This article is part of our EuroLeague Primer series.
PREGAME UPDATES
- Maccabi's Othello Hunter will play Tuesday, but he has not practiced, so it remains to be seen what role he will fill.
- ALBA's Peyton Siva will return to action in Round 19, but Luke Sikma, Marcus Eriksson and Niels Giffey remain on the injured list.
- Efes' Krunoslav Simon and Tolga Gecim will not take the court Tuesday.
- Cory Higgins is in Barcelona's starting lineup for Tuesday's contest.
- Stefan Jovic will join Khimki's list of absences for Round 19. His teammate, Sergei Monia, will be available Tuesday.
- Danilo Barthel and Ali Muhammed will not play for Fenerbahce, but Alex Perez is set to make both his team and season debut.
- Milan's Vladimir Micov is unlikely to play Tuesday.
THE SLATE
FC Barcelona at 
Khimki Moscow Region
Key Injuries: Nikola Mirotic (BAR), Cory Higgins (BAR), Brandon Davies (BAR), Victor Claver (BAR), Jonas Jerebko (KHI), Janis Timma (KHI), Greg Monroe (KHI), Sergei Monia (KHI)
Best Bets for Success: Both teams will be extremely short-handed in this one, with each club down three players and and possibly a fourth. That's bad news for Khimki, but good news for those with Alexey Shved in their fantasy lineups, as he's going to get extra shots and spend extra time on the court. It's also good news for Devin Booker, who has thrived whenever Khimki is down at least one frontcourt player. Barcelona will be without its best player in Mirotic for the third straight Round, and they will also be without one and possibly two of their other top producers. While he won't have his usual supporting cast to distribute to, a healthy Nick Calathes is Barcelona's top option. Calathes averaged 8.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 8.5 assists over the last six Rounds, and he will face a Khimki team that ranks -- in order -- last, second-to-last, and last when it comes to limiting opposing guards in those categories.
DFS Darlings: Due to the absences and the fact this game has easily the highest over/under on the slate, the conditions are ripe for value plays. Given how Khimki has fared against guards, Higgins will be intriguing if he plays, but it's not clear what shape he is in. The rest of Barcelona's players aren't returning a lot of value at their prices, but all of them will have a prime matchup, as Khimki hasn't contained frontcourt players very well either. Leo Westermann checks in at a nice price and will get extra run if Higgins sits. Alex Abrines and Rolands Smits have the best track records among the rest of the crew. While Khimki will be without several frontcourt players, they don't have much depth there, so it's best to look to their backcourt instead. Stefan Jovic is cheap enough on DraftKings to consider, and if you feel like gambling, this seems like a spot where Errick McCollum could bust out.
ALBA Berlin at 
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Key Injuries: Luke Sikma (BER), Peyton Siva (BER), Marcus Eriksson (BER), Niels Giffey (BER), Krunoslav Simon (IST), Tibor Pleiss (IST)
Best Bets for Success: Outside of a couple blips, Efes' guards have been rolling since the start of December. Granted, Shane Larkin isn't scoring much, but he's found other ways to produce. Vasilije Micic has been putting up the points, and he's also getting the job done in all kinds of other categories. If Simon sits, they'll both be worth using against an ALBA team giving up the third-most points in the league and plenty of assists and threes to opposing guards. If you're considering any ALBA players Tuesday, you'll want to know whether or not Sikma and/or Siva will take the court. It seems more likely they will sit than play, so assuming they do, Jayson Granger will remain the top option for the German team. Across four EuroLeague games and domestic-league games since the calendar flipped to January, Granger has averaged 13.8 points and 9.0 assists.
DFS Darlings: Ben Lammers has now appeared in a few games since returning to action, and he could be back at full speed Tuesday. He has the potential to hit 30 points on DraftKings at his best, and Efes hasn't been too tough on opposing centers. Simone Fontecchio is already back at 100 percent, and he has found a groove, averaging 14.7 points on 10.7 shots over the last three Rounds. There aren't many other intriguing options for Efes after their top two players, but Chris Singleton is worth a look if he hangs onto his starting spot.
