DFS NBA Top Plays: March 22

Teams on the second end of a back-to-back (1): Washington Wizards

Teams on the front end of a back-to-back (1): Atlanta Hawks

The most important injuries to watch out for:

Miles McBride (Q, groin) – McBride is once again listed questionable on the injury report after playing through the tag on Thursday. We think he is likely to suit up here but if he were to miss, Cam Payne would become one of the best value options of the slate.

Lebron James (Q, groin) – Lebron has missed the last 7 games and is listed questionable for the first time since being injured. He was seen doing pretty rigorous on court activity before their last game so we think there is a decent chance he suits up tonight. If he were to once again miss, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves would both see their projections increase as they have been carrying the offense in Lebron’s absence.

Game-By-Game Notes:

GSW @ ATL (ATL +2.5, O/U 233.5)

• We tip off this 4 game main slate with the Warriors traveling to Atlanta to take on the Atlanta Hawks and will be doing so without their best player, Stephen Curry. With Curry being ruled out already, we have a ton of interest in the Warriors tonight as they should see their minutes and roles increase to fill the void Steph leaves behind.
• Jimmy Butler is amongst the best overall plays of the slate for us on both sites. We saw him score 48.5 DK and 43.6 FD point on Tuesday when Curry last missed a game. He then followed that up with a triple double last game, a game in which Steph also played. Jimmy has spoken out about how he is willing to be more aggressive when the team needs him to be and thus far that is what we have seen from him without Steph. We are starting our lineups on both sites with Jimmy Butler in any format.
• Throughout the season, Brandin Podziemski has seen the biggest boost in playing time and in his rates with Curry out and his price tag is simply too cheap for what his role and production should be without Steph. He is amongst our favorite players to target on the slate on both sites.
• Jonathan Kuminga is another player who should benefit greatly from Steph being out and is a very strong F option for us in any format on both sites.
• Draymond Green is one of the few players who actually doesn’t see his role increase too much without Steph on the floor but we expect the minutes to be there and he gets an up-tempo matchup against the Hawks which helps make him a stronger play.
• Moses Moody and Quenten Post are both grading out as viable sources of salary relief, especially Post on DK. Both players would see their projections improve if Gary Payton, who is listed as questionable, were also forced to miss.
• Speaking of Gary Payton, if he suits up and is in the starting lineup he is another viable Warriors option.
• We realize we just listed almost every Warriors rotational piece as a viable option, but that is how good of a spot this is for the Warriors and it is a small slate. We would be min 1 (maybe 2) Warriors in every lineup tonight.
• On the other side of the ball, the Hawks are not nearly as attractive of plays as the Warriors are. Trae Young would be our favorite option if targeting the Hawks, but he is not projecting well for us right now and we would prefer playing him if Gary Payton was ruled out for the Warriors as it would make his individual matchup a lot easier.
• Onyeka Okongwu is another Hawks player we wouldn’t mind taking shots on in GPP’s but his price tag has gotten expensive enough that we wouldn’t want over 10% exposure to him in this spot.

WASH @ NYK (NYK -16.5, O/U 222.5)

• The Knicks have been struggling mightily over the past couple of games, losing against the Charlotte Hornets and San Antonio Spurs on back to back nights. They now find themselves in a “get right” spot against the lowly Washington Wizards who are on the second night of a back to back, traveling to New York as 16.5 point road dogs.
• We saw the Wizards return to somewhat “normal” rotations last night after back to back games of tanking shenanigans. They are listed as such big dogs and are so likely to get blown out that there is no one from the Wizards that we are excited to target tonight, with the exception of Tristan Vukcevic who has been getting consistent minutes lately and should play even in a blowout. His price is particularly appealing on DK where he is one of our favorite C options on that site.
• The Knicks side of the game is a little more difficult to dissect as they are huge favorites, have been playing terribly and have seen their minutes tick down slightly from the insane minutes they were playing earlier in the season. Still, even after factoring in blowout potential, Karl Anthony-Towns is grading out very strongly on both sites as he should dominate the Wizards interior in this matchup and is a viable spend up in all formats.
• The Knicks wing options are all expected to carry some ownership, which we don’t love, but any of Josh Hart, OG Anunoby or Mikal Bridges can be used at the F position in tournaments on either site. Our order of preference on both sites would be OG, Hart and then Mikal in that order. OG seems to benefit the most from a usage perspective without Jalen Brunson on the floor and has been rock solid lately. We would definitely be max two of this group and on tighter builds you could consider a max 1.
• Miles McBride has been disappointing from a fantasy perspective since stepping into the starting lineup for Jalen Brunson. Still his price tag is cheap enough that we have interest on both sites, however we don’t like all the ownership that is coming with him and would want to see his ownership levels dip below 25% before targeting him heavily on either site.

