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

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NBA DFS & Props Shows w/ Tyler & Shannon

DFS Main Slate Rundown 📰

Six games hit the docket on this NBA Thursday! Based on the Vegas spreads, we’ll have a mix of some reasonably even matchups (MEM/MIA, POR/TOR, GSW/LAL) and potential blowouts (MIL/PHI, ORL/WAS, MIN/BKN). Approach that how you will. The injury report is pretty active, though, there aren’t many high-impact players who carry a “questionable” designation -- Anfernee Simons and Scottie Barnes are the two most notable names in that regard. Overall, this looks like a solid little six-gamer. Best of luck!

Today’s Key Injuries

Reminder: Players expected to miss the remainder of the season will not be included in the injury report.

• Magic: None

• Wizards: J. Poole - OUT, K. George - OUT, K. Middleton - OUT, M. Brogdon - OUT, R. Holmes - Doubtful, A. Gill - Questionable

• Bucks: G. Antetokounmpo - Probable, D. Lillard - OUT, AJ Green - Questionable

• 76ers: T. Maxey - OUT, K. Oubre Jr. - OUT, A. Drummond - OUT, G. Yabusele - Questionable, K. Lowry - OUT

• Timberwolves: T. Shannon Jr. - OUT

• Nets: C. Johnson - OUT, D. Russell - Probable, D. Sharpe - OUT, Z. Williams - OUT, J. Wilson - Questionable

• Trailblazers: A. Simons - Questionable, D. Ayton - OUT, S. Henderson - OUT, J. Grant - Doubtful

• Raptors: S. Barnes - Questionable, B. Ingram - OUT, I. Quickley - OUT, J. Poeltl - OUT, G. Dick - OUT, J. Rhoden - Questionable

• Grizzlies: V. Williams Jr. - OUT

• Heat: A. Wiggins - OUT, N. Jovic - OUT, H. Highsmith - Questionable, T. Rozier - OUT, D. Robinson - Questionable, K. Love - OUT

• Warriors: J. Kuminga - Questionable, G. Payton II - OUT

• Lakers: L. James - Probable

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.

Point Guards/Shooting Guards to Consider 🏀

PG Steph Curry, GSW | DK: $9.4k, FD: $8.9k | at LAL

Needless to say, if you had Curry on Tuesday, you probably had a profitable evening. He erupted for one of the best games in his illustrious career, sinking 16-of-31 shots, including a dozen threes, for 52 points, while tacking on ten rebounds, eight assists, five steals, and a block, for good measure -- good for a cool 95.0 DKFP/92.0 FDFP. Of course, we can’t expect anything close to that tonight, but Curry is certainly still capable of stringing back-to-back big games together. There aren’t exactly any huge totals on this slate, but this matchup does lead the way with a 229.5 over/under alongside a narrow one-point spread. It’s also not a bad individual matchup as the Lakers have rated out at 20th in DEFRTG L15Games and have allowed the 5th most FPPG to starting PGs L20Games. When these teams last met in early February, Curry went for 56.75 DKFP/53.4 FDFP. A similar result could be on the table tonight.

PG Davion Mitchell, MIA | DK: $4.8k, FD: $4.8k | vs. MEM

As usual, there are plenty of late-season value options to choose from, particularly at the guard positions. Davion Mitchell has been coming off of the bench for Miami, but he has still gone on to play starter’s minutes while routinely playing the entirety of the 2nd and 4th quarters, along with a few minutes in the 1st and 3rd quarters. He has at least 32 minutes in eight straight games. He’s not a huge FPPM player, but his 0.88 FPPM L5Games is a sizable uptick from his 0.71 FPPM on the season. The Heat, who are still without Andrew Wiggins and a couple of role players, will receive the largest pace differential boost today and the Grizzlies have ranked 25th versus bench PGs this season.

SG/SF Ja’Kobe Walter, TOR | DK: $4.2k, FD: $4.8k | vs. POR

More value here with Ja’Kobe Walter, who should continue to play an expanded role in the starting lineup with the Raptors sitting Immanuel Quickley, Jakob Poeltl, and Gradey Dick tonight. Scottie Barnes is also questionable to play due to a finger injury. Given Toronto’s tendency to rest their key starters down the stretch, it would not be a surprise if Barnes gets the night off as well. Walter isn’t the most consistent player, but the minutes should be there tonight and he’s coming in on the heels of back-to-back 17-point games where he ended with 42.0 DKFP/43.6 FDFP (at PHI) and 31.5 DKFP/28.8 FDFP (vs. CHI). He’s averaging 1.02 FPPM L5Games so if Walter gets around 30 minutes again, he’s a strong bet to return 6x-ish value in a matchup with the Trailblazers, who have allowed the 6th most FPPG to SG starters L20Games.

Other Guards to Consider

PG Luka Doncic, LAL vs. GSW

PG Ja Morant, MEM at MIA

PG Tyler Herro, MIA vs. MEM

PG/SG Shaedon Sharpe, POR at TOR (Boost if Simons is out again)

PG/SG Carlton Carrington, WAS vs. ORL

PG/SG AJ Johnson, WAS vs. ORL

PG Ryan Rollins, MIL at PHI

PG Jamal Shead, TOR vs. POR

PG/SG Delano Banton, POR at TOR (Only if Simons is out + Banton starts again)

PG Mike Conley, MIN at BKN

Small Forwards/Power Forwards to Consider 🏀

SF/PF Deni Avdija, POR | DK: $8.6k, FD: $8.7k | at TOR

The DFS prices continue to climb for Avdija following another monster performance on Tuesday versus the Hawks where he dropped a 32/15/10 triple-double and 72.25 DKFP/64.0 FDFP across 38 minutes. Avdija has been outstanding over the previous three-plus weeks and the Trailblazers have an outside shot at earning a play-in bid, sitting three games back from the Kings, both teams with six games to play. This is certainly a winnable game for Portland (-4.5) against a shorthanded Toronto squad. If Anfernee Simons (forearm/questionable) is ruled out again, Avdija’s upside only climbs. With Scoot Henderson (out), Deandre Ayton (out), and Anfernee Simons off the floor this season, Avdija has handled a +4.3% USG% boost and has averaged +6.9 FP per 32 minutes (and he’s playing closer to 40 minutes/gm lately).

