There are only four games on the NBA schedule for Thursday night and that will mean little room for error when it comes to building the optimal lineup in DraftKings Daily Fantasy Leagues. Here is some important fantasy advice for Thursday’s NBA action.
Weak Defense To Target: Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings have owned the NBA’s worst scoring defense for some time now and while it always makes sense to target them to a certain degree their matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday will provide an ideal opportunity. The Lakers have actually won three of their last four games and while that doesn’t mean much in the greater scheme the reality is that they are playing their best basketball of the year right now and still not getting much respect so that creates the perfect opportunity from a fantasy perspective heading in to their matchup with the Kings. Factor in that Kobe Bryant is at less than 100-percent and could very well miss this game and suddenly Nick Young, Jabari Brown, Carlos Boozer and even Vander Blue look like strong value fantasy plays.
Player Who’s Hot Right Now: James Harden, Houston Rockets
Houston has lost three of its last four but that doesn’t mean Harden hasn’t put up outstanding numbers over that span as he remains one of the hottest players in the NBA right now from a fantasy perspective. Harden has averaged 25.7 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 three-point shots and 1.3 steals per game over the past seven days. Although his scoring is down in the month of January (23.5 points per game), he’s still 5.0 assists, 3.0 threes, 0.5 blocks and 0.5 steals in the New Year. The 3.0 threes per game is his best per-month average. He should continue to put up big fantasy numbers when the Rockets host the Utah Jazz on Thursday as the best superstar option on the board for Thursday.
Injuries, Rest Create Opportunities For… Evan Turner, Darren Collison
Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley is dealing with a hip injury and Isaiah Thomas is dealing with a sprained thumb so the opportunity is there for Evan Turner to step up and play big minutes against the Chicago Bulls. Turner has averaged 14.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists over the past week of action and he should see a ton of touches against the Bulls with a chance to be a prime sleeper option in DraftKings Daily Fantasy Leagues on Thursday night. The matchup against the Chicago Bulls defense is a palatable one, so get Turner in your lineup.
Meanwhile, Sacramento Kings point guard Rajon Rondo has been dealing with a back injury and that has created an opportunity for Darren Collison to play more minutes of late. Collison has averaged 15.5 points, 6.5 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.0 three-point shot per game over the past week of action. He has been playing an average of 35.3 minutes per game this month and with Rondo’s issues persisting, he should continue to get this type of burn. He should produce a solid fantasy stat line against the Los Angeles Lakers – one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA – on Thursday night.
Highest Scoring Game Of The Night: UTA @ HOU
With only four games on the slate, there isn’t much doubt about the highest scoring game of the night as the Jazz and Rockets can both put up points in bunches. Although the Jazz are known as a strong defensive team – they are top-four in the NBA in terms of points allowed per game – fatigue could be a factor tonight. The Jazz gave up 123 points in San Antonio to the Spurs on Wednesday night, so they could be worn down with the back-to-back set. Their defense has often been hit or miss this season, as we saw last night. Harden is the obvious superstar option for Houston but Patrick Beverley and Trevor Ariza are quality options from the Rockets as well while Rodney Hood, Gordon Hayward and Trey Burke are solid options from Utah’s roster that are worth consideration.
