This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
We're set for a four-game Halloween slate that features plenty of teams in the midst of particularly busy stretches of their early-season schedule. As such, fatigue may creep in as a factor in some spots, although not as much as it would later into the season. We also have a fairly light injury report as of late morning, always a welcome sight when the player pool is already somewhat narrow.
Slate Overview
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Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Thursday, 10/31 @11:00 a.m. ET:
Milwaukee Bucks (-6.5) at Memphis Grizzlies (O/U: 232.0)
Houston Rockets at Dallas Mavericks (-6.5) (O/U: 227.5)
San Antonio Spurs at Utah Jazz (-2) (O/U: 222.0)
Phoenix Suns (-4.5) at Los Angeles Clippers (O/U: 221.0)
Point spreads portend a relatively competitive night Thursday, although the Bucks' projected advantage could grow later in the day if both Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart are confirmed out with the injuries that forced them from Wednesday's contest.
Projected totals are somewhat middle of the road, with the Rockets-Mavericks game potentially looking like the best combination of a higher-scoring game that also remains competitive throughout.
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 (knee): PROBABLE
Antetokounmpo is fully expected to continue playing through his patella tendinitis, an issue that has yet to slow him down in any appreciable manner.
Desmond Bane, MEM (oblique): GTD
If Bane can't suit up after leaving Wednesday's loss to the Nets early, Scotty Pippen could draw a start at shooting guard.
Lauri Markkanen, UTA (back): QUESTIONABLE
If Markkanen is sidelined, Kyle Filipowski and Brice Sensabaugh could see the bulk of playing time at power forward, while the usage for the rest of the starting five will see a notable bump.
Bradley Beal, PHO (elbow): QUESTIONABLE
If Beal is sidelined, Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale could handle small forward duties.
Other notable injuries:
Devin Vassell, SAN (foot): OUT
Khris Middleton, MIL (ankle): OUT
Marcus Smart, MEM (ankle): GTD
Luke Kennard, MEM (foot): OUT
Elite Players
We have three players with five-figure salaries on Thursday's slate – Luka Doncic ($11,500), Giannis Antetokoumpo ($11,200) and Victor Wembanyama ($11,000).
Doncic is healthy and providing his usual across-the-board contributions over the first four games, averaging 50.8 FD points while scoring no fewer than 44.8 in any one contest thus far.
Antetokounmpo is playing through his knee issues with aplomb, averaging 50.2 FD points per game while opening the season with four consecutive double-doubles. He's also one of the few big-name players with some rest coming into Thursday, as the Bucks last played Monday.
Wembanyama underwhelmed Wednesday against the Thunder with just 23.6 FD points across 27 minutes, his second game under 30 FD points thus far. However, he also has tallies of 44.9 and 53.5 in his two other contests.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
James Harden, LAC ($9,400)
Harden is the last man standing in Los Angeles in terms of superstars and is playing like one, putting up 47.6 FD points per game over his first four with a trio of points-assists double-doubles.
Kevin Durant, PHO ($9,200)
KD could be in for some extra usage if Bradley Beal sits out and has scored 49.8 and 55.6 FD points in his last two games.
Damian Lillard, MIL ($8,900)
Lillard went off for 59.9 FD points in his most recent game Monday against the Celtics and has three games with at least 39.8 FD points so far.
Ja Morant, MEM ($8,600)
Morant is averaging a modest-by-his-standards 33.1 FD points per game and has yet to play more than 29 minutes in any game, but he would be very popular Thursday at his price of both Bane and Smart are ruled out.
Kyrie Irving, DAL ($8,100)
Irving has been overdelivering on his current salary, as he's now averaging 41.4 FD points per game after posting 45.7 and 49.3 in his last two.
Key Values
Chris Paul, SAN at UTA ($5,400)
Paul will be playing on the second game of a back-to-back and in his third game in four nights overall Thursday, lending a bit of risk to the equation of playing him. However, it's still very early in the season, and Paul has yet to play more than 29 minutes in any contest, including 26 on Wednesday. The future Hall of Famer has upped his scoring contributions in the last two games as well, recording 16 and 14 points in those contests on his way to tallies of 22.7 and 36.5 FD points. Paul has been over 22 FD points in three of the first four games overall, and given the many ways he's able to rack up production and the fact Utah is allowing 55.4 FD points per game to PGs and the second-most assists per contest (29.0), he's a strong value consideration at his salary.
Daniel Gafford, DAL vs. HOU ($4,800)
Gafford has opened the season in steady fashion, scoring 21.6 to 26.4 FD points in his first four games and supplementing his production in other categories with 1.3 blocks per contest. The veteran big man is typically going to see minutes in the low-to-mid-20s at most, so his production has somewhat of a ceiling as a result. However, he'll face a Rockets team ranked in the bottom half of the league in offensive efficiency rating allowed to centers so far (34.3) and giving up 66.5 FD points per game to the position, along with the fifth-most blocks per game (7.3).
Derrick Jones, LAC vs. PHO ($4,500)
Jones is seeing the highest usage of his career in the early going as a starting piece for a Clippers team that lost Paul George in the offseason and continues without Kawhi Leonard (knee). Jones is averaging a career-high 12.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals while shooting a career-best 57.1 percent overall and 53.8 percent from three-point range. The veteran has scored 22.3 to 27.6 FD points in three of his first four contests as well, and he's taken double-digit shot attempts in his last two games. The Suns have allowed 47.1 percent three-point shooting to power forwards and 9.5 steals per game in their two away games, including a pair to Jones back on Opening Night.
ALSO CONSIDER: Scotty Pippen, MEM vs. MIL ($6,200); Keyonte George, UTA vs. SAN ($6,100); Jordan Clarkson, UTA vs. SAN ($5,900)
