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What you need to know for Tuesday's games
The Pacers outpaced the Celtics with a massive second half in Monday's upset home win. The Pelicans also delivered an underdog moment in slowing down the Kings. New Orleans got production all over the rotation, confirming you'll want to roster those emergent wings Herbert Jones (49.4%) and Trey Murphy III (19.1%) in basically any formats. Both were critical in last night's win for a New Orleans team that now ranks third in the NBA in net rating over the past 10 games. Are the Pelicans the value pick in the Western play-in bracket now?
Tuesday's two-game play-in tournament stage opens with the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks hosting the New York Knicks. The point totals for tonight's games are lower than Monday's, but the games still present some strong streaming angles.
For instance, New York's Josh Hart, who we expand on below, is finally finding his touch from the floor again while remaining one of the best rebounding guards in the league. I'd also make room for Mitchell Robinson, now that he's back to being a chaos creator with five combined steals and blocks per game over the past week. With Milwaukee, it's often lean past the big names, but it's becoming clear that even Bobby Portis is being undervalued; he's a free agent in nearly 40% of ESPN leagues.
The Western game offers a marquee matchup between Kevin Durant and LeBron James in Los Angeles. Both are slate-changing options for DFS competition, as well. The Lakers being 10th in pace might help offset the Suns being the fourth-slowest team in the league in regards to churning possessions. The Suns do present some streaming value if scoring guard Eric Gordon is active, while the somewhat versatile Grayson Allen surfaces as a plug-and-play option on a lean night.
Los Angeles doesn't provide much roster clarity outside of the known playmakers, leaving Rui Hachimura, Taureen Prince, Christian Wood, and Jarred Vanderbilt in this complicated committee of versatile depth forwards. The level of overlap in roles and minutes makes it so that fantasy managers are often guessing which one might produce. The only guy I'd assume sees a busy role of widely-available players is Cam Reddish, who merits attention for just a one-day play.
Tuesday's Stream Team
This segment nominates three key streaming options ahead of that day's action. A streamer, by our standards, is a player available in at least half of ESPN men's basketball leagues.
Mitchell Robinson, C, (39.9%), Knicks: Over the past week, we saw Robinson have a game with four steals and another with six blocks. Add in the premise he's averaging nearly 11 rebounds and an historic offensive rebounding rate and there's some real upside in giving Robinson a roster spot for tonight's matchup with Brook Lopez.
Josh Hart, SG/SF, Knicks (39.3%): With his minutes back on the rise and overall production looking impressive during the past two weeks, Hart's atypically high rebounding is being supported by strong defensive rates over this sample. He should be in a good spot crashing the glass against a Bucks team that ranks 18th in rebounding percentage (Knicks are first).
Malik Beasley, SG, Bucks (16.3%): A floor-spacer who loves to see the spin of his own shot, Beasley can emerge as a bucket at times. Up to 17 PPG during the past week and likely to be asked to sustain some gravity as a volume shooter, Beasley is a specialist of note this evening.
Eric Gordon, SG/SF, Suns (22.6%): Found just a few spots behind Klay Thompson and Trae Young in made 3-pointers on the season, Gordon would be another 3-point and scoring specialist to consider ahead of a night with just two games. If Gordon is inactive, Allen (9.7%) should be good for double-digit scoring and a worthy blend of assists and boards.
Projections and Injury Reports
Fantasy projections powered by ESPN Analytics.* Projections assume all players who are listed as GTD will play. Injury aggregation by Rotowire.com. Players available in at least 50% of ESPN leagues are listed in italics.
New York Knicks at Milwaukee Bucks
7:30 p.m. Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
BPI Projection: Bucks by 3.3 in the highest-scoring game of the slate.
