NBA GPP Green Light 11-13-17

Welcome back to the GPP Green Light! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, despite any mishaps that certain sites may have had *cough DraftKings *cough. We have a wonderful 9-game slate on tap tonight, with several games that could end up being extremely high scoring. We have four games that opened at a 219 O/U with matchups between the Lakers/Phoenix and Orlando/Golden State projected to score over 227 points.

DK Salary: $11,300 / FD Salary: $11,700

We are once again presented with the conundrum of which Pelicans' big man to play, and I am again going to lean heavily towards Cousins in this matchup. Obviously, Anthony Davis is an excellent play as well, but due to his injury history, he is best reserved for GPPs.

Cousins is coming off another big game against the Clippers, where he pulled down 15 boards while scoring 35 points, and has notched a double-double in all but one game this year. Cousins holds a team-high 33.9 percent usage rate, which is seven percent higher than Davis, and also leads the team in minutes per game at 38.2. Cousins is averaging a massive 1.57 DraftKings fantasy points per minute this season and is going against a Hawks team that is not only allowing the most rebounds per game to opponents, 47.7, and 54 fantasy points per game to opposing centers, this is too good of a spot to pass up for Cousins.

DK Salary: $9,600 / FD Salary: $9,600

Kristaps returned from his elbow injury with a vengeance against the Kings, dropping 34 points in 27 minutes, and he looks to continue his hot scoring against the Cavs tonight. Kristaps currently leads the NBA in usage at 36 percent and he is attempting 21.5 shots per game. Kristaps is shooting the ball at a blistering 51.3 percent from the floor this season and he is averaging 46.5 DraftKings points per game while notching 1.43 points per minute.

The Cavs have been an absolute sieve on defense this season, allowing opponents to score 113.4 points per game while allowing them to shoot 47.8 percent from the floor. Opponents are shooting 40 percent on shots in the mid-range, where Porzingis is attempting 24 percent of his shots, and have surrendered 48 fantasy points per game to opposing power forwards this season. Kristaps scored 32 points while pulling down 12 boards against this Cavs team earlier this season, and I expect a similar performance out of him tonight.

DK Salary: $7,300 / FD Salary: $7,600

I was really hoping Lonzo wouldn't put up a big game over the weekend so we could get him at lower ownership tonight because this is a situation where I want to have as much exposure to him as I can. Ball erupted for a 19-point, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists triple-double against the Bucks, while also blocking four shots and swiping three steals. Ball put up 71.5 DraftKings points in that game, and while I don't expect him to put up a game quite as good as that, he is in another great spot against a bad Phoenix team.

We saw Ball put up a huge game against the Suns earlier this season, scoring 59.8 DraftKings points, on 29 points and 11 boards. The Suns continue to be an atrocious defense, allowing opponents to score 116.2 points per game and allowing them to shoot 47 percent from the floor. Phoenix currently ranks 30^th in the NBA in efficiency to point guards, surrendering 56.4 fantasy points per game to them.

DK Salary: $6,200 / FD Salary: $6,000

I am going to pick on the Cavaliers as long as they continue to struggle, and tonight I am doing that by pairing Porzingis and Hardaway Jr. in my lineups. Hardaway busted out of his shooting slump earlier this season against the Cavs, dropping 34 points with 8 assists, on his way to 57 DraftKings points, and I am expecting him to catch fire again tonight.

The Cavaliers rank 27th in defensive efficiency against opposing shooting guards, allowing 40.2 fantasy points per game, and have allowed opponents to shoot over 40 percent from beyond-the-arc the season. Hardaway has attempted at least seven three-pointers in 8 of the teams 12 contests this season and has attempted at least 10 total shots in every one of those games. The Knicks should have no issues keeping this game competitive and Hardaway is in line for a great game if that happens.

DK Salary: $3,700 / FD Salary: $5,900

With Gobert out, and Favors sliding down a position, Thabo Sefolosha will slide into the starting lineup as the power forward for Utah, putting him in an excellent spot to succeed tonight. Sefolosha is always a volatile option, so he is best reserved for GPPs, but at only $4,300 he allows us to get some of the higher end options in our lineups.

The absence of Gobert provides Sefolosha with a 3.6 percent bump in usage but it also moves him closer to the basket where he has an increased opportunity for rebounds, putbacks, and steals. Anytime you can move a player down a position and closer to the basket, you increase not only their floor but also the upside they possess. Thabo is attempting 43 percent of his shots at the rim this season, where the Timberwolves are allowing opponents to shoot at the second-highest efficiency in the NBA, 68 percent, and he can also stretch the floor and knock down the three-ball from the corner where the Timberwolves are allowing opponents to shoot almost 40 percent. Thabo notched 17 DraftKings points in 24 minutes against the Wolves earlier this season and the increased minutes tonight should help him easily exceed value.