This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
There are seven games on tap in the Association on Friday night, but FanDuel's main slate excludes the Jazz-Suns nightcap. We have some elevated offensive expectations overall and a relatively light injury report, but a pair of particularly heavy favorites throws a bit of a wrench into how we might go about deciding to invest high-end salary.
Slate Overview
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Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Friday, 2/7 @11:30 a.m. ET:
San Antonio Spurs (-10.5) at Charlotte Hornets (O/U: 228.5)
Cleveland Cavaliers (-17.5) at Washington Wizards (O/U: 237.5)
Milwaukee Bucks (-5.5) at Atlanta Hawks (O/U: 243.0)
Miami Heat (-6) at Brooklyn Nets (O/U: 210.5)
Philadelphia 76ers (-4) at Detroit Pistons (O/U: 228.0)
Toronto Raptors at Oklahoma City Thunder (-19) (O/U: 230.5)
As just alluded to, we have two games that are projected to have especially lopsided outcomes, those being the Cavaliers-Wizards and Raptors-Thunder clashes. As a result, DFS players may want to tread carefully with investing significant salary cap dollars in the likes of Donovan Mitchell and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, for example, due to probability of limited minutes for those stars if those games unfold like oddsmakers expect.
With all but one game sporting a projected total of 228 points or higher, we have what would seem to be an encouraging outlook on paper for the chances of offensive fireworks. The two potential blowouts could see those strong individual performances spread out among the first and second units of the favorites, however, but the one game that projects to have most favorable DFS environment overall is clearly the Bucks-Hawks battle.
Injury Situations to Monitor
For all the latest updates, visit RotoWire's NBA Injury News page and our comprehensive NBA Injury Report.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIL (calf): QUESTIONABLE
If Antetokounmpo can't suit up, Bobby Portis will likely draw another start at power forward while Damian Lillard's usage should skyrocket.
Cade Cunningham, DET (ankle): QUESTIONABLE
If Cunningham can't play, Dennis Schroder could conceivably draw a start in his Pistons debut or Marcus Sasser could slide into the first unit for the first time all season. Jaden Ivey would also project as a big beneficiary in terms of increased usage based on season-long trends.
LaMelo Ball, CHA (ankle): QUESTIONABLE
If Ball can't play, KJ Simpson will likely draw another start while Miles Bridges should enjoy the biggest bump in usage on the starting five.
Other notable injuries:
RJ Barrett, TOR (concussion): OUT
Jakob Poeltl, TOR (hip): OUT
Alex Sarr, WAS (ankle): OUT
Brandon Ingram, TOR (ankle): QUESTIONABLE
Andrew Wiggins, MIA (trade acquisition): QUESTIONABLE
Kyle Kuzma, MIL (trade acquisition): QUESTIONABLE
Jusuf Nurkic, CHA (trade acquisition): QUESTIONABLE
Khris Middleton, WAS (trade acquisition): QUESTIONABLE
De'Andre Hunter, CLE (trade acquisition): QUESTIONABLE
Guerschon Yabusele, PHI (knee): QUESTIONABLE
Brook Lopez, MIL (knee): PROBABLE
Nikola Jovic, MIA (calf): PROBABLE
Tobias Harris, DET (calf): PROBABLE
Trae Young, ATL (Achilles): PROBABLE
Damian Lillard, MIL (groin): PROBABLE
Donovan Mitchell, CLE (shoulder): PROBABLE
Elite Players
We have six players with five-figure salaries that have a chance to play on Friday's slate – Victor Wembanyama ($12,200), Giannis Antetokounmpo ($12,000), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($11,800), Cade Cunningham ($10,600), Joel Embiid ($10,600) and Tyrese Maxey ($10,200).
Wembanyama is essentially a lock for at least a double-double each time he takes the floor and hasn't scored under 42 FD points since Jan. 19.
If Antetokounmpo is able to play through his calf injury, he'll look to extend an eight-game streak of tallies of greater than 52 FD points.
