NBA GPP Green Light: 2-23-18

We had a 2nd half warmup last night, as tonight we get a full blown slate to welcome us back from the All-Star Break. As teams publicly and non-publicly tank, the second half of the NBA season is always a clusterf**k. It seems Spring basketball has come early this year, as we dealt with some of the nonsense before the break. As always, we need to keep tabs on the little details, which can give an edge to those who are still just looking through game logs and basic projections. Ownership should be relatively spread out tonight, as we have a handful of superstars, and only a select amount of chalk values. There are three games over a 220 O/U, which are, Rockets-Wolves, Clippers-Suns, and Lakers-Mavs. All three are strong game stacks, but you won't sneak any low-owned plays from them.

DK Salary: $9,300 / FD Salary: $9,700

There are a handful of center options to use tonight, and I am going to expect Karl-Anthony Towns to be one of the more popular options given his track record against Houston. Towns has put up over 60 fantasy points in five of his nine meetings with Houston, and has been over 50 in all but two. I am in no way saying to fade Towns tonight, but I do want you to keep your options open if you are building multiple lineups. If you are looking to be bold and get a center with similar upside at possibly half the ownership, Andre Drummond is your guy. If we are talking track records, Drummond has had some big success against Boston in his career. He has put up 26, 70, 40, and 69 fantasy points over his last four meetings against Boston. While on paper the matchup looks lackluster, Drummond's game has been simply matchup proof. He is averaging 1.38 FPPM this season, and has a shown the ability to rack up peripheral stats. Boston ranks just 20th in rebounding over the last ten games, and are bottom ten in blocks allowed as well. Drummond and Blake Griffin might be a mismatch for this Boston front court, and Drummond has the higher upside of the two. If you are looking for a cheap center, Alex Len should see big minutes again with Tyson Chandler doubtful, and Los Angeles is allowing the second most fantasy points per game to opposing centers over the last ten games.

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

Priced up point guards have sort of left this middle tier dry a bit. We have seen the Elfrid Payton's and Dennis Smith Jr's start to get priced up, leaving us some lackluster mid-range options. However, Dejounte Murray is an intriguing option tonight against Denver, who rank 30th in defensive efficiency against point guards this season, and 28th over the last ten games. They are allowing the 7th most fantasy points per game to the position, and the 3rd most over the last ten games. The only downside to Murray is the fact he will never cross over the 33+ minute mark. He finds himself around 28-30 most nights. He contributes across all categories, and has racked up two 30+ fantasy point games against Denver this season. Murray can get his production via rebounding and steals if the shot isn't dropping. Denver has allowed 7.1 rebounds per game to opposing PG over the last ten games, and 2.3 steals per game. Both are in the bottom five. This game should go overlooked, but there are a handful of options on both sides that have some decent upside for their price tags.

DK Salary: $7,000 / FD Salary: $7,600

On the second night of a back-to-back, I don't have a ton of interest in this game on both sides. Otto Porter Jr. is the one I have the most interest in. Porter has seen a tick up in production without John Wall this season, averaging 33.2 fantasy points per game without, and 28.1 with. The usage rate also jumps from 16.3% to 21.3%. Porter has been a stable option, and has been over 30 fantasy points in five straight games, and nine of the last ten games. Not only does he give you a 40+ fantasy point ceiling at a reasonable price, he doesn't carry much risk with it. Charlotte ranks 30th in defensive efficiency against opposing SF over the last ten games, and are 24th on the season. In that span they are allowing the 8th most fantasy points per game, and 7th most on the season. Porter is an excellent option if you are staying in this mid-range at SF, and with the likes of Harrison Barnes, Jimmy Butler, and Brandon Ingram all in attractive matchups, I don't believe Porter's ownership will be over 15%.

DK Salary: $6,600 / FD Salary: $7,500

I am hoping the grind it out style of the Heat deters people from taking New Orleans' options against them tonight. Nikola Mirotic is sneaky play tonight, and I would imagine the rest of the Pelicans players go fairly overlooked as well. Nikola Mirotic has been coming off the bench over the last two games, where he has a higher usage rate (25%). He was at 18.6% in the games where he started. It makes sense with having to compete with Davis and Holiday both for usage on this team. Mirotic should hover around 30 minutes tonight, and at a 25% usage rate, I am more than on board here. The Pelicans still have a sizable 108 team total, and Miami has been struggling against PF of late. They rank 17th in defensive efficiency over the last ten games, and are allowing ten more fantasy points per game to the position than their season norm.

DK Salary: $4,500 / FD Salary: $4,600

As mentioned above, Alex Len is looking like a possible staple cheap option tonight. Jae Crowder is another cheap name I am looking at to be a filler. His LO projections are a bit underwhelming, but he has posted 29, 20, and 25 fantasy point games since arriving in Utah. He has double-digit shot attempts in each game, and a 22.3% usage rate in that span. Crowder's price is on the rise just a bit, but still under $5,000 on both sites. Crowder has played majority of his time at SF in Utah, and Portland is bottom half in fantasy points allowed to the position over the last ten games. This game doesn't seem that appealing, but there are plenty of viable players from this game like Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic, Derrick Favors, and Donovan Mitchell. Don't sleep on these names tonight.