With only three games scheduled to go up against the NFL Conference Championship Games on Sunday the NBA has ramped up its Saturday slate with 20 teams in action. That means plenty of options to choose from when building the optimal lineup for Saturday’s NBA Daily Fantasy Leagues so make sure that you stay ahead of the competition by considering a couple of important factors. Here is some advice to keep in mind for Saturday’s NBA action.
Weak Defense To Target: Phoenix Suns
The Suns have plummeted down the Western Conference standings over the past few weeks, including losing six-straight and nine of the last 10 overall. Something will have to give eventually in Phoenix but right now they seem to have no problem pushing forward under the circumstances. The schedule won’t get any easier for the Suns with the Atlanta Hawks in town on Saturday night and it only makes sense to try and target a Phoenix defense that ranks 29th in the NBA in scoring defense with an average of 106.9 points allowed per game this season. Paul Millsap is an obvious choice for the Hawks but it’s also worth considering both Kent Bazemore and Dennis Schroder as strong value options in Daily Fantasy Leagues.
Player Who’s Hot Right Now: Kemba Walker, Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets have dropped eight of their last 10, so this might come as a surprise if you haven’t been paying close attention, but the reality is that Walker has been on fire from a fantasy perspective over that span. That means he is worth taking a shot on while he is hot. Walker has averaged 27.5 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 3.8 three-point shots and 1.5 steals per game over the last week of action and even though Charlotte is losing it’s hard to ignore numbers like those. The best part is that Walker is available at a very reasonable price in Daily Fantasy Leagues so it only makes sense to target him for Saturday’s game against the New York Knicks.
Injuries, Rest Create Opportunities For… Trey Lyles, Derrick Williams
The Utah Jazz could be without Derrick Favors again this weekend as he continues to deal with a bad back and that should mean more opportunity for Lyles (and Trevor Booker) to produce in a bigger role. Lyles has averaged 11.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.0 three-point shots per game over the last week of action, which are quality numbers for a big man. He’s scored in double figures in five of his last six games. He’s playing a sizable chunk of minutes (close to 30), so there is every reason to expect him to stay hot as a strong value option against the Washington Wizards on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Knicks should be able to put up some decent numbers opposite Walker and the Hornets, and one player to keep an eye out for is Derrick Williams. The veteran forward has averaged 23.0 minutes over the past week and has made the most out of his opportunities on the floor with 12.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. He had a particularly strong/eye-opening game on January 13th when he dropped 31 points while collecting seven rebounds and a couple of steals. You wouldn’t think the former first-round disappointment is capable of such games but it looks like he’s finally coming into his own in a Knicks uniform. He should be a strong value play versus Charlotte as Daily Fantasy leagues still have him coming in at a very cheap price.
Highest Scoring Game Of The Night: IND @ SAC
The Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings both rank among the top eight in the NBA in points per game this season and the best part is that the Kings don’t do much in terms of defense so that should lead to this game being that much more high scoring. Paul George has been a beast for Indiana all season but Monta Ellis has really heated up of late while Myles Turner appears to be a strong sleeper option from the Pacers for Saturday’s action. Meanwhile, DeMarcus Cousins should continue to perform at an elite level from a fantasy perspective while Omri Casspi might be worth taking a flyer on as a decent value play from the Kings.
