NBA GPP Green Light 11-27-17

We are back after the Thanksgiving with a wonderful 8-game slate, albeit a slate marred with a plethora of injury news. Just for reference, here are all the injuries we have to keep an eye on: the Warriors are listing Curry, Durant, and Green as questionable, Victor Oladipo is listed as questionable with a bruised knee, both Kanter and Porzingis are also questionable, and we have Allen Crabbe and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson who are battling some injuries as well. With all that news, the Brooklyn at Houston game is currently the highest projected total on the board at 230.5 but there is also a 16 points spread in that contest.

DK Salary: $8,800 / FD Salary: $9,000

Lillard seems to have snapped out of his earlier season shooting woes and is coming off back-to-back games where he shot over 52 percent from the floor. He notched 57 and 46 fantasy points in both of those games, while also averaging 39 minutes, and gets a matchup against a Knicks team that ranks near the top of the NBA in fantasy points allowed to point guards this season. The Knicks defense has started to come back down to Earth and they have allowed 105.0 points per game over their last five games. Dame's 31.56 percent usage rate leads the team, and he is one of the most effective members of the team operating in the pick-and-roll. The Knicks have struggled to defend the pick-and-roll this season, allowing the ball handler to score almost 40 percent of the time. This is a great spot for Lillard to continue dominating and he is a little too cheap to pass up tonight.

DK Salary: $7,300 / FD Salary: $8,100

Head coach Frank Vogel has been incredibly disappointed in his team as of late and has been talking about switching up his starting lineup for several days. Tonight seems like the perfect night to do so, given he is returning to Indiana to face off against his former team. Now that we have that out of the way, I will tell you that whatever Vogel does to the starting lineup won't matter for Vucevic, as he has one of the best matchups on the board tonight for opposing big men. The Pacers are getting shredded by opposing big men, giving up 54.5 fantasy points per game to them, and they have allowed opponents to pull down 43.4 rebounds per game. They are also allowing 49 points in the paint and 13 second chance points. Vuc has played over 30 minutes in two of the last four games, while averaging 40 fantasy points across those four contests. Vuc recently torched the Pacers to the tune of 25 points and 13 rebounds, and could easily do so again tonight.

DK Salary: $6,700 / FD Salary: $7,800

The Clippers side of tonight's showdown in LA possesses a ton of fantasy goodness, with DeAndre being one of my favorite options. The Lakers are not only terrible on defense, surrendering 107.1 points per game, but they are also surrendering 46.4 rebounds, 48.4 points in the paint, and 13.5 second chance points to opponents. They are giving up the eighth most fantasy points per game to centers, 54.39, and DeAndre dominated against them last time they squared off. DeAndre ranks 5th in the NBA in paint touches per game this season, averaging 9.8 per game, and he is in the top-10 of the NBA in points in the paint per game. DeAndre has eclipsed 40 fantasy points in two of his last five games, and is in line to rack up another big game tonight.

DK Salary: $6,500 / FD Salary: $6,700

I am fairly certain that everyone reading my article has come to expect me to write up at least one player against the Cavs each time they are on the slate, and I certainly don't want to start disappointing you guys now. Simmons and Embiid will be popular options, of course, but Covington is my favorite GPP play of the bunch. The Cavs, as we all know, have been terrible on defense all season as they have allowed 110.1 points per game to opponents, while allowing them to shoot 47 percent from the floor and 38.3 percent from beyond-the-arc. Covington is coming off a down game against the Magic, but had three-straight games of at least 30 fantasy points prior to that outing. He has attempted at least 10 shots in 7 of his last 10 games and has attempted at least five three-pointers in 9 of those 10 games. Covington is one of the best spot-up shooters in the NBA, ranking in the 87th percentile, averaging 1.23 points per play on spot up possessions. Covington is attempting a spot up shot on nearly 40 percent of his plays, and Cleveland ranks third in the NBA in points per play allowed on spot up possessions. Covington should light up the Cavs tonight and he will be a staple in my lineups.

DK Salary: $5,100 / FD Salary: $5,500

There is going to be some fantasy goodness in the matchup between the Warriors and Kings, and I am going to bet that goodness comes from Willie Cauley-Stein tonight. He disappointed against Denver the last time I wrote him up, but I am going back to the well here tonight. Cauley-Stein has notched four 30+ fantasy points outings in his last five contests and has played at least 28 minutes in those four games. Since coming off the bench, Willie has seen his usage rate climb to 24.2 percent, up from his 19.6 percent season average. The Warriors are surrendering 17.7 rebounds, 43.7 points, and 18.2 points in the paint to opposing bench units, and they have struggled to defend the roll man in the pick-and-roll this season, allowing 1.14 points per play to them. Cauley-Stein is the Kings' most effective roll man, averaging 1.56 points per play, and should be able to eat the Warriors up down low tonight. I like Cauley-Stein regardless of the status of Durant, Curry, and Green, but he would become a much better option if any of those three sit as the Kings could, in theory, keep the game a little closer.