3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 1/17/18

Anthony Davis, PF/C, New Orleans Pelicans

DraftKings Salary: $10,500

Anthony Davis is sure to be a chalky option today, as he has averaged 79.4 DraftKings points in his past two games and is facing an Atlanta Hawks team that has no prayer of defending him. While they can stick Dewayne Dedmon on DeMarcus Cousins, Davis will presumably begin the game being defended by Ersan Ilyasova. John Collins could give a bit more resistance to Davis, but the Hawks seem hesitant to give him more than 20 minutes a game, which should leave Davis to feast on Ilyasova, who is severely underequipped to match up with him athletically.

This should be one of the highest-paced games on the slate, as both teams rank in the top-12 in pace. The over/under reflects that, with a 221-point total that's the slate's second-highest number. While the Golden State Warriors-Chicago Bulls game has a higher over/under, it also has a nine-point spread, making this the optimal game to attack from a game script perspective.

In addition to a beautiful individual matchup, Davis should benefit from Atlanta's struggles to defend and rebound as a whole. They rank 26th in both rebounding rate and defensive efficiency and Davis should get whatever he wants, no matter who is guarding him.

There's not really any excuse for fading Davis in cash games, but if you are a member of #TeamGameTheory, you can entertain that conversation in tournament play. This is the back end of a back-to-back, and we've seen him play 95 minutes in two games between Sunday and now. Fatigue could definitely be a factor. Also, teammate DeMarcus Cousins is priced just $300 higher than Davis and is going to have significantly lower ownership.

Boogie could just as easily crush in this spot -- in fact, he outscored Davis by 10 the last time they played Atlanta. If looking for a simple pivot from the chalk, it doesn't get much easier than switching to Davis' teammate at the same price point.