If you’ve never played daily fantasy basketball before, it’s time to start. Unlike traditional leagues, you’re able to select the players you want on that specific day only, giving you a different squad to root for each and every NBA night.
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As for today's lineups -- those can be found here. The information below is to help you understand why particular players are being picked, because we don't want you going into the night completely blind. We want to help you. Keep in mind, however, that things often change up until tip-off, so make sure you're refreshing the optimal lineups as close to the start of games as possible.
Note: Players mentioned here may not be part of some of our daily lineups because of particular sites' cost analysis. Always look at our optimized lineups to see what our algorithms say.
The Best of the Best
Chris Paul - The Clippers have looked spectacular over the past month and have won 13 of their last 14 games. Much of their recent success can be attributed to Blake Griffin's return from elbow surgery, but CP3's outstanding play has been just as important to Los Angeles' recent winning ways. Paul is averaging 20.3 points, 12.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds in the month of April and is coming off of an impressive 17-point, 9-assist, 7-rebound, 2-steal performance in last night's win over Denver. With only three games on tonight's slate, there simply aren't many viable options to choose from at any position, but Paul is one of the few very safe options on the board tonight.
DeAndre Jordan - Phoenix will be without both Alex Len and Brandan Wright tonight, which means they will likely trot out their small-ball lineup to start the game against the Clippers. This bodes extremely well for Jordan who should absolutely dominate the paint against the undersized Suns. The Clippers' big man is coming off of a 20-point, 21-rebound, 4-block, 3-assist destruction of the Nuggets last night and has not had a game with fewer than ten rebounds since February 6th. Look for DJ to post another huge line tonight with the Clippers' playoff seeding still up in the air.
Top Mid-Range Values
George Hill - The Wizards are a very strong defensive team and the over/under on this game is just 192, but the one position that they struggle against is the point guard. Washington has allowed the seventh most fantasy points per game to opposing point guards over the past three weeks and will likely have trouble slowing down Hill tonight. The Pacers' point guard has really found his stride in the second half of this season, averaging 16.8 points, 5.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds in 31.6 minutes per game since the break. With the Pacers' in must-win mode to guarantee a playoff spot, expect the Pacers to lean heavily on their floor general tonight.
Markieff Morris - As I mentioned earlier, the Suns will be without both of their top two centers tonight. With the same problem on Sunday night against the Spurs, Phoenix rolled out a very small lineup which featured Morris as a sort of stretch-five. While Jordan should dominate in the paint, Morris should be able to stretch the floor and see some open looks as DJ protects the rim. The Suns' big man has averaged 15.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 32.9 minutes per game since the All-Star break and should see an even heavier workload tonight. Morris makes a solid play in all formats given tonight's small slate.
Basement Ballers
Tyler Hansbrough - Amir Johnson is a game-time decision for tonight's matchup with the Celtics, but given the fact that Toronto doesn't really have anything to play for it's unlikely the Raptors will risk a set-back before the playoffs by trotting him out there tonight. Assuming Johnson sits, Hansbrough would pick up his fifth consecutive start in a plus matchup against a Boston squad who has allowed the ninth most fantasy points to opposing power forwards this season. In his last four outings in the Raptors' starting lineup, Psycho T has averaged 12 points, 9.3 rebounds and a steal in 34.8 minutes per game and still costs just $4,000 on FanDuel and $4,300 on DraftKings. Hansbrough looks like one of the few relatively safe value plays on the board tonight.
Gerald Green - After playing a major role in the Suns' rotation earlier this season, Green has been reduced to pretty much just an emergency fill-in player as of late. The good news for Green and his owners, however, is that with Len, Wright and Brandon Knight all out, the Suns are basically in emergency mode tonight. The Suns' guard has averaged 19.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 22.4 minutes per game over the past five games and will likely see minutes in the mid-20s once again tonight. Green has been productive when given the opportunity -- he has averaged 22 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists on a per-36 minute basis this season -- which makes him a very interesting option on a night when value plays are few and far between.