As if he's not always a chalk play, it's a 🎁Birthday Play🎁 for Nikola Jokic tonight against a Cavs team that has decided to bench Andre Drummond until they can get a better-than-Carson-Wentz-return in a trade. It's a slate with Embiid, Vucevic, and Towns so maybe the ownership for the birthday kid won't be as high, especially when the Nuggets were supposed to be playing Charlotte in this spot.

All total there's a 9-gamer tonight with the horrible Bucks hosting OKC, the horrible Celtics in a rematch with Atlanta, and a rematch between the Jazz and Clippers. Let's see what we got.

Today's NBA Matchups

Warriors (-4) @ Magic , O/U 223.5, 7:00 PM ET

Expect GSW to come out a bit flat tonight, as they haven't had an East Coast road game since a December 29th win at Detroit. Then again, both teams are pretty banged up.

Nuggets (-8.5) @ Cavs, O/U 225.5, 7:00 PM ET

Denver has dropped two straight on their current road swing and their last 5 away trips overall, but if that continues tonight it's time to sound the alarm. Cleveland has lost 8 straight the last four by 17+ including a 133-95 defeat at Denver 9 days ago.

Lineup Notes: Paul Millsap and Gary Harris are out, Will Barton is questionable for Denver. Drummond is sitting for Cleveland.

Bulls @ Sixers (-8) , O/U230, 7:30 PM ET

Chicago came back from down 18 at the half to beat Detroit, but they've got a tough test vs. a Philly team that is 12-2 at home on the year. The Bulls have gotten surprisingly better vs. the bigs lately, ranking 7th over the last 5 games vs. the C.

Hawks @ Celtics (-4), O/U 225.5, 7:30 PM ET

Atlanta got the 122-114 win on Wednesday behind 40 real points from Trae Young, but to be fair Boston was on the back to back.

Lineup Notes: Jaylen Brown (knee) and Kemba Walker (knee) are both questionable.

Pistons @ Grizzlies (-5), O/U 220.5, 8:00 PM ET

Detroit has played decent lately, beating Boston and the Pelicans and building up a big lead before falling to Chicago on Wednesday. Memphis beat OKC Wednesday even while playing on the back to back - but they gave up 144 in a loss to New Orleans on Tuesday.

Lineup Notes: Blake Griffin is out indefinitely.

Thunder @ Bucks (-10.5), O/U 231.5, 8:00 PM ET

Milwaukee shouldn't be giving a G-League team 10.5 points right now, as they've lost 5 of 6 since Jrue Holiday went down. The Bucks were embarrassing at home last night in a 110-96 loss to the Raptors that wasn't even that close.

Suns (-3.5) @ Pelicans, O/U 231.5, 8:00 PM ET

It's looking like a Chris Paul ($7.7k) night after New Orleans gave up 43 points and 16 dimes to Damian Lillard on Wednesday and even 28/7/8 to Ja Morant the game before that. Lonzo is having a ball not playing defense.

Raptors (-2.5) @ Timberwolves, O/U 226.5, 9:00 PM ET

Toronto could very easily be in a letdown spot here after two straight wins over Milwaukee. The Raps' are on the back to back, and Minnesota just beat them 116-112 in Tampa on Sunday.

Lineup Notes: Kyle Lowry (ankle) is questionable.

Jazz (-4) @ Clippers, O/U 224.5, 10:00 PM ET

Utah is just good. They put it on the Clippers on Wednesday outscoring them by 33 points in the 2nd half. Granted LAC was pretty shorthanded with no Kawhi, PG, Luke Kennard, or Nic Batum.

Tonight's Point Guard / Shooting Guard Notables

Chris Paul DK $7.7k | FD $7.8k

@ New Orleans

The 🗡️Revenge Spot🗡️didn't work out so well in Chris Paul's return to his old stomping grounds on February 3rd, but the Suns also lost by 22 points. Paul had 10 points and 4 assists in 25 minutes, but you have to go back here as the Pels have allowed 46+ fp to 4 of the past 5 PGs they've faced. Phoenix having to visit Memphis tomorrow should put ownership down a bit.

Terrence Ross DK $6.5k | FD $6k

vs. Golden State

Evan Fournier is back, but that didn't stop Terrence 'the' Boss from going for 30+ real points on Wednesday vs. a good Knicks defense. I like Golden State to lay an egg in their first trip to the East Coast in about six weeks, Ross has been perfection in 3 of the last 5, so keep launching good sir.

Norman Powell DK $6.2k | FD $5.8k

@Minnesota

Powell was the MVP in last night's win over the Bucks, going 9-12 from the field and 4-7 from three but most importantly not being afraid to launch. He played a manageable 30 minutes heading into the back-to-back, much better than the 40+ from Fred VanVleet and Kyle Lowry could easily sit again.

Donte DiVincenzo DK $5.3k | FD $5.1k

vs. Oklahoma City

Milwaukee is pretty horrible right now. Toss DiVincenzo in there on the back to back with a guy who has hit double digit scoring in 7 of the last 9.

Tonight's SF / PF Notables

Jayson Tatum DK $8.8k | FD $9.4k

vs. Atlanta

Going back to the Jayson Tatum spot, if anything because Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker are both still questionable. Tatum just hit 35/6/6 vs. the Hawks on Wednesday (56fp) and that was on a back to back. Atlanta is the second worst team in the league vs. the SF over the last week.

Zion Williamson DK $8.4k | FD $8.7k

vs. Suns

Zion was in the perfect DK lineup on Wednesday and his price only went up $200. He's gotta be a must play at least until he hits $9k, especially with Steven Adams out which gives an even better 7fp and 3% usage increase with minutes at the C spot.

Michael Porter, Jr DK $6.k | FD $5.5k

@Cleveland

Get in, get out. There's some partying to do for Jokic so Denver should rest their starters early and just enjoy the blowout win over Cleveland. Porter had 19 in 27 minutes in the win over the Cavs on 9 days ago, but Cleveland has a fight ready tonight.

Thad Young DK $5.8k | FD $6.5k

@ Philadelphia

Thaddeus Young is a stock too. He rose hard with five straight with 35+fp but took a little dip with three of the last five in the 20s. Since Wendell Carter, Jr. returned two games ago Thad has 13/4/11 and 9/7/10. He loves coming off the bench and is a solid play even against Philly.

Tonight's Center Position Notables

Nikola Vucevic DK $9.9k | FD $9.7k

vs. Golden State

Jokic is in a blowout spot vs. Cleveland and Embiid is up against a Chicago team that has been better vs. bigs lately. That makes Nikola Vucevic the spend up play at C tonight. He's only put up 34 and 46 fp the last two, but they were both double digit games. Tonight's matchup vs. Golden State should be close as the Warriors are going to the East Coast for the first time since late December, and Vucevic just had 25/13/5 vs. GSW last Thursday.

____________________________________________________________________________________

You can follow me, Carl Taylor (@dailydogsports), on Twitter for more daily fantasy and sports betting talk and make sure to check out the LineStar chat.

🔥 SuperDraft Multiplier Must-Play

Today's SuperDraft multiplier must-play is Jayson Tatum at 1.15X. Just went for 35 real points against Atlanta and that was on the b2b.

🚨 Bonus: Get 3 Free Months of LineStar Premium

Get 3-months of LineStar Premium for new users to SuperDraft who deposit/play $10!

Terms: Partnership offers do NOT renew. See SuperDraft landing page for full terms and conditions. Must be a new user to SuperDraft and deposit and play a minimum of $10 to qualify. If you have an existing LineStar Premium subscription you get a Hat/Tee/Pen combo instead of the 3-months.