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz at 
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
Key Injuries: Alex Perez (ULK)
Best Bets for Success: Pierria Henry and Achille Polonara are putting up big numbers for Baskonia just about every time they step on the court, and each have averaged over 30 points on DraftKings since the start of December. They're both getting up there a bit in price, and it's tough to use both of them in the same lineup at this point. Fenerbahce has held its own against opposing guards but ranks last against opposing frontcourt players in a number of categories, so Polonara definitely has the better matchup of the two. You could make an argument for several Fenerbahce players in this spot, but Marko Guduric looks like Fenerbahce's best option in this one, at least on DraftKings. While Guduric has only appeared in three EuroLeague games this season, he's averaging just as many points as his team's other top producers, and he checks in quite a bit cheaper than them.
DFS Darlings: While the matchups aren't great, the upside Jan Vesely and Nando de Colo possess gives them some value on DraftKings at their current prices. They were the other two players who garnered consideration in the previous section, and they could just as easily lead Fenerbahce in fantasy points. It should be noted that Fenerbahce announced someone within the team tested positive for COVID-19, but did not reveal who, and that could have an effect on their rotation if it turns out to be a player. Given the Turkish team's issues with forwards and centers, one or several of Rokas Giedraitis, Alec Peters and Youssoupha Fall will both look good in a lineup if you don't want to pay up for Polonara. Fenerbahce is allowing the most rebounds and threes to frontcourt players, which bodes well for all of them.
Olympiacos Piraeus at 
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
Key Injuries: Kostas Papanikolaou (OLY), Aaron Harrison (OLY), Hassan Martin (OLY), Othello Hunter (TEL)
Best Bets for Success: Kostas Sloukas and Sasha Vezenkov both flipped the switch a few weeks ago, and neither has let up since, with Veznkov regularly approaching the 30-point mark and Sloukas regularly topping it. With Olympiacos down two key players and possibly a third, they both figure to be plenty busy again Tuesday. Scottie Wilbekin remains the man for Maccabi, even if he wasn't last week. He averaged 19.3 points over his last three games against Olympiacos, and 29.8 points on DraftKings in December, so chances are he will bounce back in Round 19.
DFS Darlings: With Harrison sidelined, Shaq McKissic should get more opportunities to produce, and he is down to a mere $6,600 on DraftKings. Tyler Dorsey has done enough good things lately to earn a mention, and he won't cost you much more at $7,100.
Valencia Basket at 
AX Armani Exchange Milan
Key Injuries: Bojan Dubljevic (PAM), Vanja Marinkovic (PAM), Shavon Shields (MIL), Vladimir Micov (MIL)
Best Bets for Success: Both teams will be down one of their primary options in this one, but that was the case in Round 18, and the points were still spread out fairly evenly on both clubs. That's represented best on DraftKings, as no one in this game costs even $9,000 on that website. That leaves the options wide open for both teams, but Mike Tobey didn't let us down last week, so we will stick with him for another Round. Things will be even more up in the air for Milan than usual Tuesday, as they did not return home until Monday due to the snow in Spain. One thing that is sure is that Valencia is giving up the most points and rebounds to opposing forwards, which is right in Zach LeDay's wheelhouse. LeDay averaged 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds over the last two Rounds and hit the 25-point mark on DraftKings when these teams matched up in Round 7.
DFS Darlings: Shields will not Tuesday and Micov's status is uncertain, so Luigi Datome is the most likely of Milan's forwards to benefit most from the enticing matchup. While Riccardo Moraschini is listed as a guard, he started at forward last week and grabbed 10 rebounds, and he will make a nice cheap option on DraftKings at $4,500 if Micov remains out. For the Spanish team, Klemen Prepelic is worth targeting at just $6,700. His playing time has been puzzling, but Milan has been pretty friendly to opposing guards, and he does remain his team's leading scorer.
