This article is part of our EuroLeague Primer series.
PREGAME UPDATES
- Baskonia's Achille Polonara is in uniform for Round 17.
- Valencia's Guillem Vives has been ruled out for Round 17, but teammate Louis Labeyrie is ready to return to the court.
- Ben Lammers and Marcus Eriksson remain sidelined for ALBA.
- Maccabi's Othello Hunter will be available for Round 17.
- Jonas Jerebko, Greg Monroe and Janis Timma are all unavailable for Khimki on Tuesday.
THE SLATE
Olympiacos Piraeus at 
Khimki Moscow Region
Key Injuries: Kostas Papanikolaou (OLY), Greg Monroe (KHI), Stefan Jovic (KHI)
Best Bets for Success: It's going to take more than one so-so game to knock Alexey Shved out of this spot. Even though he finished well below his season averages in a number of categories in Round 16, he still finished second on his team in DraftKings points. Shved will be in position to bounce back Tuesday, as Olympiacos has been fairly friendly to opposing guards. He is $400 cheaper on DraftKings than he was last week, and even at his lofty price he is returning some of the most average value on the board. Like Shved, Kostas Sloukas was held in check his last time out, but he too will be primed for a bounceback facing a Khimki team that has really struggled with opposing backcourt players.
DFS Darlings: Khimki hasn't fared too well against forwards either, and with Papanikolaou sidelined and Georgios Printezis returning from injury, Olympiacos' secondary frontcourt players will get a boost. Sasha Vezenkov and Livio Jean-Charles are more expensive than they have been of late, but they did both return 3x value on DraftKings over the last three Rounds at their current prices. Given the matchup, Aaron Harrison is also worth considering on DraftKings at just $5,300. The over/under on this game is notably higher than any of the other four games on Tuesday's schedule, so it could be worth including several players from this one.
Real Madrid at 
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Key Injuries: Anthony Randolph (MAD), Tibor Pleiss (IST)
Best Bets for Success: Shane Larkin must have been miffed by his omission in this section last week, as he had by far his most productive game of the season in Round 16. We'll just assume Larkin had a hiccup two weeks ago and give him his spot back for Tuesday's contest. Real Madrid has handled guards well this season, but not as much since Facundo Campazzo left, and Larkin should enjoy seeing the Spanish squad after putting up 32 points last time the two sides faced off. Vasilije Micic had another nice outing in Round 16 even with Larkin going off, and he has averaged 28.5 points on DraftKings since getting back to full speed following a back injury. Efes' guards may be forced to do most of their work outside the paint, as Madrid's Walter Tavares has been blocking everything in sight. The big man averaged 2.8 blocks over his last nine games, and he also averaged 14.5 points and 10.7 rebounds over his last six contests. Expect another nice day from Tavares, as Efes ranks bottom-5 in all of points, rebounds and blocks allowed to opposing centers.
DFS Darlings: The ideal time to use Usman Garuba on DraftKings would have been in Round 16, when he cost just $4,000. He's still pretty affordable on that website, and he still would have returned 5x value last week at his current price. Trey Thompkins also has some DraftKings appeal, as Randolph's injury leaves minutes open in the post and Thompkins is due for a better showing than he had in Round 16. Adrien Moerman has been a bit quiet in EuroLeague play of late, but he had a huge showing in Efes' last domestic league game, and he's had enough good games this season to be worth a gamble on DraftKings.
Zalgiris Kaunas at 
ALBA Berlin
Key Injuries: Peyton Siva (BER), Ben Lammers (BER), Marcus Eriksson (BER), Patricio Garino (ZAL), Steve Vasturia (ZAL)
Best Bets for Success: Each team's top player will have a tricky matchup to overcome in this one. Marius Grigonis has picked up the pace for Zalgiris, averaging 9.4 more points on DraftKings over his last four games than he did in his previous nine, but he will face an ALBA team allowing the second-fewest points to opposing guards. Luke Sikma has been up to his usual tricks, contributing across the board and sitting top-10 in rebounding, but he will square off against a Zalgiris team allowing the fewest boards of any team.
DFS Darlings: While ALBA isn't letting guards score much, they are giving up the most assists to opposing guards and have been one of the worst teams against opposing frontcourt players. That all bodes well for Thomas Walkup, Joffrey Lauvergne and Augustine Rubit -- none of who will cost more than $7,600 on DraftKings. It's not yet clear if any of ALBA's injured players will return, but Siva will sit out, making Maodo Lo a nice option on DraftKings at $7,000. Niels Giffey will also be worthy of consideration if neither Lammers nor Eriksson suit up.
Zenit Saint Petersburg at 
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
Key Injuries: Othello Hunter (TEL)
Best Bets for Success: Scottie Wilbekin alternated 20-point and single-digit point totals over the last five Rounds, and with him facing a Zenit team allowing easily the fewest points to opposing guards, there's potential for the pattern to continue in Round 17. Wilbekin is returning some of the most value on Tuesday's slate and he has topped the 30-point mark in half his appearances this season, but he will have his work cut out for him in this one. One of the guards tasked with slowing Wilbekin will be Kevin Pangos, who reached double figures in six of his last seven appearances. Even with Pangos picking up scoring pace, he also averaged 5.6 assists -- a top-10 mark in the league -- over that seven-game span.
DFS Darlings: On the opposite end of the spectrum from the first game of the day, this game features an over/under noticeably lower than the rest of the games. As such, don't expect to find much value here. If Hunter sits, you could consider Dragan Bender for Maccabi. It's taken a while for Omri Casspi to get going, but he scored 14 points over 15 minutes in Maccabi's Israeli Cup game Saturday, and he could be worth a dart throw on DraftKings at just $4,400.
Valencia Basket at 
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
Key Injuries: Louis Labeyrie (PAM), Vanja Marinkovic (PAM), Guillem Vives (PAM), Achille Polonara (BAS)
Best Bets for Success: Pierria Henry kept rolling last week, topping the 30-point mark on DraftKings for the eighth time this season. Valencia did a good job against a similar stat compiler in Shved last week, but with Polonara injured, Henry is the club's clear top choice. Bojan Dubljevic has done a bit more scoring of late and put up 25 last time these two teams met, but Baskonia has been as tough as anyone on opposing frontcourt players this year, so we'll go with Klemen Prepelic as Valencia's top option in Round 17. Prepelic scored in double figures nine times in Valencia's last seven games, and Baskonia has been only so-so against opposing guards. He will be a nice option on DraftKings at just $7,200.
DFS Darlings: Should Polonara remain sidelined, an $8,000 Rokas Giedraitis will be about as appealing as options come on DraftKings. Valencia ranks at or near the bottom against opposing forwards in just about every category, and Giedraitis is plenty talented to take advantage. In the same scenario, Zoran Dragic and Tadas Sedekerskis would also be worth considering. If Vives is unable to go, Martin Hermannsson would be a nice option on DraftKings at an even $7,000.
