On Saturday night, the Washington Wizards will square off against the 7th seeded Brooklyn Nets. There’s some solid NBA DFS value in this game.
The Washington Wizards have been a team to target all season in NBA DFS because of their awful defense, and tonight’s tilt against the Brooklyn Nets should be no exception. The two teams are projected to combine for 239 points on Saturday night at the time of this writing, which should lead to a number of solid picks for any DFS lineup. There’s a possibility Rui Hachimura suits up tonight, but he’s not a solid target because he’ll probably be on a minutes restriction. His return should eat up a bit of Davis Bertans‘s appeal, but Bertans hasn’t been a solid target for a while anyways.
The Nets are a slight favorite and here are the odds:
Tournament Plays
Thomas Bryant – Center/(Power Forward – DK only)
Thomas Bryant has been a target of mine over the past few Wizards games in tournament play because he’s been a forgotten man, yet his minutes are on the rise. He received 32 minutes just two games ago, and even with the return of Rui Hachimura on the horizon, his value shouldn’t be harmed. In fact, it may even keep his ownership down as well as the presumption that going up against Jarrett Allen and DeAndre Jordan is a tough matchup. It’s not, with the Nets being ranked 28th and 27th against the center position on FanDuel and DraftKings respectively. He’s a better value play on FanDuel though.
FanDuel Price: $5,000
DraftKings Price: $5,600
50/50 Plays
Ish Smith – Point Guard
Ish Smith is a safe play, especially at Capital One Arena. He’s averaging 12.6 points and 5 assists in 27 minutes at home as opposed to 9.7 and 4.3 of those same stats in 25.8 minutes per game on the road. Despite Isaiah Thomas being the “starting” point guard, Ish Smith is getting de facto “starter” minutes, typically down the stretch of ball games as well. And this one should be a close one, meaning Ish should get a majority of the 4th quarter minutes.
FanDuel Price: $5,000
DraftKings Price: $5,000
Kyrie Irving – Point Guard
Kyrie Irving is coming off a BIG game against the Chicago Bulls (54 points) and he gets another juicy matchup against the last place defense of the Washington Wizards. Smart money says Kyrie shouldn’t have a problem matching his scoring outburst from Friday night, and he’s only the 5th most expensive option at the point guard position on both sites. He would be a fine tournament option too, but expect high ownership.
FanDuel Price: $8,900
DraftKings Price: $9,100
Taurean Prince – Small Forward (FD)/ Power Forward (DK)
There are a few options at the small forward & power forward spots for Saturday night’s slate of games, but Taurean Prince is one of the safest at his fairly low price point. He’s only dipped below 20 points once in the last six games on both sites and he’s the most consistent of the forwards priced around the $5,000 price point. You can make a case for a guy like Miles Bridges or Trevor Ariza (especially if Carmelo Anthony isn’t able to join the team again), but it’s tough to pass on Prince against the swiss cheese defense of the Washington Wizards.
FanDuel Price: $5,400
DraftKings Price: $5,500