Top NBA Plays 12/22 | Last Newsletter before Christmas! 🎅🏼

Tastefully curated M-F by LineStar fantasy experts.'

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McCollum laughs at 3v1's!

Guards

CJ McCollum, POR [vs DEN] (DK: $7k, FD: $6.9k)

Damian Lillard has already been ruled out due to a hamstring injury suffered in Portland's last game. McCollum has seen a 5-7% usage bump without Lillard on the court this season. Unfortunately it's not the best matchup with the Denver Nuggets mostly healthy again as they rank 13th against starting shooting guards.

Eric Gordon, HOU [vs LAC] (DK: $5.9k, FD: $5.4k)

Today will be the story of fairly significant injuries knocking some stars out of action, which has opened up a plethora of early value on the slate. While Chris Paul was out early in the year and Eric Gordon was starting in his place he averaged around 32 fantasy points per game. DraftKings raised his salary significantly today but at his peek this season it was at $6.9k, and on Fanduel his peek was at $7.1k while Chris Paul was out, still leaving some value to be had here.

Elfrid Payton, ORL [vs NO] (DK: $5.6k, FD: $6.9k)

Payton finally showed some signs of life against the Bulls in Orlando's last game. He should have the easiest matchup on the team tonight, facing off against Rajon Rondo who is ranked near worst in the league in defensive rating. The Pelicans are ranked 29th against starting point guards allowing 38 fantasy points a game. Payton is a tournament only play as his floor is easily in the teens, but in a matchup like this his ceiling can be in the 40s.

Forwards

Brandon Ingram, LAL [@GS] (DK: $6.8k, FD: $7k)

Ingram has been bringing his A game when facing the Warriors this season, putting up 42 and 50 fantasy point games. He's been averaging nearly 40 minutes a game over the last 5 games. The Warriors may be getting Green back tonight but he wont get a full workload, so the Lakers get to face the Warriors at half strength once again. This game has one of the highest point totals on the night at 217.5 and the Warriors are favored to win by 10.5.

Kyle Kuzma, LAL [@GS] (DK: $6.3k, FD: $6.8k)

2 Lakers in 1 section! Kuzma has looked brilliant over the last 5 games and has had his workload increased to around 30 minutes a game, and likely more with Lopez out of the lineup. Kuzma played well against the Warriors in their last contest and has played some of his best ball all year in games where the Lakers are big underdogs.

Mike Scott, WAS [@BKN] (DK: $4.6k, FD: $5k)

Great Scott, he's back in the newsletter! Washington keeps feeding this kid minutes on the court and good things are happening for him and the team. Markieff Morris's minutes have been trending down as Mike Scott is getting more involved and simply outperforming him. Look for that trend to continue at the Wizards wouldn't mind having another weapon on the court to help keep Wall healthy and his play time in check.

Centers

Nikola Vucevic, ORL [vs NO] (DK: $8.9k, FD: $9.9k)

Vegas has this game as one of the higher scoring for the night at 219.5 point total with only a 5.5 point spread in favor of the Pelicans. Before Orlando's last game, Vucevic put up 6 straight games of 45+ fantasy points. Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier are doubtful again to play tonight leaving Vucevic yet again with the heavy lifting. Orlando was blown out very quickly of last game which made for a lot of stat-lines that are going to scare people away from playing these guys tonight.

Steven Adams, OKC [vs ATL] (DK: $6.5k, FD: $6.6k)

The Hawks are ranked 24th against starting centers allowing 34 fantasy points a game. Adams is seeing around 5 fantasy points more per game when playing at home, and has played very well in games where the Thunder were big favorites. 

Nene Hilario, HOU [vs LAC] (DK: $3.7k, FD: $3.7k)

Nene flopped pretty hard against the Lakers in his last start, but the Clippers with all of their injuries are a much easier matchup. They are currently ranked 29th against starting centers. Nene is typically around a fantasy point per minute guy and he saw 26 minutes in the last game with Capela out and if he gets that same amount of time in this contest he could certainly provide nice value tonight.

Injuries 🤕