Fresh from Fantasy Stars: Our Moneyball NBA thoughts for the smallish slate of games on the 26th February.
Overall thoughts on the slate of games
Six game slate and it appears that the majority of them will be pretty close contests. None of the early Vegas spreads are over nine points and only two of them are over six.
There’s three Point Guard studs on the card with Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook and Damien Lillard ($10,000+ Moneyball options) all in action.
Hot centres Nikola Vucevic and Brook Lopez are on the board as is troubled Rockets Centre Dwight Howard.
In a rare occurrence for a smaller slate of games it looks like the stocks at Shooting Guard are actually pretty healthy. Harden, Hood, Thompson, Antetokoumpo, Oladipo and McCollom are all on the board which should spread ownership percentages nicely.
Western Conference powerhouses Golden State, San Antonio and Oklahoma City are all on road Back-to-back’s tonight also.
Vegas lines
Players to consider
Point Guard
Shelvin Mack (Utah) $3,500
Underrated trade deadline pick-up for the Jazz who desperately need help at the guard position. He started well and already has forced his way into the starting line-up. Projecting 30+ minutes he looks a ‘must play’ in at least a good portion of your lineups.
Shooting Guard
James Harden (Houston) $11,000
He’s pricey but he’s scored 67 FanDuel points (same as Moneyball) in four of his last seven games against the Blazers (see below). That’s a crazy x6 value play on a stud and we think you need to play him in at least one of your line-ups today. CJ McCollum and Damien Lillard are both below average defenders for their position so Harden should have no issues getting his shot again tonight.
Gain an edge by checking FanDuel prices on Moneyball NBA players
Small Forward
Jae Crowder (Boston) $6,400
Crowder is the definition of a ‘glue-guy’. He is averaging almost 34 minutes a night over his last five games and it seems Brad Stevens is starting to consolidate his rotation which should mean his minutes stay relatively high. Double digit field-goal attempts in his past five games as well. He has a high floor and a decent ceiling, certainly worth playing in cash games.
Power Forward
Mirza Teletovic (Phoenix) $4,400
The Bosninan Bomber is an underrated player who really should be consistently getting 25+ minutes in Phoenix. For various reasons he really has flown under the radar playing for the Desert Dumpster fire Suns. Against his old team the Nets tonight he looks a great option. He’s average x5+ on form and his minutes have been increased in recent games.
Centre
Nikola Vucevic (Orlando) $9,000
Big Vuc is the Magic’s best player and has been on an absolute tear across his last five games. He gets a high total tonight against the run and gun Warriors that should allow him to get double-digit rebounds for the fifth time in six games. He’s also averaging 20 points a game and is averaging 37 minutes a game over his last five. All bodes well keeping things simple at centre tonight.
Sample Moneyball BANK line-up
