After an absolutely loaded slate on Friday night with 13 games, the NBA schedule slows down a little bit on Saturday with only five matchups on the slate. That will make finding an edge that much more difficult in DraftKings daily fantasy leagues. We’ve crunched the numbers and produced a lineup that should help you cash in on Saturday:
PG – Russell Westbrook – Oklahoma City Thunder
Westbrook has averaged a ridiculous 31.5 points, 11.2 assists and 8.9 rebounds in the month of March, so anybody that argues there is a better option in this position is absolutely insane. Westbrook’s relentless pace as well as the fact that he is clearly the man now that Kevin Durant will miss the rest of the season due to injury make him a must play every time that he suits up. On Saturday, he’ll face the Utah Jazz, who had been a stellar defensive team but have hit a wall in the last week. They’ve given up 102.3 points per game over those four contests including 107 to Denver on Friday. Westbrook should have a strong performance.
SG – Klay Thompson – Golden State Warriors
There is only so much money to go around but there is value at the other positions and the ability to start Westbrook and Thompson on the same night will be too much to resist. Thompson has returned from injury and while it took him a game to get back in the groove, he’s averaged 22 points per game, two rebounds, 1.5 assists and 3.5 threes in his last two outings. The Warriors have another favorable matchup on Saturday against the Milwaukee Bucks, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him go off again. They’ve lost six of eight while giving up 104.5 points per contest. Their strong defense has clearly tapered off and that’s to the benefit of Thompson and the Warriors.
SF – Gerald Henderson – Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets will have a tough time hanging around with Atlanta but Henderson has put up some decent numbers of late, and could be a value play here. While Charlotte would like to see more consistency from him over the long haul, he has hit the 20-point mark in two of his last five games. The month of March has been his best of the season in terms of points as he’s scoring 15.3 per game. He’s also adding 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 0.8 steals. He should have a good game against the Washington Wizards, who have fallen on hard times over the last month.
There might be better options available but Henderson represents a smart value play at the position and offers more flexibility to spend money elsewhere.
PF – Nikola Mirotic – Chicago Bulls
No longer one of the league’s best kept secrets, Mirotic has scored 25 or more points in four of his last six games. After a rare off night against Toronto where he scored just 15 points, he should be able to bounce back against the lowly Knicks. New York doesn’t have the big men to defend Mirotic and that should lead to another dominant performance. He’s averaged 20.6 points per game, 7.7 rebounds, 1.6 threes, 1.6 assists, 1.2 blocks and 0.8 steals this month. The European sensation continues to make his case as a late addition to the Rookie of the Year ballot.
C – Enes Kanter – Oklahoma City Thunder
Kanter’s ankle has looked absolute fine in the three games since he returned to the Thunder lineup as he has averaged over 20 points and 12 rebounds over that span. Kanter has been so effective for Oklahoma City that he has continued to get a ton of minutes despite the return of Steven Adams and that’s mostly because power forward Serge Ibaka is still out. With Durant out for the season, the Thunder are going to rely on Kanter more and more to be the secondary scorer on the team. He should see plenty of touches again on Saturday with another excellent matchup when the Thunder visit Utah.
