Written By: Ryan Humphries on Twitter & LineStar chat @Ryan_Humphries

Straight Locks🔒 | NBA Props w/ Shannon & Tyler!

DFS Main Slate Rundown 📰

Are we ready for some more late-season NBA madness? Some teams may have thrown in the towel on their season already but there are still several teams on today’s slate that will have playoff seeding motivations. Eight games are on the board tonight so things won’t be quite as chaotic as yesterday, but do keep an extra close eye on all of the injury news that will inevitably roll in later today. Best of luck!

You can check the most up-to-date playoff standings here:

https://www.nba.com/standings

It's another lengthy injury report on the menu today. Keep track of player availability via LineStar’s injury tweet!

Main Slate Match-Ups w/ Game Totals & Point Spreads

Top DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Plays

Note: NBA position designations are never going to perfectly align between the major DFS sites. For the purposes of these newsletters, positional designations will default to DraftKings.

💫 = Favorite Play

Note: I’ll be doing away with the “Cash & GPP” and “GPP Preferred” designations for the remainder of the season. At this point, it largely comes down to a pure guessing game as to who could be considered a “cash-safe” play.

Point Guards/Shooting Guards to Consider 🏀

💫PG Luka Doncic, DAL | DK: $12k, FD: $12.2k | vs. SAC (Note: Luka is currently probable to play)

The Warriors did the Mavericks a solid by handing the Thunder a loss last night. That now puts Dallas a half-game back from the 10th-seeded Thunder in the West with three games left to play. Dallas is one of just four NBA teams that didn’t take the court yesterday so Luka and the Mavs should be fresh while coming in on three days' rest. Meanwhile, Dallas will catch Sacramento on the second game of a back-to-back. Vegas is handing the Mavs a slate-high 124.0 implied team total and the 242.0 over/under will also be the largest game total on the evening. The Kyrie/Luka duo isn’t working out as well as expected and it is kinda sad that Dallas is struggling this hard to earn a postseason berth. But this is a near must-win game for Dallas so we’ll look for these guys to play like their season depends on it… in a way, it just might. Following a five-game road trip, the Mavs do return home where Luka Doncic has averaged 62.6 FPPG this season. If spending up on a superstar on this slate, Luka makes as much sense as anyone.

💫PG/SG Immanuel Quickley, NYK | DK: $7.8k, FD: $7.4k | @ IND

The Knicks are nearly locked into the No. 5 seed in the East so they’ll use today’s game as a chance to give their core duo of Julius Randle (ankle) and Jalen Brunson (hand injury maintenance) some rest. That means we’ll see Immanuel Quickley slide back into the starting rotation where he’ll be expected to take on a primary scoring and facilitating role. Quickley has handled a team-high +6.54% usage bump when Randle and Brunson have been off the court this season. In his last five starts, he is posting 25.6 PPG, 5.4 APG, 5.0 RPG, and 2.0 STL+BLK/Gm while averaging 1.29 FPPM and 45.05 FPPG. Quickley has mammoth upside in the starting lineup, as we saw one month ago when he posted a 72.5 DKFP versus the Celtics. The Knicks are only -4.5 favorites tonight against a Pacers team that has ranked 26th versus opposing point guards (L20Gms). They’ll need one more win (or a Nets loss) to fully solidify the 5th seed, so expect the Knicks who take the court tonight to play all out and a full complement of minutes (barring a blowout).

💫PG Kendrick Nunn, WAS | DK: $3.8k, FD: $4.5k | @ ATL

We may not see the normal Wizards starters take the court for the remainder of the season. Porzingis, Beal, Kuzma, Avdija, Monte Morris, and Delon Wright have all been ruled out for a second consecutive game. Those players being out opened up plenty of backcourt value last night, and the same will be true today. Kendrick Nunn, Johnny Davis, and Jordan Goodwin all saw solid minutes last night and easily paid off their modest DFS salaries. Despite playing the fewest minutes of the bunch while coming off of the bench, Kendrick Nunn posted the most impressive outing last night. In just 22 minutes, Nunn was able to drop 24 points, seven boards, six assists, two steals, and a block -- good for a whopping 49.75 DKFP. Expecting a repeat performance would be unfair, but Nunn has been an excellent per-minute scorer throughout the season and has averaged 1.45 FPPM over his last five. Should he receive another 22-25 minutes tonight, he’ll be able to quickly return value on these low salaries.

