This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
We have a typically compact Tuesday night slate on tap that features only four games, but it's one that will be missing a trio of important players. There's still plenty to choose from in the eight-team player pool, however, and two of those absences should prop up some value plays and simultaneously boost the already elevated usage of fellow stars on those teams.
Slate Overview
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Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Tuesday, 3/26 @2:00 a.m. ET:
Golden State Warriors (-2) at Miami Heat (O/U: 216.5)
Los Angeles Lakers at Milwaukee Bucks (-8.5) (O/U: 232.5)
Oklahoma City Thunder (-2) at New Orleans Pelicans (O/U: 223.5)
*Dallas Mavericks at *Sacramento Kings (-1) (O/U: 235.5)
*denotes team on second night of back-to-back set
The betting lines mostly bring us good news as DFS players Tuesday, considering we have three narrow spreads and a pair of projected totals north of 230 points. The other interesting aspect is that the only two teams on the second night of back-to-back sets are facing each other, which helps cancel out the effect to a degree.
Injury Situations to Monitor
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LeBron James, LAL (ankle): DOUBTFUL
In James' expected absence, Anthony Davis' already massive usage should creep up even further, while Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish will likely handle the majority of minutes at small forward. D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura should also benefit from extra opportunity.
Brandon Ingram, NOP (knee): OUT
In Ingram's ongoing absence, Trey Murphy should continue holding down the starting shooting guard spot, while CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson should see even more usage than usual.
Other notable injuries:
Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIL (hamstring): PROBABLE
Khris Middleton, MIL (ankle): PROBABLE
Anthony Davis, LAL (Achilles): PROBABLE
Jimmy Butler, MIA (illness): PROBABLE
Tyler Herro, MIA (foot): OUT
Elite Players
We have six players with five-figure salaries on Tuesday's slate – Luka Doncic ($12,800), Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,700), Anthony Davis ($11,500), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($11,000), Domantas Sabonis ($10,900) and LeBron James ($10,100).
Doncic just posted 64.9 FD points over 41 minutes on Monday against the Jazz, his second straight game over 64. While he's on the second night of a back-to-back on Tuesday, it's only his second game in the last five nights overall.
Antetokounmpo is expected to once again play through his hamstring injury and just scored 58.8 FD points on Sunday while entering that game with a probable designation as well, his fifth game in the last six with more than 50 FD points.
Davis will be taking the floor without LeBron and has back-to-back 60+ FD-point efforts despite his star teammate's presence, giving him quite the ceiling.
SGA had a rare dud against the Bucks on Sunday, but he'd recorded 49.4 or more FD points in four of the previous five games and will be facing a Pelicans squad without Brandon Ingram in the backcourt.
Sabonis' scoring has been down somewhat in some recent games, but he's still entering Tuesday's favorable matchup having eclipsed 50 FD points in three of the past five contests.
As mentioned earlier, LeBron is not expected to take the floor Tuesday.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
De'Aaron Fox, SAC ($9,600)
Fox has picked up his production significantly of late, with scores of 44.9 FD points or more in five of the last six games.
Zion Williamson, NOP ($9,500)
Williamson should be very popular based on having scored 43.4 FD points or more in eight of the last 10 games and the fact Brandon Ingram will remain out for the Pelicans.
Bam Adebayo, MIA ($8,400)
Adebayo just put up 52.7 FD points in 27 minutes against the Cavaliers on Sunday and has five other tallies of more than 40 FD points within his last seven games overall.
CJ McCollum, NOP ($7,600)
McCollum should be another beneficiary of Ingram's absence and has scored 47.5 and 36.9 FD points in the first two full games he's played without his teammate.
D'Angelo Russell, LAL ($7,500)
Russell should be highly rostered at his salary considering LeBron's expected absence and the fact the star guard is off the injury report after overcoming an illness that caused him to miss Sunday's game against the Pacers.
Key Values
Keegan Murray, SAC vs. DAL ($6,400)
Murray has mostly been very good since the All-Star break, averaging 29.7 FD points per contest on the strength of 15.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.0 steals across 35.6 minutes per game. The second-year big has four tallies of 32.5 FD points or more in that span as well, and he's up against a Mavericks team that's he's already posted 28.6 and 31.8 FD points against in two prior meetings this season. Dallas is also allowing 49.2 percent shooting to power forwards on the season, along with 48.8 FD points per game to the position in the last 30 contests.
Herbert Jones, NOP vs. OKC ($5,800)
Jones is averaging 32 FD points per 36 minutes with Brandon Ingram off the floor this season, one of several encouraging metrics supporting his rostering Tuesday. The talented wing has also been putting together some solid stat lines since the All-Star break, averaging 25.7 FD points on the strength of 11.0 points (on 58.6 percent shooting, including 52.1 percent from three-point range), 3.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocks per contest in the 15 games he's played in that span. The Thunder also make for a solid positional target, as OKC has shown more vulnerability to small forwards recently by allowing the fifth-most FD points (53.6) to the position in the last seven games.
Haywood Highsmith, MIA vs. GSW ($4,000)
The Heat could be taking the floor with a threadbare roster Tuesday, as Jaime Jaquez (knee), Caleb Martin (knee) and Kevin Love (heel) could join Tyler Herro (foot) and Duncan Robinson (back) on the inactive list. Jimmy Butler is also battling an illness he's expected to play through, setting up a potentially high-usage opportunity for Highsmith at a salary that he could easily outpace. The fourth-year pro is coming off having compiled 30 FD points over 25 minutes against the Cavaliers on Sunday evening, and he's hit at least that mark on seven occasions this season. In all, Highsmith has delivered over 5x his current salary in 14 instances, giving him more than enough upside versus a Warriors team that's ranked in the bottom half of the league (No. 24) in offensive efficiency rating allowed to power forwards and that's surrendered an NBA-high 55.6 FD points per game to the position in the last 15 contests.
ALSO CONSIDER: Trey Murphy, NOP vs. OKC ($6,700); Taurean Prince, LAL at MIL ($4,200)
