3 Under-the-Radar Daily Fantasy Basketball Plays for 1/24/17
Kyle Lowry, PG, Toronto Raptors
FanDuel Price: $8,400
Why He Will Go Overlooked:
For just a six-game slate, the point guard position is loaded.
At the top end, John Wall and Isaiah Thomas face off in a head-to-head matchup and both should be fairly popular, especially Thomas, who has topped 35 actual points in three straight games. Eric Bledsoe has averaged more than 50 FanDuel points over his past four games and is sure to see his fair share of ownership against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In the mid-price range, Elfrid Payton has played well recently and will be asked to play all the minutes he can for a banged up Orlando Magic backcourt. There are also several value plays available with the Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, and Denver Nuggets all dealing with injuries to their starting point guards.
Amid all of these options, Kyle Lowry isn't likely to be a popular option against the defense of the Spurs, which held him to 12.8 FanDuel points earlier this month.
Why You Should Use Him:
The Spurs have one of the best defenses in the league, but sometimes struggle to defend point guards. From an individual matchup perspective, Lowry will either draw the defense of Tony Parker, who ranks 58th among point guards in defensive real plus/minus (DRPM) and is dealing with a foot injury, or he will face rookie Dejounte Murray. Murray hasn't been much better, ranking 46th among point guards in DRPM.
The Toronto Raptors will be playing without DeMar DeRozan, and Lowry has seen large improvements without DeRozan on the floor this season. Per nbawowy.com, Lowry's usage rate has jumped from 23.7% with DeRozan to 28.2% without him.
He's also seen a significant boost in his FanDuel points per minute, averaging 1.22 without him, as opposed to 1.00 with him. According to the RotoViz Game Splits App, he's scoring 41.1 FanDuel points in games played without DeRozan over the past three seasons, as opposed to 36.8 with him.
Given the plethora of viable point guard options and the less-than-ideal matchup against San Antonio, Lowry isn't a cash game consideration. His likelihood for low ownership and his splits without DeRozan make him an exciting tournament play, though.
