This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
There are a total of 14 games on the NBA's massive Saturday slate, but only eight are on FanDuel's main one tonight. That actually likely works to the advantage of most DFS players in the sense that it makes the player pool a bit easier to manage. There are a number of noteworthy injury concerns at play, however, which will make lineup construction even more of a strategic exercise than usual.
Slate Overview
For the latest spreads and over-unders, visit RotoWire's NBA Odds page. There, you can also find player props, futures, picks articles and sportsbook bonus codes.
Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Saturday, 1/25 @ 12:00 p.m. ET:
Detroit Pistons at Orlando Magic (-3) (O/U: 210.0)
New Orleans Pelicans (-3.5) at Charlotte Hornets (O/U: 228.5)
Toronto Raptors at Atlanta Hawks (-4) (O/U: 232.5)
Houston Rockets at Cleveland Cavaliers (-3.5) (O/U: 228.0)
Sacramento Kings at New York Knicks (-4.5) (O/U: 231.0)
Philadelphia 76ers at Chicago Bulls (-4) (O/U: 230.5)
Utah Jazz at Memphis Grizzlies (-11) (O/U: 246.5)
Los Angeles Lakers (-1) at Golden State Warriors (O/U: 218.5)
While we usually have to tolerate a few unwieldy spreads on slates the size of Saturday night's, we're mostly fortunate in that regard with only one double-digit favorite and a highly appealing seen games with spreads of 4.5 points or lower as of midday. That portends a highly competitive set of games that could lead to many plenty of heavy minutes for star players and a higher than average amount of DFS-friendly performances.
Projected totals are definitely on our side as well, considering the four games with figures north of 230 points, as well as the other two with 228 and 228.5 totals attached. That gives us no shortage of games with likely favorable environments to attack, and it should lead to relatively spread-out rostering rates for tournaments.
Injury Situations to Monitor
For all the latest updates, visit RotoWire's NBA Injury News page and our comprehensive NBA Injury Report.
LaMelo Ball, CHA (wrist): QUESTIONABLE
If Ball sits out, Vasilije Micic will likely draw a spot start at point guard while Mark Williams and Miles Bridges, if he can play through his back injury, would stand to be the biggest beneficiaries in terms of increased usage.
Trae Young, ATL (hamstring): QUESTIONABLE
If Young, who was able to participate in Saturday morning's shootaround, can't play, then Vit Krejci or Dyson Daniels would likely handle starting point guard duties while the rest of the starting five would see a sizable bump in usage.
De'Aaron Fox, SAC (thumb): QUESTIONABLE
If Fox, who was able to participate in Saturday morning's shootaround, can't suit up, Devin Carter could draw a spot start at point guard while DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis would be due for elevated usage.
Ja Morant, MEM (illness): QUESTIONABLE
If Morant can't play, Scotty Pippen would be due for a start at point guard while Jaren Jackson would see an increase in usage.
Jalen Johnson, ATL (shoulder): OUT
In Johnson's absence, De'Andre Hunter and David Roddy should see increased minutes at power forward.
Other notable injuries:
Joel Embiid, PHI (knee): OUT
Brandon Ingram, NOP (ankle): OUT
John Collins, UTA (illness): OUT
Immanuel Quickley, TOR (hip): OUT
Coby White, CHI (ankle): OUT
Draymond Green, GSW (calf): OUT
Brandon Miller, CHA (wrist): OUT
Andre Drummond, PHI (toe): QUESTIONABLE
Goga Bitadze, ORL (concussion): QUESTIONABLE
Josh Hart, NYK (knee): QUESTIONABLE
Evan Mobley, CLE (calf): QUESTIONABLE
Cole Anthony, ORL (illness): QUESTIONABLE
Jalen Suggs, ORL (back): QUESTIONABLE
Miles Bridges, CHA (back): QUESTIONABLE
Santi Aldama, MEM (illness): QUESTIONABLE
Zion Williamson, NOP (illness/conditioning): PROBABLE
Andrew Wiggins, GSW (back): PROBABLE
Anthony Davis, LAL (calf): PROBABLE
LeBron James, LAL (foot): PROBABLE
Elite Players
We have five players with five-figure salaries on Saturday's slate – Anthony Davis ($11,300), LaMelo Ball ($10,600), Domantas Sabonis ($10,500), Karl-Anthony Towns ($10,300) and Cade Cunningham ($10,200).