As mentioned earlier, Gilgeous-Alexander could be in for reduced minutes if the Thunder lives up to its status as 19-point favorites, and he'll come in off having posted 75.1 FD points against the Suns on Wednesday.
If Cunningham plays through his ankle issue, he'll look to build on a five-game streak of games with over 50 FD points, including a 70.9 tally against the Cavaliers on Wednesday.
Embiid does not carry an injury designation Friday and put up 55.2 FD points over 36 minutes against the Mavericks on Tuesday after an extended absences, so neither rust nor conditioning should be a concern.
Maxey still scored 60.3 FD points two games ago with Embiid available and has posted over 53 FD points in six of the last eight games overall.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Trae Young, ATL ($9,500)
Young has scored over 42 FD points in three straight and at least 32 actual points in each of those games, numbers that should keep him very popular Friday.
De'Aaron Fox, SAN ($9,300)
Fox hit the ground running in his Spurs debut with 57.5 FD points against the Hawks on Wednesday and should remain highly rostered Friday as a result.
Damian Lillard, MIL ($9,200)
Lillard is fully expected to play through groin soreness and recorded 55.8 FD points against the Hornets on Wednesday without Antetokounmpo, who could be out again Friday.
Scottie Barnes, TOR ($9,000)
Barnes has flashed a floor of 40 FD points more often than not of late and will be playing without both RJ Barrett and Jakob Poeltl on Friday.
Miles Bridges, CHA ($8,400)
Bridges is averaging 43.7 FD points over his last six games and may be taking the floor without LaMelo Ball again in addition to the just-traded Mark Williams, which will likely lead to a usage rate comfortably north of 30.0 percent.
Key Values
Bobby Portis, MIL at ATL ($6,800)
As already mentioned, Giannis Antetokounmpo could sit out another game Friday, but Portis holds appeal at his salary irrespective of his teammate's availability. Portis scored a whopping 61.9 FD points on the strength of a 23-point, 17-rebound double-double on Wednesday against the Hornets while filling in for Giannis, which was actually his second tally of over 60 FD points this season. Portis has at least 31.9 FD points in 14 games overall, with eight of those instances occurring when he's been on the second unit. He also scored 26.8 FD points in only 23 minutes in one of his two prior meetings with the Hawks, and Atlanta checks into the night ranked No. 28 in offensive efficiency rating allowed to power forwards (27.8) and surrendering the third-most FD points per game to the position (50.1), including 55 per contest in the last seven games.
Kel'el Ware, MIA at BKN ($6,100)
Ware has mostly been a rousing success since moving into the starting center role for the Heat, averaging 12.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per contest during what is an eight-game run with the first unit. Ware has had a couple of hiccups in that span, but he's flashed plenty of upside for his salary by eclipsing 35 FD points on four occasions and also compiling 43.6 in 34 minutes off the bench against the Spurs in the game prior to the start of that stretch. The opposing Nets conceded 27.2 FD points in 23 minutes to Ware six games ago as well, and Brooklyn is ranked No. 27 in offensive efficiency rating allowed to centers (35.4) while also yielding 56.3 FD points per contest to fives on the season. The Nets have also allowed the fourth-most blocks per home game (6.1), particularly relevant considering Ware has posted multiple blocks in 11 of 34 appearances this season.
Max Strus, CLE at WAS ($5,300)
Strus has been up and down since making his delayed season debut Dec. 20, but he reclaimed a starting job 10 games ago and is averaging 23.3 FD points per contest over that stretch. That sample includes five tallies of over 25 FD points and another of 24.6, which certainly makes the veteran sharpshooter very viable for tournament play. The opposing Wizards are highly vulnerable defensively even with the recent addition of Khris Middleton, and Washington is giving up the third-most FD points per contest to small forwards in the last 15 games (45.6). The Wizards are also yielding 36.4 percent three-point shooting on the season, as well as the fourth-most made threes per game to SFs in the last 15 (3.2).
ALSO CONSIDER: KJ Simpson, CHA vs. SAN ($5,000); Nick Smith, CHA vs. SAN ($4,900)
