Tonight's five-game slate offers high-scoring potential, with all totals exceeding 230 points, creating an ideal environment for the FanDuel DFS optimizer. Our strategy is centered on leveraging the extensive NBA injury report, which features stars like Joel Embiid and Victor Wembanyama sidelined. This guide is your essential fantasy basketball cheat sheet, prioritizing players whose NBA projection soars with increased usage. Tyrese Maxey is the elite chalk play, but mid-range value like Devin Vassell (hot shooting) and Jakob Poeltl (facing a soft Blazers frontcourt) are key to building winning NBA lineups, especially with Marvin Bagley offering cheap exposure to a high-total game.
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 Tuesday, Dec. 2 @11:45 a.m. ET:
*Washington Wizards at Philadelphia 76ers (-13) (O/U: 234.5)
Portland Trail Blazers at Toronto Raptors (-5) (O/U: 231.5)
Minnesota Timberwolves (-10) at New Orleans Pelicans (O/U: 234.5)
Memphis Grizzlies at San Antonio Spurs (-5.5) (O/U: 232.5)
New York Knicks at Boston Celtics (-1) (O/U: 230.5)
* Denotes team on second game of back-to-back set
It's a mixed bag on the betting front Tuesday, as the pair of double-digit favorites is partly offset by three other games projected to be competitive. Projected totals are also encouraging, considering each game sports a figure north of 230 points as of late morning Tuesday.
Injury Situations to Monitor
For all the latest updates, visit RotoWire's NBA Injury News page and our comprehensive NBA Injury Report.
Joel Embiid, PHI (knee): OUT
In Embiid's absence, Andre Drummond (knee), who was able to go through shootaround Tuesday morning, will draw the start if he's able to suit up.
Alex Sarr, WAS (thigh): OUT
In Sarr's absence Tuesday, Marvin Bagley and Tristan Vukcevic should handle center duties, while the rest of the starting five could see a slight bump in usage.
Trey Murphy, NOP (elbow): QUESTIONABLE
If Murphy remains sidelined Tuesday, Bryce McGowens could draw another start at shooting guard, while Zion Williamson and Jeremiah Fears line up as the two biggest potential beneficiaries in terms of increased usage.
RJ Barrett, TOR (knee): OUT
In Barrett's continued absence, Ja'Kobe Walter is likely to continue running with the first unit, while Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes should see extra usage.
Other notable injuries:
Victor Wembanyama, SAN (calf): OUT
Ja Morant, MEM (calf): OUT
Stephon Castle, SAN (hip): OUT
OG Anunoby, NYK (hamstring): OUT
Jrue Holiday, POR (calf): OUT
Kelly Oubre, PHI (knee): OUT
Jordan Poole, NOP (quadriceps): OUT
Paul George, PHI (knee): QUESTIONABLE
Andre Drummond, PHI (knee): QUESTIONABLE
Donovan Clingan, POR (illness): QUESTIONABLE
Derrick White, BOS (calf): PROBABLE
Quentin Grimes, PHI (calf): PROBABLE
Elite Players
We have one player with a five-figure salary that has a chance to play on Tuesday's slate – Tyrese Maxey ($10,400).
Maxey went off for 62.9 FD points against the Hawks on Sunday, pushing his season average to 53.6 per contest. The star guard will continue operating without Joel Embiid and Kelly Oubre on Tuesday, and he's facing a Wizards team he already lit up for 59.6 FD points across 47 minutes on Oct. 28 and that remains as defensively challenged as ever.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Deni Avdija, POR ($9,600)
Avdija is coming off having amassed 70.8 FD points against the Thunder in a very tough matchup Sunday and has four tallies of 46.6 FD points or more in the last six contests, which should make him very popular Tuesday.
Anthony Edwards, MIN ($9,500)
Edwards has scored 45.1 to 66.4 FD points in four of the last five contests, which should lock him into a high roster rate at his salary Tuesday.
Jaylen Brown, BOS ($9,200)
Brown has posted 44.6 to 72.7 FD points in five straight games, a stretch where he's exceeded 53 FD points on three occasions.
Karl-Anthony Towns, NYK ($9,000)
KAT has been a bit quiet in the last three games while topping out at 32.5 FD points in that stretch, but he carries upside north of 60 FD points and should therefore remain popular at his salary on a modestly sized slate.
Scottie Barnes, TOR ($8,600)
Barnes should continue to see increased usage in the absence of RJ Barrett and checks in with three tallies of 41 FD points or more in three of the last five games.
Key Values
CJ McCollum, WAS at PHI ($6,300)
McCollum has proven quite the fantasy wildcard in the first month-plus of his Wizards tenure, as he's scored 43.3 FD points or more on four occasions while checking in under 20 FD points in four instances as well. Therefore, the majority of his performances have been somewhere between the two extremes, and his upside and the matchup Tuesday lend credence to the notion he could turn in one of his higher-percentile efforts. McCollum posted 27.7 FD points against Philly in the one prior meeting with the Sixers back on Oct. 28, and Philadelphia checks in allowing 52 FD points to point guards in the last 15 games. The Sixers are also conceding the sixth-most assists per home game (28.6), and McCollum checks in averaging 35.2 FD points over his last 10 games.
Devin Vassell, SAN vs. MEM ($6,300)
Vassell is another guard who checks into Tuesday running hot, having averaged 34.1 FD points across his last seven games on the strength of 19.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 49.5 percent, including 44.2 percent from three-point range. Vassell has scored over 30 FD points in each of those contests, and he's facing a Grizzlies team that's surrendered 45.9 FD points points per contest to small forwards in the last seven games. Memphis also ranks in the bottom 10 of the league with 37.2 percent three-point shooting allowed in the road, a figure that's particularly relevant when considering Vassell's body of work from long range.
Jakob Poeltl, TOR vs. POR ($5,900)
Poeltl is off the injury report for Tuesday's favorable matchup against the Trail Blazers after getting Sunday's game off for rest, leaving him primed for what could be one of his more productive performances. The big man put up 40.7 FD points against the Hornets in his most recent game Saturday, his fifth tally of at least 36 FD points this season. Poeltl has been playing his best basketball of late, as he's averaging 31.8 FD points via 12.4 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals over his last 10 games. The Blazers make for good targets, as Portland is conceding the fifth-most FD points to centers in the last seven games (58.9), a number partly the result of surrendering the second-most blocks per contest (3.4) to the position in that stretch. The Blazers are also allowing the seventh-most points in the paint on the road (54.2), while just under 80.0 percent of Poeltl's points are coming in that part of the floor.
ALSO CONSIDER: Jeremiah Fears, NOP vs. MIN ($5,800); Marvin Bagley, WAS at PHI ($4,300)
