This article is part of our EuroLeague Primer series.
PREGAME UPDATES
- CSKA's Mike James and Daniel Hackett will be available for Friday's contest. Will Clyburn remains sidelined for the Russian squad.
- Red Star's Jordan Loyd will return to action Friday, as will Landry Nnoko. Marko Simonovic and Langston Hall are out for the Serbian squad.
- Olympiacos' Kostas Papanikolaou and Giannoulis Larentzakis both remain out for Round 21.
- Barcelona's Leandro Bolmaro will be a healthy scratch Friday.
THE SLATE
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul at 
CSKA Moscow
Status Check: Danilo Barthel (ULK), Mike James (CSK), Will Clyburn (CSK), Daniel Hackett (CSK)
Best Bets for Success: While the Turkish team will have just about everyone available, CSKA has three big question marks in this one, and none more so than Mike James. Easily the leading point producer on the slate, James will be enticing on DraftKings if he plays, as he checks in at his cheapest price in over a month. However, it's not clear what type of workload he will handle if he takes the court, so you might want to consider Nikola Milutinov the top option for the Russian team in this one. Milutinov averaged 12.4 points and 11.3 rebounds over his last eight appearances, and he's a good bet to tack on another double-double against a Fenerbahce team that has little success against opposing big men. Four Fenerbahce players can make an argument to be included here, as all of Marko Guduric, Lorenzo Brown, Nando de Colo and Jan Vesely have averaged at least 24.3 points on DraftKings since the start of the month. It will be no easy task picking just one of them, but Guduric just feels like the best option of the bunch. He has steadily gotten more involved since joining Fenerbahce and was the top producer of the four over the last three Rounds.
DFS Darlings: There hasn't been much left over for the rest of Fenerbahce's roster with four players dominating the stat sheet, but Ahmet Duverioglu has done enough to warrant consideration if he hangs onto a starting spot. The prospects of just about every CSKA player besides Milutinov will depend on who plays and who doesn't, but at just $6,100, Hackett will be worth considering on DraftKings if he suits up. Should James sit, Tornike Shengelia and Darrun Hilliard would be the top two candidates to take on more of the scoring load.
FC Barcelona at 
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
Status Check: Victor Claver (BAR), Jordan Loyd (RED), Landry Nnoko (RED), Marko Simonovic (RED)
Best Bets for Success: Barcelona's rotation and roles will both get an overhaul, as Nikola Mirotic and Brandon Davies will both be available for the first time since December. An available Mirotic is Barcelona's top option by default. Although he has not played in a while, his absence was not injury-related, and he has arguably been the best player in the league when on the court. Head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius has not been afraid to limit Mirotic's minutes, though, so if you're concerned about his playing time, you could turn to Cory Higgins instead. Higgins' scoring tear started before his teammates went out, and he has now reached double figures in eight in a row. Red Star has not yet confirmed Loyd's status for Round 21, so there's at least a chance he could take the court. Even off an extended absence he'd probably be his team's top option if he plays, but if he doesn't, Johnny O'Bryant would fill that spot. He's not a particularly appealing fantasy option Thursday in a tough matchup, but he has led Red Star in DraftKings points three times in the five games Loyd has missed.
DFS Darlings: Ognjen Dobric nearly snuck his way into the section above, and after topping the 20-point mark on DraftKings three times in the last four Rounds, he will be worth considering if Loyd remains out. Red Star has a couple intriguing options in the $4,000 range on DraftKings, as Duop Reath and Aleksa Radanov have done just enough to garner a look. With Barcelona essentially back at full strength, none of their more affordable options carry all that much appeal. Red Star is allowing its fair share of threes, though, which gives Kyle Kuric a chance to make an impact.
Olympiacos Piraeus at 
Zalgiris Kaunas
Status Check: Kostas Papanikolaou (OLY), Giannoulis Larentzakis (OLY), Patricio Garino (ZAL), Steve Vasturia (ZAL)
Best Bets for Success: Kostas Sloukas has been putting up big numbers for a while now, and he's been even better of late, scoring at least 21 points four of his last five times out. Sloukas did not do much against Zalgiris in Round 1, but that was his first game since rejoining Olympiacos, and he is far more settled in at this point. Marius Grigonis got off to a good start against the Greek team and has not looked back, reaching double figures in all but two games. He has struggled from beyond the arc a bit of late, but for a shooter of his caliber, that probably means he's due to get back on track.
DFS Darlings: It will be tough for Hassan Martin to match the point total he put up in Tuesday's makeup game, but he has the potential to do so, tallying at least 27.0 DraftKings points six times this season. At $7,200 on DraftKings, he's plenty capable of returning 4x value. Nigel Hayes was a bit quiet the last two Rounds, but he averaged 24.3 points on DraftKings over the seven games prior to that, and has averaged 28 minutes per game since rejoining the starting lineup in Round 12. Olympiacos has been fairly friendly to opposing forwards, making Hayes a nice bounceback candidate in Round 21.
ALBA Berlin at 
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
Status Check: Niels Giffey (BER)
Best Bets for Success: Pierria Henry continues putting up all kinds of numbers for Baskonia, and he's a good bet to do so once again Thursday. ALBA is allowing the fewest points per game to opposing guards, but Henry doesn't need to score to have a big day, and the German team has been pretty generous in just about every other department. ALBA has had no success at all containing opposing frontcourt players, which puts Achille Polonara on the bounceback list as well. He recorded one of his three double-doubles this season when these teams met just a few weeks ago. ALBA is as healthy as they have been in a while, but a few players are still getting up to speed, which leaves some roles uncertain. Ben Lammers' playing time seems pretty secure, and with him back at 100 percent and averaging 16.3 points and 7.0 rebounds over the last four games in which he played 20 minutes, he seems to be ALBA's safest option Thursday.
DFS Darlings: Given ALBA's issues with forwards and centers, Rokas Giedraitis, Alec Peters and Youssoupha Fall are all set up for success. Giedraitis did not do much against his former team last time they met, so he should be itching to have a better showing Thursday. Peyton Siva is one of the ALBA players being eased back in, but he could be ready for a full workload. He is returning some of the most average value at his current price on DraftKings, giving him plenty of upside of he gets the minutes.
