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FanDuel NBA: Best Buys For Nov. 18

By Michael Yaffe

Nov 15, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Rajon Rondo (9) and forward DeMarcus Cousins (15) watch a free throw during the fourth quarter against the Toronto Raptors at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Toronto Raptors 107-101. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 15, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Rajon Rondo (9) and forward DeMarcus Cousins (15) watch a free throw during the fourth quarter against the Toronto Raptors at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Toronto Raptors 107-101. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jimmy Butler’s defensive assignments make his job thankless at times. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports /

Twenty teams will take to the court on another high-volume Wednesday night that features a number of the league’s top players at their positions, so condensing them into a single FanDuel NBA lineup won’t be easy.

We should be in for another stellar performance from Russell Westbrook, as the Oklahoma City Thunder host the New Orleans Pelicans in ESPN’s opener.

He is coming off a Herculean effort despite his team’s loss to Memphis on Monday, and depending on the outcome of the shoulder injury that forced the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis out of Tuesday night’s game, the former Bruin might have center stage all to himself for the prime-time affair.

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The nightcap is an intriguing interconference tilt between a Phoenix Suns team that is known for their up-tempo style (third in Pace Factor) hosting a Chicago Bulls squad that is trying to emulate them more closely under new coach Fred Hoiberg.

The shooting guard matchup between Chicago’s Jimmy Butler and the Suns’ Eric Bledsoe in the second contest should be interesting.

Although the Bulls are trying to speed things up (12th in the NBA is actually a huge jump in Pace from being ranked 23rd last season), Jimmy Minutes will be tasked with putting the clamps on the Suns’ best player, who is among the WARP leaders in the early going.

Elsewhere, the Dallas Mavericks travel to Boston to take on the Celtics, in a tussle between two of the league’s pleasant surprises so far.

The Mavs slipped past the Sixers in Philadelphia on Monday night to keep the home team on the schneid, while the Celts completed an impressive two-game road sweep of the Thunder and the Houston Rockets to show that last year’s playoff appearance may not have been a fluke after all.

In addition to the Pelicans, the following teams in action Wednesday night will be playing their third game in four nights (and the latter half of a back-to-back): the Charlotte Hornets, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Toronto Raptors.

The Denver Nuggets and Brooklyn Nets both played on Tuesday as well, but Wednesday night will be their fourth game in six nights, with a two-day break dividing the quartet.

The Raptors in particular will be challenged since they’ll be taking on the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City after playing at Oracle Arena the previous night, but the T-Wolves and Hawks could also be vulnerable since they’ve been short-handed during the course of their condensed schedule.

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