Davis has scored 69.7 and 49.1 FD points in his last two games and draws a favorable matchup against a short-handed Warriors frontcourt.
Assuming Ball is able to play through his questionable tag, he'll look to improve on the average of 51.3 FD points he's generated across his last six games.
Sabonis draws a tough matchup on paper against the Knicks but comes in having scored between 47.3 and 65.1 FD points in eight of the previous nine games.
Towns just posted 63.2 FD points in his most recent game against the Nets and comes in with the benefit of three full days between games, which could give him some extra spring in his step.
Cunningham has scored over 45 FD points in six of his last seven games, including three tallies of over 51 FD points.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
LeBron James, LAL ($9,800)
LeBron has scored over 43 FD points in five straight games and has a triple-double and double-double in his last two, which should help lock in a high roster rate.
Tyrese Maxey, PHI ($9,600)
Maxey has scored over 49 FD points in four of the last five games, including over 53 in two of the last three, and will once again take the floor without Joel Embiid on Saturday.
Scottie Barnes, TOR ($9,300)
Barnes has scored over 42 FD points in seven of the last eight games, which should ensure his popularity at his salary.
Mark Williams, CHA ($9,100)
Williams has played some of his best basketball over the last six games, averaging 50.7 FD points on the strength of 23.3 points, 13.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.0 steals over 32.0 minutes per contest in that span.
Jaren Jackson, MEM ($8,800)
Jackson could take the floor without Ja Morant again Saturday and is already averaging 44.7 FD points in his last 12 games, a stretch where he's exceeded 62 FD points twice.
Key Values
Guerschon Yabusele, PHI at CHI ($5,900)
Yabusele could draw another start Saturday with all of Joel Embiid out and both Andre Drummond and Caleb Martin very likely remaining sidelined as well. There would be little reason to remove Yabusele from the starting lineup anyhow when considering he's scored 30.1 and 35.1 FD points in the first two games since his return from a two-game absence due to a knee injury. Yabusele had also averaged 25 FD points across the seven games prior to his time away while shooting 50.9 percent, including 40.0 percent from distance. The Bulls make for highly appealing targets as well, considering they've allowed the highest offensive efficiency rating to power forwards (28.9) and the fourth-most FD points per game to power forwards (50.0) this season.
Tari Eason, HOU at CLE ($5,800)
Eason is another player who's been thriving since recently returning from a multi-game absence, averaging 30.7 FD points per contest on the strength of 13.5 points (on 48.6 percent shooting, including 45.5 percent from three-point range), 5.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 3.0 steals over his first four games back. Eason has at least three steals in each of his last three contests as well, and he's facing a Cavaliers squad that's allowed the eighth-highest offensive efficiency rating to power forwards (27.3), along with an NBA-high 59.1 FD points per game to power forwards in the last seven games, four which Evan Mobley, who'll likely remain out Saturday, has missed.
Bruce Brown, TOR at ATL ($4,800)
Brown appears to finally be hitting his stride after an injury-plagued start to his season that's led to him playing in just 11 games thus far. It took the veteran some time to work off the rust following his delayed Dec. 29 season debut, but he's come to life over the last three games with averages of 16.7 points (on 55.9 percent shooting, including 41.7 percent from distance), 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists across 21.7 minutes per game. Brown has also averaged 28.2 FD points per contest in that brief span, and Saturday, he'll face a Hawks squad that's allowed 37.3 percent three-point shooting to second-unit players, along with an Eastern Conference-high offensive efficiency rating to two-guards (26.1) and 44 FD points per game to the position on the season.
ALSO CONSIDER: Ty Jerome, CLE vs. HOU ($4,800)
