RADIO
Ten games Friday with an early start between the Suns and Celtics, featuring Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and Jaylen Brown. Jayson Tatum remains out and Brown has scored at least 25 points in his last five games so there's going to be upside as long as he's available.
Following that, the Pacers host the Bulls and Keifer Sykes gets another chance to try and work his way onto the Indiana roster. He's still looking to score his first NBA basket and lining up against this current Chicago backcourt is great exposure to see what his potential actually is. The eight remaining games are part of Friday's main slate and more than a few matchups could have playoff seeding implications.
MonkeyKnifeFight.com is always ahead of the curve with their canceling of contests amid postponements, so don't worry about wasting money on a player or game that might not play. As always, you can find me in the NBA Chat Room or @HalfCourtJester on Twitter with any questions, especially since lines and players are subject to change throughout the day.
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ATL @ CLE
Trae Young (ATL) MORE 30.5 Points - Lauri Markkanen (CLE) MORE 15.5 Points
Trae Young hasn't scored 30 points in his first two games back, but with the Cavaliers limited roster and the Hawks on a two-game losing streak, he has no reason to take this game lightly. Atlanta's offense needs Young to put up serious points every night and over the last week we saw that 25 points is clearly not enough. Cleveland's defense puts pressure on every frontcourt they place and that should funnel the production in Young's favor.
Without Ricky Rubio and Darius Garland, the Cavaliers are desperate for a playmaker. Lauri Markkanen isn't that person, but he's seeing the fourth highest usage rate on the team and is taking shots every night regardless of defense and minutes. He's only scored over 15 points three times this month, but the Cavaliers are not anywhere near predictable enough to assume Markkanen won't see enough attempts tonight.
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SAS @ MEM
Ja Morant (MEM) MORE 26.5 Points - Derrick White (SAS) MORE 18.5 Points
Ja Morant was the first Memphis Grizzly to score 40 points twice in the same season, and his 40th point came fighting through an arm injury. There's been no update, but Morant was unable to shoot properly for the rest of the game and if that lingers, he's not going to be putting up a ton of shots against the Spurs. Look for updates here and assuming Morant's good-to-go, he'll put up points against the Spurs without much problem.
The Spurs are just going to be the Spurs and betting on them will forever be really, really frustrating. Derrick White is basically running this offense and even though he only took three shot attempts, two games ago against the Pistons, adding 10 assists and winning in a blowout makes the situation understandable. White tends to be needed more when the Spurs play tougher opponents and Memphis are a fresh contender that haven't been losing lately. Even if White shoots the ball well, San Antonio needs support from the entire rotation.
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POR @ LAL
LeBron James (LAL) MORE 30.5 Points - Damian Lillard (POR) MORE 30.5 Points
With how well both these players have been playing, taking either under seems surprisingly risky. LeBron James is putting the Lakers offense on his back, and since no amount of defense can make up for James' and Westbrook's lack thereof, so he's going to be looking to score at every chance possible. The Trail Blazers have one of the smallest rotations in basketball and it takes a solid big if you want to even consider limiting James production, if that is even possible.
Damian Lillard has scored at least 30 points in four of his last five games. With some of those games being losses, some being wins, and some being blowouts, clearly it's Lillard not the Trail Blazers. It's promising if he can continue to score despite Portland's offensive woes, because when the Lakers score, the Trail Blazers don't have the defense to stop the metaphorical bleeding.
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DAL @ SAC
Kristaps Porzingis (DAL) MORE 24.5 Points - De'Aaron Fox (SAC) MORE 19.5 Points
In the first game between these two Wednesday, Kristaps Porzingis was able to score from all over the court, rarely missing around the basket. Sacramento was struggling to deal with both him and Jalen Brunson, but managed to still pull out a win behind Fox's 16 points and five other Kings scoring in double figures. If Porzingis can be slightly more efficient from the outside, it'll just add to the points he's ultimately going to score around the rim against this frontcourt.
De'Aaron Fox isn't scoring nearly as much as he is used to, but the Kings have won their last two games and his offense has been needed more on a spacing level than an individual scoring level. Teams know who the threats on this team are and it's easy to clog the paint and let someone who doesn't like to shoot toss up three after three. Fox doesn't want to do that and he hasn't been forcing it, so sadly, it's not leading to fun-to-watch, high-scoring nights, but we can still try to capitalize on it anyway.
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