This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
There are six games on Thursday night, a relatively active schedule for a Thursday, though still somewhat sparse overall. This is a night where every game has at least one, if not two, poor defenses and there aren't any dominant defenses on tap. Finally, none of the mega-superstars are going on Thursday (highest priced player is $10,500) but there are eight players over $8,000. Put this together, and this feels like a night where there will be some really high fantasy scores because teams can match-up multiple impact players that all seem to be playing in fantasy friendly games. Should be a fun night, so let's dig in a bit.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIL at IND ($10,000): Antetokounmpo has been very high-variance of late. In his last eight games, he has four with more than 60 fantasy points scored, one in the upper 40s, and three in the 30s. At his current price tag, that means that he'd be a great buy in four of those games but a poor one in the other three. On Thursday, he faces a Pacers defense against whom he has averaged 22.7 points, 8.0 assists, 7.7 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.7 blocks in three games this season.
Elfrid Payton, ORL vs BKN ($7,400): Payton has averaged 35.0 fantasy points, with a min of 24.6 and a max of 49.7 in his last 11 games, including three triple-doubles and three other double-doubles. On Thursday, he faces a Nets squad that he lit for that max 49.7 score less than a week ago, with one of those triple-doubles.
Timothe' Luwawu-Cabarrot, PHI vs CHI ($4,800): Luwawu-Cabarrot has taken over as a high-minute wing for the 76ers since injuries shut down other options, and he has taken advantage with five straight games between 23 and 34 fantasy points. On Thursday, he faces a Bulls squad that has been solid defensively against wings, but with his price and production history he still projects as solid value.
Jimmy Butler, CHI at PHI ($9,900): Butler had his worst game in weeks on Tuesday, scoring only 38.6 fantasy points against the Knicks, but over his last 10 games he is still averaging 50.5 fantasy points with a max of 66.9. In fact, he dropped those 66.9 fantasy points the last time that he faced Thursday's opponent, the 76ers, on March 24.
Nikola Mirotic, CHI at PHI ($5,700): Mirotic has averaged 31.8 fantasy points, with a min of 17.8 and a max of 44 in his last seven games. On Thursday, he faces a 76ers squad that has allowed the 16th-most fantasy points against power forwards in the last 10 games.
Al-Farouq Aminu, POR vs MIN ($4,800): Aminu has averaged 29 fantasy points, with a min of 21.3 and a max of 41.9 in his last six games. That max score came on Monday, against the same Timberwolves squad that he will face on Thursday.
Karl-Anthony Towns, MIN at POR ($10,200): Towns struggled to only 20 fantasy points against the Trail Blazers on March 25, but bounced back with a more expected 47.4 fantasy point effort against those same Trail Blazers on Monday. On Thursday he faces the Trail Blazers for the third time in the last few weeks, but with Jusuf Nurkic still out his most recent game may be more representative of what to expect on Thursday.
Brook Lopez, BKN at ORL ($7,100): Lopez has scored between 27.3 and 51.5 fantasy points in his last six games, with three of those games over 42 fantasy points. One of those games came on Saturday, when he dropped 42.9 fantasy points against the same Magic squad that he will be facing again on Thursday.
Shawn Long, PHI vs CHI ($3,900): Long continues to produce in his minutes off the bench for the 76ers. He had three games between 20 and 31 fantasy points, followed by two lesser games of 7.1 and 12.7 fantasy points, then has responded with another three straight solid outings between 21 and 28 fantasy points. His Thursday opponents, the Bulls, are good defensively in the middle, but at his price point and production, Long still makes a solid value option.