NOP @ MIN (MIN -14.5, O/U 223.5)

• This game is a rematch of Wednesday night’s game, in which the Pelicans upset the Timberwolves on their home floor. The difference is Zion Williamson will be out for this one and as a result, the Pelicans are listed as 14.5 point road underdogs.
• Jordan Hawkins is priced near the minimum on DK and we expect him to play a ton tonight. He is amongst the best value options of the slate on that site, and is also viable on FD, although he is $1,200 more expensive over there so not nearly as strong of an option as he is on DK.
• Jose Alvarado should also benefit from Zion being out tonight and is a very strong salary relief option on both sites.
• The Timberwolves are listed as such big favorites that it is hard to get as excited about their players, as they are unlikely to see their full allotment of minutes. Rudy Gobert is cheap enough on FD that he can still beat his price tag in a blowout.
• Anthony Edwards should be very productive for as long as he is on the floor tonight and no one is going to play him due to blowout concerns. Especially in lineups that feature Pelicans, Ant can be used as a contrarian spend up option as if he plays his normal minutes, he should smash.

MIL @ SAC (SAC -1.5, O/U 223.5)

• The Milwaukee Bucks continue their road trip tonight in Sacramento, where they are listed as 1.5 point road dogs and will once again be without Damian Lillard and as a result, their players are really popping in our projections.
• Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best overall play of the slate for us as his role without Dame is phenomenal and he should dominate in this matchup.
• We are expecting Ryan Rollins to once again draw the start for Dame and he is projecting as the top salary relief option of the slate on both sites. There is some risk that he doesn’t close and ends up disappointing, but on such a small slate, with no once else in his price range projecting closely to him, we wouldn’t overthink it and would just plug him into your lineups.
• If fading Rollins, we think Kevin Porter Jr., is an elite pivot in GPP’s as the field will likely be off him after disappointing on Thursday. If he gets hot off the bench, it would come at the direct expense of Rollins and could provide some strong leverage off the field who is likely to side with Rollins.
• Kyle Kuzma is also projecting very well for us on both sites and we think he is a very strong mid tier F option on both sites, but especially on DK where he is $500 cheaper.
• Gary Trent Jr. should also see a bump in his minutes and role and has a shot at closing over Rollins if his shot is falling. We love targeting him in GPP’s.
• We have a lot less interest in the Kings side of the ball tonight as their price tags are pretty expensive. Malik Monk and Demar Derozan are projecting best for us and that is where we would look first if looking for exposure to the kings. We know that pull-up jump shots is the way to beat the Bucks and that is right up both of their wheel houses. We prefer Monk on DK and Demar on FD and wouldn’t play more than one of them in the same lineup.

CHI @ LAL (LAL -9.5, O/U 236.5)

• We finish of the slate with the Bulls traveling to LA to take on the Lakers, who hope to get Lebron back tonight. Both these teams are getting healthier as their price tags have increased, limiting our interest in this game from a fantasy perspective.
• Starting on the Bulls side, Tre Jones will miss the next couple of weeks with a foot injury, meaning Josh Giddey should slot back into the starting lineup and play mid 30’s minutes if the game remains competitive. This is a terrible matchup, but we think Giddey could still deliver a strong score in this spot so he would be our favorite option from the Bulls.
• Kevin Hurter and Patrick Williams are the only other Bulls players we have mild interest in as they could both beat their price tags if their shot is falling. We wouldn’t go overboard on either, but would keep both of them in consideration for our player pools tonight.
• The viability and strength of the Lakers options tonight simply comes down to the status of Lebron James. We currently have him projected in, and as a result no one on the Lakers is appealing to us on either site. This is an unbelievable matchup, so if you wanted to play Luka Doncic as a pivot off of Giannis in tournaments, we get it, but you are giving up 5-6 points in projection and Luka is more expensive than Giannis on both sites.
• If Lebron ends up sitting, that projection gap between Luka and Giannis would tighten quite a bit and Luka would become a much more viable option on both sites. Austin Reaves would also become viable as his role has been elite in these past few games without Lebron.

The Top Plays table represents the players appearing most commonly in optimal lineups at their respective positions. This table is fully automated and will not update after 30 minutes before lock as we are focused on projections as news breaks. When building lineups, we recommend mixing the context provided in the top plays notes above with the most updated projections. Please consult our daily projections as we continuously update those through the final game lock.