This article is part of our DraftKings NBA series.
TEAM ANALYSIS
Defense To Avoid
Los Angeles Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers
The two teams play the second game of a back-to-back home-and-home series that the Clippers dominated the first game of Tuesday night. The Clippers held the Lakers to 81 points, as the latter continues to spiral downward as the season comes to a close. When Metta World Peace is your leading scorer on the night—with a modest 17 points in a reserve role—you know you're in trouble. The Clippers should have little trouble duplicating their outstanding defensive performance against a team that seems to have wilted some under locker room controversy and off-the-court issues.
Offense To Use
Oklahoma City Thunder at Portland Trail Blazers
The Thunder are coming off a 124-point explosion on Tuesday against the Nuggets, and they are now second in the league with 110.3 points scored per game. Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers give up 104.2 points per contest, and have given up an average of 114.7 points to the Thunder in their three previous encounters this season. Coach Billy Donovan has also stated that he isn't planning on resting any players despite the Thunder being locked into the No. 3 seed in the West, which means Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant should be given free reign again Wednesday.
Teams on Back-to-Backs
First game: Rockets
Second game: Cavs, Pistons, Pelicans, Hornets, Thunder, Trail Blazers, Clippers, Lakers
DAILY PLAYER RECOMMENDATIONS
Point Guard
Reggie Jackson, DET at ORL ($5,900): Jackson has scored between 21.00 and 39.25 fantasy points over his last 10 games, a stretch that includes six games over the 30-point mark. He's scored 35.25, 33.0 and 30.5 fantasy points in his last three, respectively and draws a Magic defense that's surrendering the third-most rebounds (5.9), fourth-most three-pointers (2.3) and sixth-highest field-goal percentage (44.0) per game to point guards this season.
Other options: Russell Westbrook, OKC at POR ($10,600); John Wall, WAS vs. BKN ($9,800); Chris Paul, LAC at LAL ($9,300); Damian Lillard, POR vs. OKC ($8,700); Kemba Walker, CHA at NY ($7,900); Isaiah Thomas, BOS vs. NO ($7,800); Kyrie Irving, CLE at IND ($7,200); J.J. Barea, DAL vs. HOU ($6,100); Patrick Beverley, HOU at DAL ($4,800); Tim Frazier, NO at BOS ($4,600)
Shooting Guard
Avery Bradley, BOS vs. NO ($5,100): Bradley has seen a nice boost in his fantasy production over his last seven games, scoring between 29.50 and 41.25 fantasy points in five of those contests. He's been getting it done by contributing across the stat sheet, and he draws a matchup Wednesday that offers the potential for another nice return. The decimated Pelicans backcourt has had trouble with guards all season, even when at full health, surrendering the fourth-most fantasy points (42.5), the fourth-most points (22.1), the fifth-most three-pointers (2.6) and fifth-highest field-goal percentage (44.0) per game to two-guards.
Other options: James Harden, HOU at DAL ($10,800); Victor Oladipo, ORL vs. DET ($7,100); C.J. McCollum, POR vs. OKC ($7,000); Bradley Beal, WAS vs. BKN ($5,900); Monta Ellis, IND vs. CLE ($5,400); Wesley Matthews, DAL vs. HOU ($4,900); Jamal Crawford, LAC at LAL ($4,700); J.R. Smith, CLE at IND ($4,300)
Small Forward
Tobias Harris, DET at ORL ($6,200): Harris makes his return to Orlando in a game the Pistons need to win to continue staving off the Chicago Bulls for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Although Detroit was embarrassed by the Heat on Tuesday, Harris was one of the players to show up by scoring 34.25 fantasy points,and he scored over 40 fantasy points in two of the three prior games as well. He's been one of the most consistent sources of offense for Detroit since his trade-deadline acquisition, and draws a favorable matchup against his former teammates, whom he already lit up for 32.0 fantasy points in a Mar. 23 victory in Motown. The Magic also rank in the bottom 10 in multiple defensive categories against power forwards, including fantasy points (48.6), points (21.7), assists (3.8), steals (1.5) and three-pointers (1.6) allowed per game.
Other options: Kevin Durant, OKC at POR ($10,000); LeBron James, CLE at IND ($9,900); Paul George, IND vs. CLE ($8,300); Carmelo Anthony, NY vs. CHA ($7,700); Jae Crowder, BOS vs. NO ($5,800); Marcus Morris, DET at ORL ($5,600); Luke Babbitt, NO at BOS ($4,700); Otto Porter, WAS vs. BKN ($5,300); Derrick Williams, NY vs. CHA ($4,300); Maurice Harkless, POR vs. OKC ($4,100)
Power Forward
Markieff Morris, WAS vs. BKN ($5,300): Morris' production has seen a notable uptick over the last two games, but his price is lagging behind. He scored 44.75 fantasy points against his former Suns teammates last Friday, before following it up with 35.5 fantasy points against the Clippers on Sunday. He also tallied over 30 fantasy points in two other games over his last eight, and he now draws an exploitable matchup Wednesday. While Thomas Robinson has stepped in at the four for the resting Thaddeus Young for the rest of the season, the Nets continue to struggle guarding power forwards, surrendering the second-most fantasy points (56.5) to the position over the last five. Average offensive talents Dante Cunningham and Derrick Williams have managed double-digit scoring efforts against Robinson the last two games, and Morris' offensive ability exceeds both of those players by an appreciable margin.
Other options: Kevin Love, CLE at IND ($7,000); Dirk Nowitzki, DAL at HOU ($6,400); Serge Ibaka, OKC vs POR ($5,500); Marvin Williams, CHA at NY ($5,300); Thomas Robinson, BKN at WAS ($4,700)
Center
Nikola Vucevic, ORL vs. DET ($6,900): Vucevic has been on fire since his return from a multi-game injury absence, scoring 34.5, 37.0 and 48.0 fantasy points in the last three games, respectively. Vucevic had scored between 30.50 and 53.75 fantasy points in the seven games prior to his exit, meaning that he's essentially been on a heater since the All-Star break. Meanwhile, while he was better on defense in the early portion of the season, Andre Drummond has been increasingly vulnerable lately, as the Pistons have surrendered the 10th-most fantasy points (53.0) to centers over the last 10. They've also given up the fifth-most points (21.4) and second-highest field-goal percentage (56.3) per game to the position this season, creating a matchup that the offensively proficient Vucevic could certainly exploit.
Other options: DeAndre Jordan, LAC at LAL ($7,600); Andre Drummond, DET at ORL ($7,500); Dwight Howard, HOU at DAL ($6,100); Marcin Gortat, WAS vs. BKN ($6,100); Enes Kanter, OKC at POR ($4,900); Alexis Ajinca, NO at BOS ($4,100); Zaza Pachulia, DAL at HOU ($3,600)
INJURY REPORT
Out
Jodie Meeks (foot)
Brook Lopez (rest)
Thaddeus Young (rest)
Alan Anderson (groin)
Evan Turner (eye)
Nicolas Batum (knee)
Kristaps Porzingis (shoulder)
Sam Dekker (back)
Montrezl Harrell (suspension)
Deron Williams (sports hernia)
Paul Pierce (knee)
Game-Time Decision
C.J. Watson (ankle)
Donald Sloan (illness)
Bojan Bogdanovic (rest)
Norris Cole (back)
Jose Calderon (quad)
Larry Nance, Jr. (rest)
