NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 2/1/19

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Russell Westbrook, PG, Oklahoma City Thunder

Price: $11,600

We've finally reached a spot where I like fading James Harden. Even with Chris Paul back, he's dropped a stellar 69 fantasy points in each of his last two, but we've also seen some signs of this run slowing down recently.

His last five games include the two worst performances since this run started (51.7 and 46.9 fantasy points), and while he did bounce back from those, that was in some soft matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans and Orlando Magic. Those two quiet games (especially quiet for a guy priced north of $13,000) came in tougher matchups against the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors. Against a stout Denver Nuggets, tonight is a strong spot to fade him.

That brings us to Russell Westbrook, the second-most expensive player on the slate, and a full $2,000 cheaper than Harden.

Westbrook has dropped at least 58.8 FanDuel points in three of his last four and six of his last 10 games, averaging 58.8 over those last four and 57.0 in 37.5 minutes per game over his last 10.

Those big minutes are always going to be valuable for a guy who can stuff every area of the stat sheet like Westbrook can (23.1 points, 12.5 assists, 11.2 rebounds and a combined 1.8 blocks and steals per game over those 10), and that positions him well to keep producing tonight against Miami.

The Heat don't make for an especially good matchup, allowing bottom-10 fantasy efficiency at the point, but with tough matchups across the board for our top-priced players on this slate, that's less of a concern than it would be on most slates.