3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 2/13/19

Kevin Durant, SF/PF, Golden State Warriors

DraftKings Price: $9,300

There was a night, not so many years ago, where yours truly sat in the then Rose Garden, watching other people around me storm the court, while I sat in silence, head down, slowly shaking from side to side, whilst knowing that the Portland Trail Blazers had just lost out on drafting a generational talent. You'd think that Kevin Pritchard--a former Kansas Jayhawk himself--would have seen how Durant almost single-handedly beat the Hawks twice at the end of Durant's only season in a Texas Longhorns jersey. No offense, Greg, but in my eyes, KD was the clear #1. I digress (sigh). I now chalk it up to spite as to why Kevin Durant repeatedly torches the Blazers when he faces off against them.

Durant's first and most recent game against Portland in a Golden State Warriors uniform were, unquestionably, duds, as he finished with fewer than 40 DraftKings points in each of those games. Sandwiched between those, however, are eight games in a row of 50-plus DraftKings point dominance, including five of 60 or more. He'll have a chance to start up a new dominant streak again this evening as the Warriors travel to the Rose City to take on the Blazers in a game that has a total set at a whopping 234.5 points, highest on the slate.

Often double-digit favorites (as was the case in four of their past four games), the reigning champs are just three-point favorites tonight, their smallest spread since an away game at Denver on January 15. We're--potentially--looking at a very close, high-scoring game, so there should be little risk of stars like Durant having their minutes cut short in this one. We currently have Durant projected for 48.3 DraftKings points tonight, but blowing past that projection could very easily happen given this game's potential dynamics.