NBA

3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 3/12/19

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Damian Lillard, PG, Portland Trail Blazers

DraftKings Price: $9,200

Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard has scored 37.5 or fewer DraftKings points in three out of his past four games. Those were all fairly understandable; the first two were at the tail end of a seven-game road trip, and the most recent was a win over the Phoenix Suns in which he only played 29 minutes as the team was up 25 points heading into the fourth quarter. We all know what happened in the one game he didn't yield such a low DraftKings score.

Lillard went off for 51 points and 76.75 DraftKings points in an overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder last week. This may seem silly to bring up now, but it's not because it's had a direct influence on his price. This game was enough to out-influence those three duds mentioned above and cause his price to rise from $8,100 a week ago to $9,200 tonight.

Despite the big increase in salary, Lillard is in play tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers, against whom he's averaged 47.3 DraftKings points across three contests this season. The two teams are fifth and sixth in the Western Conference playoff standings and both need a win tonight to put pressure on the Thunder and Rockets for a coveted home series. The atmosphere should be electric, and Lillard is sure to come out firing in a game with a total set at 233.0 points.

Our models certainly think so at least (yes, they can think). We have Dame projected for 46.6 DraftKings points tonight, the fifth-highest on the slate.