This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
We have a large slate for a Saturday night, as there are nine games on the main ledger. On paper, there's only one true marquee matchup between the Celtics and Knicks, but plenty of other games have the potential to feature productive DFS environments.
Slate Overview
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Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Saturday, 2/8 @12:15 a.m. EST:
San Antonio Spurs at Orlando Magic (-1.5) (O/U: 218.5)
Atlanta Hawks (-5) at Washington Wizards (O/U: 240.5)
Portland Trail Blazers at Minnesota Timberwolves (-6) (O/U: 216.5)
Golden State Warriors (-6.5) at Chicago Bulls (O/U: 235.5)
Oklahoma City Thunder (-2) at Memphis Grizzlies (O/U: 240.5)
Boston Celtics (-2.5) at New York Knicks (O/U: 229.5)
Denver Nuggets (-4) at Phoenix Suns (O/U: 233.5)
New Orleans Pelicans at Sacramento Kings (-7) (O/U: 237.5)
Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Clippers (-13.5) (O/U: 224.5)
Both spreads and projected totals bring us good news as DFS players Saturday. We have the rare instance of nearly 80 percent of the slate featuring lines of 6.5 points or fewer. We also have one game that just misses that cut in the Pelicans-Kings clash, and even the Jazz-Clippers outlier could be more competitive than projected.
The fact there are also five games with projected totals of 233.5 points or higher is somewhat of an outlier in a very encouraging way. In that regard, the two games with figures of 240.5 may well be the most fertile environments for tournament-winning performances, especially considering the suspect defenses of the Hawks and Wizards.
Injury Situations to Monitor
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Anthony Edwards, MIN (hip): QUESTIONABLE
If Edwards can't suit up, Nickeil Alexander-Walker will likely draw a spot start, while Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert would likely see the biggest usage bumps.
Jamal Murray, DEN (knee): QUESTIONABLE
If Murray can't play, Julian Strawther and Christian Braun will likely absorb the majority of minutes at two-guard, while Nikola Jokic would be primed for even more usage than usual.
Desmond Bane, MEM (ankle): QUESTIONABLE
If Bane can't play, Luke Kennard is likely to draw another start at two-guard while Ja Morant will see an uptick in his already elevated usage.
Other notable injuries:
Julius Randle, MIN (thigh): OUT
Collin Sexton, UTA (ankle): OUT
Russell Westbrook, DEN (hamstring): OUT
Alex Sarr, WAS (ankle): OUT
Jordan Clarkson, UTA (foot): OUT
OG Anunoby, NYK (foot): DOUBTFUL
Jalen Suggs, ORL (quadriceps): DOUBTFUL
Michael Porter, DEN (hamstring): QUESTIONABLE
Deni Avdija, POR (hand): QUESTIONABLE
Scoot Henderson, POR (ankle): QUESTIONABLE
Josh Hart, NYK (knee): PROBABLE
Karl-Anthony Towns, NYK (knee): PROBABLE
Elite Players
We have four players with five-figure salaries on Saturday's slate: Nikola Jokic ($12,900), Victor Wembanyama ($12,000), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($11,600) and Jayson Tatum ($10,000).
Jokic has scored at least 61 FD points in four straight games and could be taking the floor without Jamal Murray on Saturday.
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.
Gilgeous-Alexander has scored over 40 FD points in all but one game since Dec. 29, affording him one of the safest floors on the slate. He began that stretch with a tally of 66.7 FD points against the same Grizzlies team he'll face Saturday.
Tatum had a down game with sub-30-minute workload in the surprising loss to the Mavericks on Thursday, but he should be be back to a normal allotment of playing time Saturday versus New York.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Anthony Edwards, MIN ($9,900)
If Edwards plays through his hip injury, he'll look to build on a stretch where he's scored at least 57.4 FD points in four of the last five games.
Trae Young, ATL ($9,800)
Young extended a streak of games with over 42 FD points to four on Friday versus the Bucks, which should help keep him popular on Saturday's slate.
Karl-Anthony Towns, NYK ($9,700)
Assuming Towns plays through his knee issues, he'll have the benefit of three full days off between games and should be highly rostered considering his upside and the fact he just put up 55 FD points against the Raptors on Tuesday.
James Harden, LAC ($9,400)
Harden has scored at least 43.2 FD points in six of the last eight games and will have a highly favorable matchup with a Jazz team he posted 53.2 FD points against on Dec. 16.
De'Aaron Fox, SAN ($9,100)
Fox has scored 57.5 and 45.4 FD points in his first two games with the Spurs, making him a potential bargain at his salary.
Key Values
Bilal Coulibaly, WAS vs. ATL ($6,400)
Coulibaly checks into Saturday's favorable matchup in the midst of a particularly productive stretch, as he's scored 35.3 to 42.5 FD points in his last four games. That stretch includes multi-steal tallies in each contest, as well as a triple-double and a 26-point outing. The versatile wing has scored at least 32 FD points in 17 games overall this season, and he's generated 27.9 to 49.3 FD points in three prior meetings with the Hawks. Atlanta also comes in allowing an Eastern Conference-high 26.4 offensive efficiency rating to two-guards, along with an NBA-high 47 FD points per contest to the position in the last 15 games.
Jerami Grant, POR at MIN ($5,500)
Even when factoring in a pair of outliers, including one injury-shortened game, Grant is averaging 24.9 FD points over his last nine games, a stretch where he's eclipsed 31 FD points on three occasions. That affords the veteran big man plenty of ceiling for his very reasonable salary, despite the tough matchup against the Timberwolves. Minnesota already gave up one tally of 32.4 FD points to Grant already this season and has been especially vulnerable to power forwards of late, as evidenced by the fact the T-Wolves are giving up 53.7 FD points per contest to the position in the last seven games (compared to 42.9 per game for the season).
Wendell Carter, ORL vs. SAN ($4,900)
Carter moved back to the bench five games ago with the return of Goga Bitadze from a concussion, but he's averaged a solid 23.3 FD points per contest since that point on the strength of 10.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per contest. The talented big man should avoid Victor Wembanyama's elite rim-protection capabilities a fair amount due to Carter's second-unit role, and San Antonio already comes in ranked No. 23 in offensive efficiency rating allowed to centers (34.4) and No. 22 (43.2) to second-unit players. The Spurs have also conceded a Western Conference-high 64.2 FD points per game to centers in the last 15 games, furthering Carter's case at a salary that's $600 less than Bitadze's.
ALSO CONSIDER: Draymond Green, GSW at CHI ($6,000); Stephon Castle, SAN at ORL ($5,100)
