This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
We go from one extreme to the other in terms of the main slate Saturday, as there are only three games compared to Friday's massive 13-game ledger. That naturally changes our approach to roster construction to an appreciable degree as well, considering the much narrower player pool. Fortunately, the injury report is extremely light and includes only one major name, which at least gives us a solid amount of options relative to the amount of teams in action.
Slate Overview
Oklahoma City Thunder (-2.5) at Houston Rockets (O/U: 233.0 points)
Los Angeles Lakers (-3.5) at San Antonio Spurs (O/U: 230.5 points)
Utah Jazz at Phoenix Suns (-7) (O/U: 230.0 points)
The additional good news about Saturday's ledger is that all three games have major DFS potential. All six teams are on the second night of back-to-back sets, however, and the Lakers and Spurs are playing in a rematch, which adds a couple of x-factors to the equation. Nevertheless, the trio of projected totals of at least 230 points underscores how all three contests have stacking potential for tournaments.
Injury Situations to Monitor
NOTE: Injury reporting is especially fluid in the NBA, where the status of multiple players can change during the course of a day. Therefore, although the following serves as a foundation for the latest injury report as of the time the article is written, check back throughout the course of the day with RotoWire for the latest news regarding the status of all players on that night's slate, including those carrying injury designations that aren't listed in this section.
Chris Paul, PHX (heel): GTD
If Paul misses an eighth straight game, Cameron Payne should continue to start at point guard.
Alperen Sengun, HOU (groin): GTD
If Sengun misses another game, Bruno Fernando could remain in the starting five.
Eric Gordon, HOU (groin): GTD
Gordon was held out for injury maintenance purposes Friday, so he should have a good chance of reentering the lineup Saturday.
Other notable injuries:
Mike Conley, UTA (lower leg): OUT
Josh Richardson, SAN (ankle): GTD
Cameron Johnson, PHX (knee): OUT
Jae'Sean Tate, HOU (ankle): OUT
Elite Players
We have three players with five-figure salaries on Saturday's slate – Anthony Davis ($11,800), LeBron James ($10,800) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($10,600).
Davis still scored 58 FD points across 35 minutes Friday despite LeBron James' return to the lineup, and he'll draw the same favorable matchup Saturday.
James recorded 41.1 FD points across 33 minutes in his return to action Friday against this same Spurs squad and could be in for a similar or even bigger workload Saturday as long as he's not deemed unfit to play on the second game of the back-to-back.
Gilgeous-Alexander posted 52.1 FD points in 40 minutes against the Bulls in Friday's overtime win, and he'd logged 42 against Denver on Wednesday night as well. Therefore, fatigue could potentially be a factor to an extent, but the matchup against a Rockets team allowing 116 points per game and ranked in the bottom 10 in offensive efficiency rating allowed to point guards does give him plenty of appeal.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Devin Booker, PHO ($9,900)
Booker could once again take the floor without Chris Paul and bumped back up to 40.9 FD points on Friday after falling below the 40-mark in his two previous games.
Kevin Porter, HOU ($8,000)
Porter is averaging 37.7 FD points per game after scoring 49.2 and 52 FD points in two of his last three contests, and he'll be an integral part of the game with the highest projected total of the night.
Josh Giddey, OKC ($7,700)
Giddey has scored 37.1 to 43.7 FD points in three of the last four games and has an excellent matchup against the Rockets.
Key Values
Jalen Green, HOU vs. OKC ($6,900)
Green went off for 30 actual points in Friday's upset win over the Hawks, leading to a tally of 37.5 FD points. It was Green's seventh haul of more than 30 FD points in his last eight games, a stretch that includes two efforts of over 40. That makes his current salary quite the bargain, especially when also factoring in the Thunder are allowing the third-highest offensive efficiency rating to two-guards (25.3) and surrender a 40.3 percent success rate to the position from behind the arc. Green could take the floor again without Alperen Sengun (groin) as well, a scenario in which he was sporting a 28.9 percent usage rate coming into Friday.
Aleksej Pokusevski, OKC at HOU ($5,700)
Pokusevski is another player whose recent body of work implies his salary is running a bit low. The third-year big has scored 29.7 and 30.2 FD points in his last two contests, and he also put up 47.3 five games ago. Pokusevski has scored in double digits in seven of the last eight contests, a stretch that includes a pair of double-doubles. The Rockets may be short-handed at center again as just mentioned, and Houston checks in allowing 52 FD points per game as it is. The Rockets also give up the ninth-most points in the paint per game (50.4) and ninth-most rebounds per home contest (53.7), furthering Pokusevski's case.
Lonnie Walker, LAL at SA ($5,200)
Walker still found his way to a productive outing Friday night against his old Spurs squad despite LeBron James' return, posting 31.4 FD points with the help of three steals alongside 18 points. Walker has scored over 20 FD points in five of the last six contests overall, and the fifth-year guard is putting up career highs in points (16.9) and shooting percentage (47.1) for the season. San Antonio came into Friday's game already allowing 47.1 percent shooting to twos, along with the most FD points per game to the position (46.1) and NBA-high 40.1 percent three-point shooting.
ALSO CONSIDER: Jabari Smith, HOU vs. OKC ($5,500)
