3 Under-the-Radar Daily Fantasy Basketball Plays for 3/23/17

Tyler Johnson, PG, Miami Heat

FanDuel Price: $6,300

Why He Will Go Overlooked:

With a limited five-game slate on Thursday, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, and Goran Dragic will likely carry high ownership rates. Lower-priced options like Tyler Ulis and Cory Joseph have been getting heavy minutes and will find their way into a lot of lineups, as well. That should leave a backup guard like Tyler Johnson under-owned.

Why You Should Use Him:

For the entire season, Johnson has been one of the most steady DFS options out there. He has averaged 26.3 fantasy points per game for the season while providing 5 FanDuel points per $1,000 in salary in 31 of his 62 games played. In his last four games, though, the guard has ramped up his production, averaging 16.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 2.0 steals, and 30.3 FanDuel points per night.

Two of those games have come with Dion Waiters on the sidelines, which is where Waiters will be again on Thursday. In the last five games he has played without Waiters, Johnson has thrived, averaging 29.1 FanDuel points. He has seen a slight bump in minutes per game (31.0) and usage rate (23.1%) without the Heat's starting two-guard. That has meant more touches playing off the ball, as well.

The backcourt has been one of the bigger defensive weaknesses on the Toronto Raptors in recent games, the Miami Heat's opponent on Thursday.

Raptors shooting guard DeMar DeRozan owns a -2.19 defensive real plus-minus (DRPM), ranking him 88th out of 98 qualified two guards. His backcourt mate lately, Joseph, has been just as bad. He owns a -2.41 DRPM, putting him 80th among the 90 qualified point guards. With Johnson splitting time at both positions, he should find little resistance from the Raptors and could pay off in a big way tonight..