The countdown to the NBA All-Star break makes one more stop on Thursday night with just two games on the schedule. However, that doesn’t mean it won’t be a great opportunity to make a little money in Daily Fantasy Leagues with a number of contests based on those two games. There certainly won’t be much room for error when it comes to building the optimal lineup. Here is some important NBA fantasy advice to consider for Thursday’s action.
Weak Defense To Target: New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans has climbed from 30th to 24th in scoring defense this season, but they have still allowed an average of 104.9 points per game this season and it only makes sense to target them when they visit the Oklahoma City Thunder in the final game before the break. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are the obvious superstar options for the Thunder, but Dion Waiters has registered some decent numbers of late and might be worth taking a flier on in this game. Waiters has averaged 10.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.1 three-point shot per game over the last week of action and could easily top those averages against the Pelicans.
Player Who’s Hot Right Now: John Wall, Washington Wizards
The Wizards could really use a win heading in to the break and they’ll need a big game from John Wall if that’s to happen. Wall has maintained his hot streak pretty much all season. so it makes sense to build around him as the top superstar play on the board for Thursday night. Wall has averaged 20.1 points, 9.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.5 three-point shots per game over the last week of action and February has clearly been his best month so far. He had 19.5 points per game 9.9 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game in January but those averages are all up in February. He’s scoring 24.5 points while collecting 11.0 assists and 6.2 rebounds per contest. He should deliver another strong fantasy stat line when Washington visits the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night – especially given that the Bucks have been such a weak defensive team this season.
Injuries, Rest Create Opportunities…. Jerryd Bayless, Norris Cole
Milwaukee has welcomed back Jerryd Bayless to the lineup with some impressive minutes and he has delivered by averaging 10.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 three-point shots per game over the last week of action. Bayless should continue to play around 28 to 30 minutes per game and that makes him a strong sleeper option against the Wizards. The Wizards have allowed their opponents to score at least 100 points in eight of their last nine games. Overall, they’re giving up 113.2 points per game during that span. The lone opponent who failed to hit that mark was the lowly Philadelphia 76ers.
Meanwhile, the Pelicans have been hit by the injury bug again with Tyreke Evans and Eric Gordon both sidelined. That has allowed Norris Cole to become relevant in Daily Fantasy Leagues. Cole has averaged 9.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game over the past seven days. His minutes have skyrocketed in January and February due to the lineup issues as he played just 22.7 minutes per contest in December but has gone up to 28.0 minutes in January and 30.8 in February. He is a reasonable sleeper value pick on an extremely light night in the NBA. He’s not going to cost you much but he is a player that should provide quality minutes and stats to your team.
Highest Scoring Game Of The Night: NO @ OKC
The potential is there for this to be a very high scoring game regardless of the fact that there are only two games on the slate for Thursday night. Durant, Westbrook and Anthony Davis all figure to be strong compliments to Wall if you can afford them, but if you need one more decent value option to fill out your lineup then it might make sense to consider Steven Adams. Adams has averaged 7.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.1 block per game over the last week and should play substantial minutes against the Pelicans.
