NBA GPP Green Light 3-7-18

Happy Hump Day everyone and welcome to another Wednesday edition of the NBA GPP Green Light! We have a wonderful seven game slate (six on FanDuel) with plenty of great options to use in all formats. All seven games come in with totals over 200 points, with the three late games being 224 points or higher. The late games will be the most popular options on the slate, but despite the potential ownership, there are a lot of great GPP options in them. We don't want to ignore the early games, however, as there are some great options there too. The Nuggets, Lakers, Rockets, Pelicans, and Cavaliers all have team totals over 110, with the Kings, Magic, and Raptors coming in just shy of 110. The Rockets, Nuggets, and Pelicans are on a back-to-back tonight, so make sure to pay close attention to their injury reports. We have four teams on tonight's slate that are engaged in the tank race, although the Bulls got a stern warning from the league office about their tanking yesterday, meaning we may not actually have to deal with teams benching starters tonight.

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

As I mentioned in the intro, tonight's late games are all projected to be high-scoring affairs, making them great games to target from a GPP perspective. The Magic at Lakers seems to be one of the best ones to target, as both teams are giving up at least 110 points per game on the season. The Lakers have been terrible most of the season defending opposing power forwards, which makes Aaron Gordon one of my favorite options from the Orlando side of this game. Gordon is coming off a couple of down games, with 33.5 and 22 fantasy points against Memphis and Utah, but he flashed major upside in his game prior to those with 54.75 fantasy points against the Pistons. He has been fairly solid since returning from injury, posting a usage rate of 25 percent over the last eight games and he has scored in double figures in all but one of those games. He has also pulled down double-digit rebounds in two of those games, which he can easily do again tonight against a Lakers team that is giving up over 44 rebounds per game on the season. He has only shot 40 percent from the floor over the last six games, which is troubling, but that should rectify itself soon enough. The Lakers are giving up 48.6 points in the paint per game and 14 second-chance points, both areas where Gordon can thrive tonight. Gordon leads the team with 2.1 second-chance points per game and he is second on the team averaging 7.1 points in the paint per game. Gordon may not be a low owned option, but I really don't care, as he is a great play tonight.

DK Salary: $7,400 / FD Salary: $8,000

Prior to Lonzo going down to an injury, the rookie guard was playing out of his mind but was still struggling with his shot. Over a stretch of five games prior to his injury, Ball was shooting a meager 40 percent from the floor but he was contributing in other ways so it didn't hurt his production. He must have worked on his shot while being injured because over his last five games since returning, Ball has connected on 50 percent of his field goal attempts, including 58.6 percent from beyond-the-arc, and he continues to produce peripherals across the board. He recently got inserted back into the starting lineup for LA and he has produced solid results since then. In two of the three games, he has scored 38 and 52.75 fantasy points against the Heat and Spurs, but he struggled in the third against the Trail Blazers. He was only able to rack up two rebounds and two assists in that game but he still scored in double figures and connected on 42.9 percent of his three-point attempts. The three-point shooting has been a nice improvement for Ball, as it boosts his already high upside, and tonight's matchup against the Magic should all but guarantee that he is able to rack up a hefty amount of peripherals across the board. The Magic are allowing the third-most rebounds per game to opponents, meaning Lonzo should be able to rack up rebounds, and they are allowing the second-most fantasy points per game to point guards this season. His price is slightly elevated tonight but there really is no reason to fade him in this matchup.

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

After getting burned by the Memphis Grizzlies false injury report on Monday, using any of them tonight is a tough call, but Green seems like he should be safe from latch scratches and bogus news tonight. It's really is a shame that they are a team that is tough to trust because the matchup against Chicago makes them all really interesting options tonight. I am going to stick with Green, however, as my primary target tonight. Green has been amazing since being thrust into a larger role of late, and he is coming off back-to-back games of 40-plus fantasy points. More importantly, Green has been an outstanding rebounder of late and has pulled down double-digit boards in eight of his last ten games. Since the All-Star break, Green has played a total of 68 minutes with Tyreke Evans, Andrew Harrison, and Mario Chalmers off the floor and in those minutes, Green is posting a 20.1 percent usage rate with 1.15 fantasy points per minute. If you take Jarell Martin, who is also questionable tonight, off the floor, the sample size gets reduced to 43.8 minutes but his per minute production climbs to 1.19 fantasy points. The Bulls have been a terrible defense all season long, a point that I make sure to hammer home any chance I get, and they have ranked 21st in fantasy points allowed to power forwards this season. Since the tanking season has begun, however, things have gotten a little bit worse for the Bulls. Over their last ten games, Chicago ranks 30th in defensive efficiency to power forwards, as they are allowing 27 points on 54.3 percent shooting, including 48.4 percent from three, 11.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and a combined 2.5 blocks and steals per game to the position. I would love to get even more exposure to the Memphis side of this game, although it is tough to trust their injury report, Green is most certainly the best option to start with tonight.

DK Salary: $6,300 / FD Salary: $7,200

Gary Harris was a total let down against the Mavericks last night, which was disappointing for a Gary Harris truther like myself, but I am willing to go back to the well with him tonight against the Cavaliers. Prior to last night's bust, Harris had been on quite the tear with at least 20 points in three straight games and 34.5 or more fantasy points in each of those games. One of those games came against the Cavaliers over the weekend, and Harris was able to put up 32 points with four assists and two rebounds in that game. Harris continues to play a heavy number of minutes for the Nuggets, which helps boost his floor and ceiling, and tonight's matchup against the Cavaliers is a great one on paper. When digging into Gary Harris today, I noticed a surprising stat, although it may not seem like that big of a deal to most people. Including last night's game against Dallas, Gary Harris has recorded double-digit field goal attempts in 44 straight games and has only failed to reach double-digit attempts in six of his 60 games this. The other eye-popping stat for Harris, at least for me, is that he has scored in double figures 54 of his 60 games. The Cavaliers have struggled all season against shooting guards, giving up the fifth-most fantasy points per game to the position, and they have struggled against spot-up shooters like Harris, as well. Opponents are shooting 47.3 percent from the floor against them this season, so Harris should have no issues connecting on his attempts, and he is attempting ten percent of his shots as corner threes, where the Cavaliers are allowing opponents to shoot 44 percent this season. I am expecting a big bounce-back performance from Harris tonight and he is my favorite way to get exposure to the Nuggets tonight.

DK Salary: $4,200 / FD Salary: $4,800

The Kings are without one big man tonight, with Willie Cauley-Stein sidelined by a bad back, but they could end up being really thin in the frontcourt with Skal Labissiere potentially sidelined by a sore knee, as well. Regardless of Labissiere's status, however, Kosta Koufos could be a key value option to fit in the great options across the board tonight. Koufos has found himself the beneficiary of more minutes with Cauley-Stein out, as he has played at least 20 minutes in four-straight games, and he has played 25 and 26 minutes over the last two games. Koufos has always been a solid per-minute producer, but he is averaging .98 fantasy points per minute with Cauley-Stein is off the floor. He also happens to be the center that the Kings rely on when they need someone with size, which has led to him averaging 24.3 minutes and 29.5 fantasy points per game in three matchups against the Pelicans this season. As I outlined in yesterday's article when talking about Tobias Harris and DeAndre Jordan, New Orleans has struggled in the paint since Cousins went down. Their 50.4 rebounds per game allowed during that span leads the league, and they are a top-five team in paint points allowed. Because of the excellent matchup, and the potential for extra run, Koufos is someone that I am heavily targeting tonight.