FanDuel NBA: Best Buys For Oct. 31

By Michael Yaffe | Oct 31, 2015

Oct 21, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) in the second half of a game against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 110-105. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports /

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Oct 21, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) in the second half of a game against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 110-105. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

Oct 21, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) in the second half of a game against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 110-105. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports /

Scheduling Observations

The barrage of games stacked for opening week tapers down a bit, with a manageable six contests scheduled for Halloween night.

Half of the six games are early-season rematches, with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Phoenix Suns completing a home-and-home series, while the Sacramento Kings travel to Los Angeles to face the Clippers this time and the New Orleans Hornets host the Golden State Warriors.

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Despite the 12-game marathon from the previous night, a number of teams in action on Saturday will not be playing back-to-backs: the Indiana Pacers and the Los Angeles Clippers stay home from their Thursday night matchups, and the New York Knicks have a short jaunt to D.C. to face the Wizards.

New Orleans will have been off since Wednesday and they get the reigning NBA champs the night after the Warriors play in Houston. After playing at Indiana on Thursday, the Memphis Grizzlies are home to face the Brooklyn Nets, who played in San Antonio the night before.

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The Grizzlies knocked off the Nets 95-86 in their lone matchup at FedEx Forum last season. Marc Gasol had a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards, so he may be someone to consider. Point guard Mike Conley was awful that night, with just two points and four assists in 28 minutes, and reserve Beno Udrih had to pick up the slack.

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Vegas lists the over/under as a paltry 193 (only Utah-Indiana is lower at 191), but scorers from a rested Memphis squad at home that can contribute across multiple categories could merit consideration against a beleaguered Nets team that will probably have been shellacked by the Spurs the previous night.

Of the games that are expected to be more up-tempo, the Kings-Clippers rematch has the highest opening total of 215.5. In the first meeting just two nights ago the teams combined for 215 so they didn’t exactly break out the analytics software to come up with that prop bet.

As I mentioned in my DFS preview for that night, you shouldn’t feel obligated to fade DeMarcus Cousins just because he is facing the Clips, and the big fella came through with 32 points and 13 boards in that game. Here’s hoping that happens again.

Next up is the Golden State-New Orleans rematch (212), but in the Crescent City this time. The Warriors were a different animal on the road last season, averaging “just” 106.6 PPG away from Oracle Arena as opposed to 113.3 PPG at home, where they were nearly unbeatable.

The dinged-up Pelicans are off to a rough 0-2 start, but maybe they’ll be able to put up a better fight with the Cajun faithful behind them while the Warriors are away from the nest.

Injury Notes

The Pelicans may have some frontcourt help on the way, as both starting center Omar Asik and reserve forward Luke Babbitt could return for their home opener. Although neither player merits fantasy consideration for the game, the return of Asik to the lineup could free up the recently embattled Anthony Davis to get back into MVP-caliber form.

The continued absence of Warriors’ starting center Andrew Bogut (concussion) would narrow the gap as well.

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