Fantasy Basketball 2014: Daily Dose; January 11th

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

 

After 12 games last night, I woke up this morning thinking there wouldn’t be many NBA games this evening.

Thank goodness. I was wrong.

Nine more games are on tap for tonight, including the 76ers, which provides fantasy goodness in itself. I’ll try to redeem myself after being absolutely burned by Tyreke Evans. Yeah, more like Ty-REEK Evans, you know, because he stinks.

Am I right? Is this thing on? Nevermind.

Note: FPPG totals are based off FanDuel

Raymond Felton, PG (vs PHI)

FPPG allowed to PG: 46.41 (30th)

You will see the Sixers being picked on quite a bit, so get used to it. Felton, meanwhile, is coming off a very impressive 13/14/5 stat line against the Heat on Thursday night, resulting in a strong 42.25 fantasy points. With Beno Udrih and Pablo Prigioni dealing with injuries, Felton continues to log plenty of minutes, averaging 35 over his last two games. Meanwhile, the 76ers can’t defend any position well, especially point guards, who are scoring the most fantasy points per game. They have allowed an opposing point guard to score at least 36 fantasy points in back-to-back games, and while Felton isn’t nearly as talented as Brandon Jennings or Kyrie Irving, his price tag allows him a terrific opportunity to exceed value in this great matchup. No team in the NBA is surrendering more points per game (111.2) than the 76ers, so again, this should be another high-scoring affair.

DeMar Derozan, SG (vs BKN)

FPPG allowed to SG: 38.63 (28th)

The departure of Rudy Gay has been tremendous for the fantasy prospects of Derozan, who is now the go-to guy for the Raptors. Over his last five games, he’s averaging about 19 shot attempts per game, resulting 23.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, five assists and 1.8 steals per contest. During that span, he’s logging a healthy 37.2 minutes per game and is also getting to the line at a frequent rate, sporting 9.4 attempts from the stripe per game. He’s totaled at least 35 fantasy points in each of his last five games, and because of his presence in the scoring department, as well as peripheral stats, I think he does it again tonight against the Nets. Only two teams are surrendering more fantasy points per game to the shooting guard position than the Nets, and this should be a close game where Derozan will play plenty of minutes. And you know he’ll get plenty of touches as well, seeing as point guard Kyle Lowry is averaging a strong 71.1 passes per game this year, the fourth-most in the NBA.

Carmelo Anthony, SF (vs PHI)

FPPG allowed to SF: 41.04 (29th)

The obvious play of the night, Melo should be in almost 100 percent of lineups this evening. With consecutive 50-point fantasy outings under his belt, Carmelo welcomes the most generous defense in basketball to the garden. I mean, did you see what Josh Smith did to this team last night? The small forward torched Philly for 22 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, five blocks and four steals, resulting in the massive tune of 65 fantasy points. That’s the type of upside players have against the Sixers, and Melo is obviously an elite talent. He’s averaging 39 minutes per game over his last five, and as the Knicks try to get back into the very realistic playoff picture in the East, they’ll have to ride Melo all the way. You want threes? Melo is hitting almost three triples per game over his last five, while the Sixers are coughing up a league-leading 30.9 points from beyond the arc per game this year. You want rebounds? Melo is hauling in a strong 7.8 over his last five, while the Sixers are allowing the most rebounds per game to opposing small forwards (8.73). Fire Melo up in all formats, and watch him flirt with 40 points.

Glen Davis, PF (@ DEN)

FPPG allowed to PF: 46.04 (29th)

Injuries are one of the bigger reasons why I am recommending Big Baby tonight. Always banged up Nikola Vucevic doesn’t look to be in line to play tonight, while Arron Afflalo already ruled himself out. And on top of all that, Tobias Harris tweaked his ankle the other night, and his status is questionable. If all three of these guys are out, Davis should be in line for plenty of minutes and plenty of touches in a strong matchup. Denver is allowing the second-most fantasy points to the power forward position, and haven’t been too strong on the glass, surrendering 12.2 offensive rebounds per game (6th-most). Opposing power forwards are also grabbing 12.85 rebounds per game against the Nuggets, the fourth-most in basketball.

Anthony Davis, C (@ DAL)

FPPG allowed to C: 44.56 (23rd)

One night after going off to the tune of 50.25 fantasy points against the Mavericks, Davis gets the undersized Dallas frontcourt again on Saturday night. New Orleans got blown out last night, but Davis still played 40 minutes in that game. I think tonight’s contest will be much closer, and Davis will still play at least 35 minutes, especially with all of the injuries to the Pelicans roster. Opposing centers are hauling in the second-most rebounds per game against Dallas this season (15.12) and are shooting over 51 percent from the field. Meanwhile, the Mavericks are coughing up the 11th-most defensive rebounds per game, as well as the 8th-most offensive rebounds per game this season. Davis is the Pelicans only consistent source of offensive, and should be in line for a strong workload tonight.

Adam Pfeifer is a featured fantasy sports columnist for Rant Sports.

You can follow him on Twitter @aPfeiferRS.


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