Injury Report:
Knicks: DaQuan Jeffries, (GTD - Illness); Evan Fournier, (GTD - Illness)
Bucks: Jae Crowder, (OUT - Groin); Andre Jackson Jr., (GTD - Back); Pat Connaughton, (OUT - Ankle)
Knicks projections:
Jalen Brunson, PG/SG: 43.5 FPTS (26.8 pts, 3.4 reb, 5.3 ast, 2.8 3PM)
Julius Randle, PF: 40.3 FPTS (23.2 pts, 9.7 reb, 5.1 ast, 2.0 3PM)
RJ Barrett, SG/SF: 23.4 FPTS (15.9 pts, 3.0 reb, 2.1 ast)
Immanuel Quickley, PG/SG: 20.1 FPTS (11.3 pts, 2.3 reb, 2.3 ast)
Mitchell Robinson, C: 20.1 FPTS (7.4 pts, 9.1 reb, 0.9 ast, 1.4 blk)
Josh Hart, SG/SF: 19.7 FPTS (7.0 pts, 5.4 reb, 2.1 ast)
Donte DiVincenzo, SG: 14.8 FPTS (7.0 pts, 2.5 reb, 1.5 ast)
Bucks projections:
Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF/C: 51.2 FPTS (29.9 pts, 10.9 reb, 5.7 ast, 1.2 blk)
Damian Lillard, PG: 47.1 FPTS (27.4 pts, 4.3 reb, 6.6 ast, 2.9 3PM)
Khris Middleton, SF: 26.1 FPTS (13.4 pts, 4.8 reb, 3.4 ast)
Malik Beasley, SG: 25.8 FPTS (11.9 pts, 5.0 reb, 1.3 ast, 2.8 3PM)
Brook Lopez, C: 25.1 FPTS (13.0 pts, 4.8 reb, 1.3 ast, 1.8 3PM, 2.2 blk)
Bobby Portis, PF/C: 22.4 FPTS (11.2 pts, 6.2 reb, 1.1 ast)
Cameron Payne, PG: 12.0 FPTS (4.4 pts, 1.2 reb, 2.4 ast)
Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers
10 p.m. Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles
BPI Projection: Suns by 2.4 in the 2nd highest-scoring game of the slate.
Injury Report:
Suns: Eric Gordon, (GTD - Knee); Bradley Beal, (OUT - Back); Damion Lee, (OUT - Knee)
Lakers: Anthony Davis, (GTD - Hip); Jarred Vanderbilt, (GTD - Heel); LeBron James, (GTD - Calf); Rui Hachimura, (GTD - Nose); Gabe Vincent, (OUT - Knee)
Suns projections:
Kevin Durant, SF/PF: 48.8 FPTS (31.3 pts, 6.9 reb, 6.3 ast)
Devin Booker, SG/SF: 45.3 FPTS (26.4 pts, 5.3 reb, 6.9 ast, 1.9 3PM)
Jusuf Nurkic, C: 28.0 FPTS (12.3 pts, 9.1 reb, 3.5 ast, 1.2 blk)
Grayson Allen, SG: 26.9 FPTS (12.2 pts, 5.5 reb, 3.0 ast, 2.1 3PM)
Eric Gordon, SG/SF: 21.7 FPTS (10.7 pts, 2.1 reb, 2.7 ast, 2.2 3PM)
Josh Okogie, SG/SF: 15.6 FPTS (7.9 pts, 3.6 reb, 1.2 ast)
Jordan Goodwin, PG/SG: 13.9 FPTS (5.4 pts, 3.5 reb, 1.8 ast)
Lakers projections:
Anthony Davis, PF/C: 44.1 FPTS (23.4 pts, 12.6 reb, 3.6 ast, 2.5 blk)
D'Angelo Russell, PG/SG: 33.8 FPTS (17.1 pts, 3.3 reb, 6.1 ast, 2.1 3PM)
Austin Reaves, SG/SF: 26.2 FPTS (12.2 pts, 4.2 reb, 4.6 ast)
Taurean Prince, SF: 17.4 FPTS (9.5 pts, 2.4 reb, 1.4 ast)
Cam Reddish, SG/SF: 14.6 FPTS (7.2 pts, 2.2 reb, 1.0 ast)
Christian Wood, PF/C: 14.0 FPTS (7.0 pts, 5.0 reb, 0.8 ast)
Max Christie, SG: 12.2 FPTS (6.4 pts, 2.8 reb, 0.9 ast)