NBA Daily Schedules and Headline News
When: Wednesday, January 23, 2019 (Eastern Standard Time)
• Toronto @ Indiana – 7:00 PM
Kawhi Leonard will sit out on the road against the Indiana Pacers for resting purposes.
• Cleveland @ Boston – 7:30 PM
Al Horford will get the night off after playing in 16 straight games. The Boston Celtics have so much depth that getting the victory without him shouldn’t be an issue.
• LA Clippers @ Miami – 7:30 PM
Danillo Gallinari and Lou Williams are doubtful for the game. The Miami Heat need Dion Waiters to turn up the heat to help their recent struggles on the offensive end.
• Orlando @ Brooklyn – 7:30 PM
The Brooklyn Nets have won 17 of their last 22 games which is the best in the NBA during that span.
• Houston @ New York – 7:30 PM
The Houston Rockets will destroy the injury-plagued Knicks like most teams in this league do, especially if James Harden has another MVP outing.
• Detroit @ New Orleans – 8:00 PM
The New Orleans Pelicans are coming off their best defensive game of the season while the Detroit Pistons are coming off of one of their worst offensive games of the season as it seemed as they didn’t try to compete until the second half.
• Atlanta @ Chicago – 8:00 PM
The Chicago Bulls are looking to end a ten game losing streak.
• San Antonio @ Philadelphia – 8:00 PM
The Philadelphia 76ers will be pushing for their 21st home win against San Antonio Spurs.
• Charlotte @ Memphis – 8:30 PM
The Memphis Grizzlies are entertaining offers for franchise cornerstones Mike Conley and Marc Gasol.
• Denver @ Utah – 10:30 PM
Utah Jazz won six games in a row before the loss to Portland on Monday. The Denver Nuggets are coming off consecutive victories over the Bulls and Cavaliers that concluded a four-game road trip.
Anthony Davis Injury
Anthony Davis will see a hand specialist because of a volar plate avulsion fracture in his left index finger, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports. He would likely miss two-to-four weeks if the diagnosis is confirmed.
New Orleans Gameplan
Opting to give Jahlil Okafor more minutes than Nikola Mirotic resulted in the Pelicans putting up their strongest defensive performance as New Orleans allowed a season-low 85 points in their last game. The Pelicans were in position to help on the screen-and-rolls throughout the entire game which will be interesting to watch to see if the Pelicans can keep it up against a struggling Pistons team. Jahlil Okafor made his first start of the season in place of the injured All-Star Anthony Davis finishing with 20 points and 10 boards.
DraftKings Must Play
Jahlil Okafor
The floor projection for Jhalil Okafor is 19.00 with a ceiling of 34.00. Rotogrinders has the projection at a whopping 28.53 while Draftkings Playbook has him at 23.00. His average DraftKings points over the past ten games have been 15.28, but that is with a usage of just 13.8 minutes per game.
With Jahlil Okafor’s DraftKings pricetag at $4,600 and going up against Detroit who are 19th defensively vs. Centers. It would not be surprising at all to see him come out as the top fantasy play per dollar spent across all DFS lineups because his minutes have been through the rough the past two games. Start him and do it with confidence!
DraftKings ‘Bang for your Buck’ Plays
Stud-Finder
$8,400 Julius Randle, PF, NOR
Mid-Range Money
$7,200 Kyle Lowry, PG, TOR
$6,300 Kris Dunn, PG, CHI
$6,000 Hassan Whiteside, C, MIA
$5,900 Serge Ibaka, PF/C, TOR
$5,000 Enes Kanter, C, NYK
Sleeper Gems
$4,600 Jahlil Okafor, C, NOR
$4,600 Fred VanVleet, PG, TOR
$4,400 Kenneth Faried, PF, HOU
$3,700 Justin Holiday, SG/SF, MEM