FanDuel NBA: Best Picks, Lineup For Dec. 23
Read on for the top four picks at each position and a sample lineup for Wednesday’s FanDuel NBA games.
The league sends us into the holiday break in grand fashion with a baker’s dozen of games on tap for Wednesday night.
Despite the fact that there were only four games scheduled for Tuesday, both the Philadelphia 76ers and the Denver Nuggets have the misfortune of playing their second consecutive game and their third in four nights, so that should favor both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns, respectively.
The Memphis Grizzlies are playing their fourth game in six nights, with a couple of back-to-back sets separated by a two-day break in between. The Grizz don’t meet the “tired team” criteria per se, but with 26 teams in action it might be advantageous to look elsewhere given the abundance of options.
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With that preamble in mind, here are Wednesday night’s building blocks for your consideration:
Eric Bledsoe, Phoenix Suns ($8,200) vs. Denver Nuggets: Since the Nuggets are the fifth-worst team vs. 2 guards on FanDuel NBA in their past five contests and they’ll be battling the fatigue factor in the desert this evening, Bledsoe seems poised for a bounce-back game after floundering against the Utah Jazz on Monday with a 2-for-10 shooting performance from the field.
My ill-conceived recommendation to start Bledsoe was based on the fact that Utah had scuffled recently vs. guards after being tough on them prior to center Rudy Gobert’s injury; however the Jazz were able to swarm on the Suns’ best player and render him ineffective, so apparently their generosity to his position was short lived.
The difference this time around is that Denver is in the lower third against SGs overall in addition to their recent ineptitude, so that’s a more stable trend that supports the idea of giving Mini-LeBron a shot at redemption.
To that end, Bledsoe averaged 26.0 points per game vs. the Nuggets in the two previous meetings this season, which is significantly above his 21.3 points per game overall, so he has recent history on his side as well.
Paul George, Indiana Pacers ($9,100) vs. Sacramento Kings: After getting outplayed by Kawhi Leonard on Monday night (something I did predict accurately), George should feel completely unfettered against a Kings squad that is third most generous to small forwards.
The schedule also favors PG-13 in this case, as he averages 27.1 points per game with one day’s rest as opposed to 25.5 points per game overall this season.
George’s most recent games against the Kings came in 2013-14, but since both Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins were absent for one of them, the meeting on Jan. 14, 2014 is probably more suitable for comparison purposes.
In that game George went off for 31 points, so a repeat performance seems reasonable to expect given the number of key participants who would be returning to the same venue this time around.
DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings ($9,900) vs. Indiana Pacers: Turnabout is fair play, so Cousins is also worth mentioning since he actually outperformed George in the aforementioned game, matching his 31-point output and pulling down 13 boards as well.
Now that Roy Hibbert and David West are out of the picture (the 2014 versions of them, anyway) the Pacers have struggled mightily against opposing centers, as they are third-worst in their past 10 games and in the bottom third overall.
Cousins’ streak of four consecutive 20/10 (plus) games came to a screeching halt in Toronto Sunday, but he still managed 22 points and eight boards against the Washington Wizards on Monday night despite battling the fatigue factor, so a return to elite form seems probable given the opponent and his 26.6 points per game average after a day of rest as opposed to 24.5 points per game overall.
As a bonus, the Pacers-Kings game is expected to be high scoring (211 o/u) so a Cousins-George pairing makes sense on multiple levels.
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans ($10,400) vs. Portland Trail Blazers: Davis somehow delivered a 27-point performance against the Denver Nuggets despite becoming violently ill and missing the middle two quarters. His ability to overcome acute nausea that night reminded me of Michael Jordan’s “flu game” in the 1997 Finals.
Obviously this was on a much smaller stage, but given the way the Pelicans have been embattled for much of this season, they’ll take what they can get.
As a reward for his fortitude, Davis gets a Portland Trail Blazers team that is fifth-worst overall against opposing power forwards, and they were without their starting backcourt in their loss to Atlanta on Monday.
While this could be a lopsided game in the making, the Pelicans are too weak on defense to manage a blowout on most nights, as they’ve averaged just an eight-point margin of victory (115.1-107.1) across their eight wins this season.
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder ($10,400) vs. L.A. Lakers: When Kevin Durant is in the lineup, it’s difficult to justify Westbrook’s inflated cost on most nights because he rarely puts up the mythical numbers that seem necessary for the team to remain competitive when the former Longhorn isn’t available on the wing.
Wednesday night could be the exception.
The Lakers are the worst team in the league at containing opposing point guards, and their 46.5 fantasy points allowed (through Monday’s games) are significantly worse than those allowed by the Denver Nuggets, who cede “just” 43.5 FPPG to opposing QBs.
Westbrook had an unremarkable double-double vs. the Lakers in the recent Saturday matinee, but it seems feasible that coach Billy Donovan could give his starters a little extra run on national television (NBA-TV) in order to justify a potential day off on Christmas Eve since they are playing on Christmas Day as well.
Next: Top Four Point Guards