PF Santi Aldama, MEM | DK: $5.5k, FD: $5.7k | at MIA

The mid-range is a little dicey at the forward positions today, but I am comfortable with taking a shot on Aldama at these mid-$5k price points. Aldama should continue to play off of the Grizzlies’ bench but it wouldn’t be unusual for him to play 30+ minutes as he often closes games with most of the starters in the fourth quarter. Aldama has averaged a sharp 1.13 FPPM on the season and has popped for plenty of 40+ FP games throughout the 2024-25 campaign. The Grizzlies still have their eyes set on getting a guaranteed top-six playoff seed -- currently, there is a three-way tie in the Western Conference standings with the Timberwolves (No. 6 seed), Clippers (No. 7 seed), and Grizzlies (No. 8 seed) all bearing 44-32 records. Memphis loses tiebreakers to those teams, hence landing with the lowest seed, so they’ll clearly be looking to notch as many wins over their final six games as they can. They’ll need to stop this four-game losing skid tonight as they step in as 5.5-point road favorites over the Heat, and Aldama should play a vital sixth-man role off of the bench, especially with Vince Williams Jr. (illness/out), another key bench contributor, out of commission tonight.

SF/SG Jalen Wilson, BKN | DK: $3.7k, FD: $4.3k | vs. MIN

Jalen Wilson (ankle) is currently questionable to play, but if he is able to suit up, he should start and play around 30 minutes. The Nets are already down several forwards, with Cameron Johnson, Noah Clowney, and Ziaire Williams all out for various reasons tonight, and it was recently announced that Clowney will miss the remainder of the season. In relation to his current price points, Wilson has turned in plenty of serviceable performances, particularly when he’s been in as a starter. And there is a decent chance he still plays strong minutes even if this game turns into a blowout (BKN +13). There may be more appealing value forward options to choose from once we get closer to lock but, as long as he is active, Wilson is far from the worst cheap option you could roll with.

Other Forwards to Consider

PF/C Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIL at PHI

SF/PF LeBron James, LAL vs. GSW

PF Paolo Banchero, ORL at WAS

PF/C Julius Randle, MIN at BKN

SF/PF Kyle Kuzma, MIL at PHI

SF/SG Toumani Camara, POR at TOR (Preferred if Simons is out)

SF/PF Justin Champagnie, WAS vs. ORL

SF/SG Lonnie Walker IV, PHI vs. MIL

SF/SG Pelle Larsson, MIA vs. MEM (Preferred if D. Robinson remains out)

PF/C Jonathan Mogbo, TOR vs. POR

SF Jamison Battle, TOR vs. POR (Preferred if Barnes is out + Battle starts)

PF Kyle Anderson, MIA vs. MEM (Boost if H. Highsmith is out)

SF Jaylen Wells, MEM at MIA

Centers to Consider 🏀

C Rudy Gobert, MIN | DK: $6.8k, FD: $7k | at BKN

Gobert has been in some outstanding form lately and he has been significantly outplaying these price points. Over his last five games, Gobert is easily averaging a double-double with 17.2 PPG and 15.4 RPG to go along with 2.0 STL+BLK/gm. On the DFS end, it has resulted in 1.21 FPPM and 43.6 DKFP/42.5 FDFP per game. He should have no issues in this matchup with the Nets, who have allowed the 3rd most FPPG to starting centers L20Games. We do have to worry a bit about the blowout factor here (MIN -13) but, before Tuesday’s wild double-OT win against the Nuggets, Gobert and the Timberwolves had been in several blowout wins (and one blowout loss) over the last couple of weeks, yet the four-time NBA DPOTY still went on to post a stacked stat line and excellent fantasy scores.

C Orlando Robinson, TOR | DK: $4.3k, FD: $5.3k | vs. POR

Jakob Poeltl (rest/out) continues his trend of resting every other game so Orlando Robinson should be in line for another start. While he hasn’t necessarily played big minutes, he has been highly productive in the starting lineup, averaging 1.32 FPPM in his L5Games as a starter, which has resulted in 31.1 DKFP/30.3 FDFP per game. The Trailblazers have been more vulnerable in the paint with Deandre Ayton (calf) set to miss a 22nd consecutive game tonight, and Portland has allowed the 8th most FPPG to starting centers in that stretch.

Other Centers to Consider

C Kel’el Ware, MIA vs. MEM

C Brook Lopez, MIL at PHI

C Adem Bona, PHI vs. MIL (Preferred if Yabusele is out)

C Wendell Carter Jr., ORL at WAS

C Zach Edey, MEM at MIA

C Tristan Vukcevic, WAS vs. ORL

C Drew Timme, BKN vs. MIN 

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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!

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

🫡 Check out our revamped BetFully Cashback App (iOS only sorry) and get up to $200 cashback for trying new Sportsbook, DFS, horse-racing apps and playing games! ✔️✔️✔️

_{Terms: Must be 18+ (some states may require 21+) and be present in an eligible state; if you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling, and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER. Using an affiliate offer will help support LineStar who may receive a commission fee from the referral. Other conditions may apply, please see link for full details.}