NBA

NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 3/29/13

We've loved him in limited time, but with Horford doubtful, Ivan Johnson finally gets a chance to shine.

We know that people play all sorts of fantasy platforms, not just from from our friends at StarStreet but on other platforms such as DraftStreet, FanDuel, and Draft Kings as well. So once again, we have four optimized rosters, all for you, the numberFire reader. One is for free here; the others can be found in our Premium section.

As always, the full tables for today's action are available at our Daily Fantasy Projections page. Make sure to check it out to see where the best values are for your team.

StarStreet Optimized Roster

PlayerPositionProjected FPCostValue
Carmelo AnthonyF37.98$14,0002.71
Dwyane WadeG36.85$14,0002.63
Blake GriffinF36.68$13,8002.66
Brook LopezC33.25$12,7002.62
Kyle LowryG27.78$10,5002.65
Kyle O'QuinnF25.15$9,3002.70
Andre MillerG28$9,3003.01
Ivan JohnsonF23.8$8,0002.98
Maurice HarklessF24.55$8,0003.07

Fan Duel, Draft Kings, and DraftStreet Optimized Rosters

For the optimal rosters for the other main players, be sure to check out our brand new Daily Fantasy Optimized Rosters for our Premium members. We know that you're killing it with our picks; maybe now you'll help us continue to help you win each night, every night.

Access to the optimal rosters is immediate, and you'll have it constantly updated for the latest injury news and updates from around the league. The best news of all? For new subscribers, you can use the promo code WELCOME and get it 50% off what was already the reduced price. Think of the savings!

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The Best of the Best

Dwyane Wade - Do you think you could stop Dwyane Wade? No, Eric Gordon really wants to know, because he doesn't stand a chance. Gordon's 113 defensive ratings is one of the highest marks among starters in the entire NBA, and in total, shooting guards are putting up a .509 effective field goal percentage (eFG%) against New Orleans this season. Wade finished with 26 points on 9-12 shooting in his first game against the Hornets; don't be surprised by an encore.

Kevin Durant - Remember Andrei Kirilenko's days as the single best defender in the entire NBA? It's safe to say that those are far behind him. Kirilenko has allowed opposing small forwards to shoot .553 eFG% against him this season, and his "meh" 10.0 percent true rebound rate means that he won't be battling Durant for many boards, either. Durant has not finished with less than 26 points or 7 rebounds in any of his three games against the T'Wolves this season.

Blake Griffin - Going against the Spurs' post defense never seems like a fun proposition, but for a solid defensive rebounder like Griffin, it could mean stats in a big way. San Antonio's main weakness is offensive rebounding: their 20.5 percent offensive rebound rate sits next-to-last in the NBA. Griffin's 22.3 percent defensive rebound rate means that he's likely to snag a good number of those missed San Antonio opportunities to go along with the points he always collects.

Top Mid-Range Values

Ivan Johnson - Ivan Johnson is one of the most fun players in the NBA to watch, but he's almost never on the floor. What, with Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia ahead of him on the depth chart... wait, both of those players are injured? And Johnson played 34 minutes on Wednesday in their stead? Well, sign me up! He won't put up outrageous stats (we have him pegged at 12 points and 7 boards), but for his almost universal low price, he's certainly worth the risk.

Kyle O'Quinn - Why, hello there! Welcome to the Nikola Vucevic injury train that we've been riding for about a week now. I'm not sure what else there is to say about O'Quinn that we haven't already highlighted this week, except that he raised his ceiling even further with a 23 point, 11 rebound performance against Charlotte on Wednesday. Washington's defense is normally halfway decent, but I don't include Okafor in that statement. Centers are shooting an average .489 eFG% against him this year, but Okafor's also allowed opponents to outrebound him by 1.6 boards per 48 minutes.

Evan Turner - One of the single easiest positions to go against in the entire NBA belongs to Cleveland's putrid crew of small forwards: opponents have shot .551 eFG% against them this season. Tonight, the honors of facing them belongs to Evan Turner, who has recently undergone a slump of his own that has lowered his cost. However, Cleveland seems to be the perfect recipe to take the lid off the basket. Plus, Turner has averaged 15.5 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists in two games against them this season.