The NBA schedule for Wednesday night is absolutely loaded with 10 games and 20 teams in action. That means a lot of information to consider when it comes to building the optimal lineup for Daily Fantasy Leagues. Here’s our DFS cheat sheet to help you build a winning team:
Weak Defense To Target: New Orleans
The New Orleans Pelicans are off to a terrible start to the season with just one win through their first 11 games. While they have struggled to find secondary scoring behind Anthony Davis, their biggest issues have been at the defensive end where they are giving up an average of 109.9 points per game to rank 30th in that department. It won’t get any easier for New Orleans on Wednesday night when they visit an Oklahoma City Thunder team that ranks second behind only the Golden State Warriors with an average of 110.8 points per game. Keep in mind that they gave up 115 points at home to Denver last night and are likely to be without Davis in this contest. You’ll want to be looking at all Thunder players for your DFS teams as this is a juicy matchup for them.
Player Who’s Hot Right Now: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
It just happens to be that one of the hottest players in the NBA right now will benefit from that favorable matchup against the Pelicans’ defense as Russell Westbrook looks to continue his dominant run. Westbrook has been on fire of late with an average of 27.5 points, 10.3 assists, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 three-point shots and 2.5 steals per game over the last week of action. He’s coming off an effort where he dropped 40 points, 14 assists, four rebounds, five threes and three steals against Memphis. He should have no problem carving up the New Orleans defense at home on Wednesday night. He’s going to cost you a lot in DFS but this is a player that’s worth it.
Injuries & Rest Create Opportunities For…: Dennis Schroder, Ed Davis
A player to keep an eye out for on Wednesday night is Atlanta Hawks’ point guard Dennis Schroder, who will be relied on to step up with Jeff Teague and Kent Bazemore both expected to be sidelined for their game against the Sacramento Kings. Schroder has averaged 11.0 points, 6.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 three-point shots per game over the last week of action. When you take a look at what he’s done as a starter this season (three games), he’s provided 15.0 points, 5.0 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 threes, 1.0 steals and 3.0 free throws. He should be in for a big performance against Sacramento and he comes with a cheap price tag.
It might also be worth taking a look at Portland Trail Blazers’ forward Ed Davis, who is slotted to start with Meyers Leonard expected to remain sidelined. Davis has struggled with consistency early on in big part because of his limited role but he should play some decent minutes on Wednesday night given the injury. The team has kicked around the idea of starting him as he hasn’t been effective off the bench. If they in fact go that route against the Houston Rockets, he could be a value bargain play at a very low price.
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Highest Scoring Game Of The Night: NO @ OKC
The combination of the Thunder’s high-scoring offense and the Pelicans’ atrocious defense is one reason to expect a lot of points in that clash, but it’s also worth noting that New Orleans can put up some big point totals as well. The total for that game is listed at 213.5, which is the highest number for Wednesday night. A couple of other games worth taking a look at include the Portland Trail Blazers visiting the Houston Rockets as well as the Dallas Mavericks taking on the Boston Celtics since those should also be two higher scoring games on the slate for Wednesday night. Those are games you’ll want to have players starting for DFS.