Other Guards to Consider:

PG Trae Young, ATL | DK: $8.7k, FD: $9.5k | vs. WAS (Note: Young is currently questionable)

PG Fred VanVleet, TOR | DK: $8.5k, FD: $8.5k | @ BOS

PG/SG Jaden Ivey, DET | DK: $7.1k, FD: $7.1k | vs. BKN

PG Tyus Jones, MEM | DK: $5.9k, FD: $5.8k | @ NOP

💫SG Johnny Davis, WAS | DK: $4.8k, FD: $4.2k | @ ATL

💫PG/SG Jordan Goodwin, WAS | DK: $4.7k, FD: $5.5k | @ ATL

Small Forwards/Power Forwards to Consider 🏀

💫SF/PF Kawhi Leonard, LAC | DK: $10.2k, FD: $10.2k | vs. LAL

This match-up between the two LA squads carries some major postseason implications. Both the Lakers and Clippers are 41-38 with three games left to play but the Clippers currently hold the 6th and final guaranteed playoff seed while the Lakers own the first seed in the play-in tournament at the 7th seed. Some separation can be made by the eventual winner of this match-up so we know there will be no lack of motivation in LA tonight. The Clippers are still operating without Paul George (knee) so Kawhi Leonard will need to shoulder the offensive weight once again. Leonard has handled a team-high +4.14% usage increase with PG13 off the floor and he’s coming off of a 40-point night with 28 shot attempts in LAC’s last game. The Clippers head in on four days of rest while the Lakers will land on the second leg of a back-to-back. The $10,200 price on both sites is steep, but if the Clippers win this game, there is a good chance that Kawhi will pay off that five-figure salary.

PF/C Pascal Siakam, TOR | DK: $9.3k, FD: $9.3k | @ BOS

The Raptors are locked into the play-in tournament but they can still improve their seeding with three games left to play. Siakam’s consistent high-end production has declined in recent months, but he’s back to his big-game-ways as of late, with four performances of 53.75+ DKFP in his last seven starts. The Celtics are nearly locked into the #2 seed but they’re still mathematically alive for the top overall seed and could theoretically fall to the #3 seed as well. Expect both teams to play all out tonight. Siakam has gone for 49.5 DKFP and 55.75 DKFP in two previous match-ups with the Celtics this season, so a similar result would be comfortable value at his $9,300 salary on both DK and FD.

💫PF/C Obi Toppin, NYK | DK: $5.1k, FD: $5.9k | @ IND

Some further value may open up at the forward position later on, but for now, Opi Toppin will be one of the few stand-out value forward options on the board. Toppin has earned the starting nod over the last two games with Randle sidelined and when handed 33 minutes on Sunday, he returned a 35.25 DKFP score. Toppin has averaged a respectable 0.86 FPPM on the year and should be a core part of the offense tonight since Jalen Brunson is taking a seat as well. Toppin draws a stellar match-up against the Pacers, who have ranked 29th versus starting power forwards (L20Gms).

Other Forwards to Consider:

PF/C Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIL | DK: $11.4k, FD: $12k | vs. CHI (Note: Giannis is currently probable to play)

SF/SG Quentin Grimes, NYK | DK: $6.5k, FD: $6.1k | @ IND

💫SF/PF Jordan Nwora, IND | DK: $6k, FD: $5.6k | vs. NYK

PF Keegan Murray, SAC | DK: $5.5k, FD: $5.7k | @ DAL

SF/PF Royce O’Neale, BKN | DK: $5k, FD: $4.9k | @ DET

Centers to Consider 🏀

💫C Jalen Duren, DET | DK: $5.1k, FD: $6.5k | vs. BKN

It’s a lackluster slate for centers but if Jalen Duren is going to play mid-30s minutes again like he did last night against Miami, then he’s well worth his DFS price tags this evening, particularly at $5,100 on DraftKings. In 36 minutes last night, Duren supplied a 20-point, 14-rebound double-double resulting in 43.5 DKFP. He’s been a great FPPM scorer this season and given the number of players that have been ruled out for Detroit, it would be a surprise if he’s not in the starting lineup again tonight. The 16-63 Pistons obviously aren’t playing for anything of value, but a young rookie like Duren can always stand to benefit from some additional late-season experience.

💫C Jay Huff, WAS | DK: $3.2k, FD: $3.5k | @ ATL

We’ll go back to the depleted Washington roster for some value and target Jay Huff. Huff has appeared in just five NBA games this season, usually only playing a handful of minutes, but he was on the court for 27 minutes last night and went on to put up 36.75 DKFP. Huff was recently crowned the G-League's Defensive Player of the Year, and he did secure two steals last night along with his 17 points, nine rebounds, and two assists. There’s no guarantee on the amount of minutes he'll handle tonight, but it does seem as if he’ll get a brief chance to shine with the professionals here in the final few games of Washington’s season.

Other Centers to Consider:

C Anthony Davis, LAL | DK: $10.9k, FD: $11.6k | @ LAC (Note: AD is currently questionable)

C Clint Capela, ATL | DK: $6.1k, FD: $7.5k | vs. WAS

C Mitchell Robinson, NYK | DK: $5.4k, FD: $6.8k | @ IND

NBA Player Props 📊

Player Prop or Bet | Odds | Unit Bet Size

I'll personally be wrapping up the recommended NBA player props for the remainder of the regular season (including the PrizePicks Power Play of the Day). There is just too much volatility in play at this point so I'll err on the side of caution and wait for the playoffs to arrive!

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That will wrap us up with today’s “Daily Dribble” edition! Once again, you can find me on Twitter or in LineStar chat @Ryan_Humphries. Good luck everyone!