After a busy night in the NBA on Monday the schedule for Tuesday is dramatically scaled down with just four games on the slate and that means little room for error when it comes to Daily Fantasy League competitions. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will get the action underway when they tip off with the Boston Celtics at 7:30 PM Eastern time and while there are a couple of players from that matchup worth taking a chance on our focus for Tuesday remains on the two late games and the opportunity they will provide. Here is some important fantasy basketball advice to consider for Tuesday night’s action.
Weak Defense To Target: Los Angeles Lakers
It would be easy to point out the Sacramento Kings as the weak stop unit to target with the Houston Rockets in town looking to beat up on the league’s 29th-ranked scoring defense but with the Milwaukee Bucks in Los Angeles on Tuesday night it looks like it might be better value to target the Lakers. LA ranks 28th in the NBA with an average of 107.3 points allowed per game and will provide a welcome remedy for a Milwaukee side that has struggled with injuries of late. OJ Mayo and Khris Middleton are among the strong value plays that have taken on bigger roles in part because of injuries to Jerryd Bayless and Greivis Vasquez so make sure to lock at least one of them in to your lineup with an understanding their performances will exceed their price tags.
Player Who’s Hot Right Now: Kevin Martin, Minnesota Timberwolves
Martin was a fantasy bust last year because of injury but he has been fairly productive for Minnesota this season and has been a lot more productive of late as a player who is really hot right now. Martin has averaged 19.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 three-point shots and 1.8 assists per game over the last week of action and while he might not sustain those numbers this season he should be a good pick for a strong performance against the visiting Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.
Injuries & Rest Create Opportunities For… D’Angelo Russell, Omri Casspi
The Lakers have made some questionable decisions in regards to the role they have given their first round pick D’Angelo Russell this season but an injury to Jordan Clarkson has allowed him to start the past couple of games and his performance has been good enough that he should play big minutes again on Tuesday regardless of whether or not Clarkson can return. Russell has averaged 17.0 points, 3.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 2.8 three-point shots and 1.3 steals per game over the last week of action and if he can produce a stat line similar to those averages he will easily be worth his price tag in Daily Fantasy Leagues for Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, the Kings have given Omri Casspi every opportunity to prove that he deserves to start next to Rudy Gay in their frontcourt this season and he has delivered of late with averages of 15.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 three-point shots per games over the last seven days. Sacramento will need to put up some big point totals to keep up with Houston on Tuesday so look for another strong night from Casspi.
Highest Scoring Game Of The Night: HOU @ SAC
There really should be no doubt that the highest scoring game of the night will be the matchup that features two teams tat rank in the bottom-five in the NBA in points per game allowed this season in the Rockets and Kings. Sacramento’s 104.9 points per game this season is actually 0.7 better than Houston’s 104.2 points per game for the fourth-best mark in the NBA this season and we should see plenty of scoring with Rudy Gay and Darren Collison strong options from the Kings in addition to Casspi if you don’t have enough salary cap flexibility to afford DeMarcus Cousins while Marcus Thornton and Corey Brewer can be strong value options from the Rockets if you can’t afford to break the bank for James Harden.
