Fresh from Fantasy Stars: Our Moneyball NBA thoughts for Sunday the 28th February.
Overall thoughts on the slate of games
A juicy eight-game slate with all games appearing to be relatively close contests. Only six of the games appear in the Moneyball $3,500 bank however.
Three of the game totals are higher than 214 including the insanely high 233.5 total in the Thunder v Warriors game.Both the Warriors and Thunder are in the top 10 for points conceded
Both the Warriors and Thunder are in the top 10 for points conceded at the point guard position meaning that you can probably make a case for playing both Westbrook and Curry tonight!
The value at each position seems to be pretty well spread, no doubt the Curry v Westbrook dilemma is huge especially with James Harden ($11,200) on the board who’s in x5 output form putting up 57.2 points a night.
The Nets v Jazz game has the lowest total of the night at 197.5 and it might be a potential game to fade. Brook Lopez is having a terrific season and might be tempting but Utah cover centres pretty well normally and with Rudy Gobert back healthy Lopez will have to work hard to score inside.
Vegas lines
Players to consider
Point Guard
Ronnie Price (Phoenix) $3,800
Ronnie is a terrific option at point guard tonight if you are looking to start Westbrook or Curry. Memphis are struck down by injury and this game should be closer than what it would have been before the Gasol injury and Jeff Green trade. In four games with the Suns, Price has played well on each occasion and should get starters minutes again tonight. The match-up with Mike Conley isn’t ideal but he’s cheap enough still that we can wear that and he can still deliver x5 production.
Shooting Guard
Tough night at SG: Klay Thompson is so hot and cold, Jimmy Butler is out and James Harden will be guarded by the best one-on-one defender in the league tonight. Greek Freak is streaking but seems to be at close to his max price at $8,700 tonight. CJ McCollum maybe an option but its hard to see that being a knockout pick. At the other end of the scale you can gamble on guys like Tony Snell and Markel Brown but it could end horribly. So we, are playing it safe!
Rodney Hood (Utah) $6,200
We tried hard to fade this game but after dissecting the options at guard we had to give in. Hood seems to have a terrific match-up and he holds a pretty high floor which we like. You know he’s going to get minutes and you know he’s going to shoot the ball. If he plays up to his form of 28.8 fantasy points we’d be happy and look for the knockout elsewhere.
Gain an edge by checking FanDuel prices on Moneyball NBA players
**PS: Why doesn’t Moneyball have any Grizzlies shooting guards on the board?
Small Forward
Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City) $10,900
Durant went off when the Thunder last played the Warriors (65 fantasy points) and will have a point to prove tonight on his home floor. The Cavs blew the Thunder out in OKC last week and there is no better team to make a statement against than the Golden State Warriors. It’s worth noting that you can normally play both Westbrook and Durant and not worry too much about the overlap however if you are playing Steph Curry tonight KD might be the perfect compliment. Don’t forget, a points total of 233.5!!!
Power Forward
Mirza Teletovic (Phoenix) $4,700
It’s taken nearly all season in Phoenix for people to realise this guy can really play. He caught fire against the Nets and sent us into the money in all of our tournaments. His activity off the ball enabled the Suns to get buckets and he’ll receive plenty of minutes tonight as a reward. Still a great price at $4,700 on Moneyball he’s got a nice high floor and if he gets hot from the perimeter his ceiling can be huge.
Centre
Andre Drummond (Detroit) $8,700
If you are going big at the centre position it’s hard to forget about Dre. He’s got the highest average fantasy points out of all centres on the board and has had at least 33 fantasy points in each of his last five games. He will be well rested and primed to assert his dominance over his ex-front court buddy, Greg Monroe.
Sample Moneyball BANK line-up
