool helps keep it a very viable night for DFS lineup-building.
Slate Overview
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The last week of the regular season can always be somewhat of a rollercoaster from both a betting and DFS perspective, as there are always varying degrees of motivation/player usage across the league that can lead to some unpredictable outcomes.
Tuesday, there are a whopping six double-digit favorites on tap, but that's at least partly offset by five other games with lines of 4.5 points or fewer. There are still some projected totals off the board on FanDuel Sportsbook as of Monday night, but there are five games with figures of 225 points or higher thus far.
Injury Situations to Monitor
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Nikola Jokic, DEN (calf): QUESTIONABLE
If Jokic is out once again, Thomas Bryant and DeAndre Jordan are likely to remain in elevated roles.
LeBron James, LAL (foot): QUESTIONABLE
If James is unable to suit up, Lonnie Walker and Troy Brown are likely to handle small forward duties while Anthony Davis sees especially elevated usage.
Trae Young, ATL (illness): QUESTIONABLE
If Young is unable to suit up, Dejounte Murray could switch over to point guard while Bogdan Bogdanovic enters the starting lineup at shooting guard.
Jaylen Brown, BOS (back): QUESTIONABLE
If Brown is sidelined, Derrick White is likely to enter the starting five at shooting guard while Jayson Tatum would be in line for especially elevated usage.
Lauri Markkanen, UTA (hand): QUESTIONABLE
If Markkanen can't suit up, Talen Horton-Tucker, who's averaging 47.7 FD points over his last three games, projects to remain on the first unit.
Karl-Anthony Towns (calf/illness): QUESTIONABLE
If Towns is unable to go, Taurean Prince is expected to re-enter the starting five.
Other notable injuries:
Zion Williamson, NOP (hamstring): OUT
Terry Rozier, CHA (foot): OUT
Kyle Kuzma, WAS (ankle): OUT
Bradley Beal, WAS (knee): OUT
Kelly Oubre, CHA (shoulder): OUT
Khris Middleton, MIL (knee): OUT
Kristaps Porzingis, WAS (illness): OUT
Walker Kessler, UTA (concussion): OUT
P.J. Washington, CHA (foot): OUT
Jordan Clarkson, UTA (finger): PROBABLE
Jusuf Nurkic, POR (knee): OUT
Jerami Grant, POR (quadriceps): OUT
Anfernee Simons, POR (foot): OUT
Keldon Johnson, SAN (foot): DOUBTFUL
Anthony Davis, LAL (foot): PROBABLE
Bam Adebayo, MIA (hip): PROBABLE
D'Angelo Russell, LAL (foot): PROBABLE
Elite Players
We have nine players with five-figure salaries on Tuesday's slate: Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,900), Joel Embiid ($11,700), Nikola Jokic ($11,600), Anthony Davis ($11,400), Jayson Tatum ($11,100), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($10,600), LeBron James ($10,400), Stephen Curry ($10,200) and Domantas Sabonis ($10,000).
Antetokounmpo has scored 66.8 and 74.4 FD points in two of his last three games, and he should be in for a normal workload as the Bucks look to inch closer to sealing the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
Embiid has been at 49 FD points or less in four straight and could start to see some reduced minutes as the 76ers appear increasingly locked into the No. 3 seed.
Jokic will have to overcome his questionable designation, and if he does suit up for the first time in four games, he'll look to eclipse 60 FD points for the fourth time in the last five games.
Davis is expected to play through his probable designation and could be taking the floor without LeBron James, who's listed as questionable with his foot issue.
Tatum may be operating without Jaylen Brown and is averaging 49.5 FD points per 36 minutes without his teammate on the floor. He's also coming off having scored 65.7 FD points against the Jazz on Friday and will have a rare-for-this-time-of-season three days of rest under his belt.
Gilgeous-Alexander should be in for a heavy workload again as the Thunder tries to hang on to its play-in spot and has scored 46.9 to 58.8 FD points in the last five games.
James will need to clear his questionable designation, and if he does take the floor, he'll look to build on a three-game stretch where he's scored 42.6 to 48.5 FD points.
Curry should be as heavily involved as usual with the Warriors still finalizing playoff positioning, and although he did dip to 33.6 FD points against the Nuggets on Sunday, he'd scored 40.7 to 65.6 FD points in the previous six contests.
Sabonis has been a virtual lock for over 40 FD points and has over 47 in each of his last two contests, but with Sacramento only having a slim chance to improve its No. 3 seed, it's possible he begins to see minutes curtailed.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Brandon Ingram, NOP ($9,900)
Ingram has scored 51.8 FD points or more in four of the last six games, and given the Pelicans' motivation to keep winning, he should be particularly popular Tuesday.
Ja Morant, MEM ($9,800)
Morant has totaled 55.3 and 39 FD points in two of his last three games and carries the upside of a five-figure-salaried player, which should keep him in plenty of lineups.
Devin Booker, PHO ($9,700)
Booker checks in with at least 41 FD points in three of his last four games and is coming off a 22-point, 10-assist double-double against the Thunder on Sunday.
Donovan Mitchell, CLE ($9,600)
Mitchell has accumulated 52.7 to 61.5 FD points in his last three games, which should make him especially popular at his salary.
Kevin Durant, PHO ($9,500)
Durant's FD-point tallies have gone from 29.6 to 43.8 to 52.5 in his first three games back from an ankle injury, which should keep his rostering rate elevated Tuesday.
Key Values
Trey Murphy, NOP vs. SAC ($6,400)
Murphy continues to excel in his starting shooting guard role as the season winds down, as he's now averaging 32 FD points across his current 15-game tenure the first unit. Murphy is shooting an impressive 51.4 percent, including 46.1 percent from three-point range, in that span, including 6-for-11 showing against the Kings on March 6 that led to 40 FD points. Additionally, Sacramento is allowing an NBA-high 25.7 offensive efficiency rating to shooting guards, as well as league-high 48.4 percent shooting to the position, including 40.2 percent from behind the arc.
Killian Hayes, DET vs. MIA ($6,000)
Hayes continues to fill a sizable role for the Pistons as they play out the string, and he's averaging an impressive 31.6 FD points per contest during his current 11-game starting run, one in which he's putting up 13.8 points, 7.7 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals across 33.3 minutes per contest. Tuesday, Hayes draws an inconsistent Heat team that he just recorded 36.3 FD points against on March 19 and that's allowing 40.4 percent three-point shooting to point guards. What's more, Miami has been especially generous recently, surrendering the fourth-most points (27.2) and most made threes (4.5) per game to point guards in the last seven games.
Michael Porter, DEN at HOU ($6,000)
Porter could once again be taking the floor without Nikola Jokic on Tuesday and is already averaging 34.1 FD points per 36 minutes without his star teammate available. Porter just scored 41.2 FD points against the Warriors on Sunday and also boasts tallies of 33, 33.6, 37.2, 37.4 and 40.3 FD points within his last 10 games. Porter scored 27.8 FD points across just 23 minutes in his one previous outing against the Rockets this season, and Houston comes in allowing the eighth-highest offensive efficiency rating to small forwards (23.4), along with the second-most points (24.5), second-most made threes (3.8), third-most steals (1.9) and most blocks (1.0) per game to the position in the last 15 games.
ALSO CONSIDER: Bruce Brown, DEN at HOU ($6,000); Kenyon Martin, HOU vs. DEN ($5,800)
