RADIO
We have a treat in store tonight as the 71st edition of the NBA All-Star Game will take place at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. Karl-Anthony Towns won the Three-Point Contest and Obi Toppin took home the title in a wholly uninspiring Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday, but tonight features the real show as all of the league's stars will square off for our enjoyment. Both FanDuel and DraftKings rolled out their typical allotment of DFS contests, so let's see what we can do to make some money off this high-flying showcase of the best players in the world.
A few things jump out as important to note regarding tonight's game:
- The scoring format of the game differs from regular-season contests. The first three quarters will still be 12 minutes long, but the final quarter brings the "Elam Ending" into play. This simply means that the clock gets turned off and both squads will try to be the first to reach the "Target Score." The Target Score is calculated by taking the leading team's point total after three quarters and adding 24 points to it. The All-Star Game has employed this format for the past two years, and we have actually seen some defensive effort in that final, untimed quarter.
- In general, these games are notorious for their lack of defense - the last three All-Star Games have averaged an absurd 325 points per game.
- A point guard has won the MVP 12 times since 1980
- Centers are very volatile in this format as the flashy style of the game leads to a lot of three-point bombs and dunk attempts. None of the bigs did anything of note last year, with Jokic's 6/7/5 line leading the way. This year, Jokic, Jarrett Allen, Embiid, Towns, and Gobert represent the pool of big men. Embiid is the only one to strongly consider for lineups tonight, though Towns is intriguing at his cheap salary and ability to shoot threes.
- I'm also shying away from DeRozan, Wiggins, Butler, Middleton, and Garland.
- Zach LaVine, Chris Paul, and Fred VanVleet enter the game with questionable tags, while Ja Morant returned for just one game prior to the break. Keep this in mind when building lineups as the first three, particularly Lavine, could have their minutes reduced or even completely cut in this exhibition contest.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 2/20/22. Remember to monitor NBA injury news and our live-updating NBA injury updates tool as the slate can completely change before lineups lock. As always, feel free to follow my Twitter (@RING_DFS) - I post about a variety of things but mainly NBA DFS with my K-Rate and Positional K-Rate model. Let's get to it - good luck RotoBallers!
Captain/MVP/Pro - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Giannis Antetokounmpo ($14,700 DK, $14,500 FD)
Listen - you can obviously go ANY number of ways with your builds tonight. It's a Showdown slate and we only have All-Stars to choose from. You can go the narrative route and pick "the kid from Akron" playing in his hometown here, but that's far too easy and it's safe to assume that the public will be all over that play. He played just 13 minutes in last year's game, and now that Anthony Davis will be missing time, the Lakers need a healthy and rested LeBron to have any shot at the playoffs. We're going with the ultra-efficient, eternally-productive Antetokounmpo in the top Captain/MVP spot tonight. He's enjoying another season of "NBA 2K on Easy mode" numbers, averaging 29.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, and six assists per game. He's also in incredible form, posting 68.25, 74.5, 39.25 (blowout), and 82 DK points over his last four games heading into the break. Lastly, there's no reason he can't repeat his MVP performance from the 2021 showcase. He put up an insane line of 35/7/3/1/1 on a perfect 16-of-16 shooting...over just 19 minutes. Team LeBron will be rolling out the same starting lineup as last year - except DeRozan will be starting over Doncic - so the opportunity will again be there for the Greek Freak.
Stephen Curry ($14,400 DK, $13,000 FD)
There shouldn't need to be a whole lot of explanation behind this recommendation. Curry is the premier three-point shooter in the NBA right now, and there's an argument to be made for him being the best in the history of the league. He has endured some tough stretches this season, but he's still shooting almost 38% from deep and he takes the most three-point attempts (12.3) per game out of anyone in the league. You know he's going to chuck it because that's what the people want to see. He shot 10-for-19 (8-for-16 3PT) over 22 minutes in last year's ASG, posting a solid line of 28/4/4/2 that was only overshadowed by Giannis (and arguably Lillard). Replacing Doncic with DeRozan in the starting lineup should only open up more opportunities for Curry to huck up shots - get heavy exposure to him tonight.
Others to consider: Luka Doncic ($13,500 DK, $13,500 FD), Devin Booker ($8,400 DK, $11,000 FD), Trae Young ($12,000 DK, $10,500 FD), Joel Embiid ($13,800 DK, $14,000 FD), Karl-Anthony Towns ($7,200 DK, $9,500 FD), Dejounte Murray ($10,200 DK, $12,000 FD),
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FLEX - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Trae Young ($8,000 DK, $10,500 FD)
Outside of Giannis, I'm all about the guards in a game like this. More often than not, the backcourt players take over the All-Star Game simply due to the inherent nature of the event. The fans in Cleveland and watching around the world are dying to see dizzying handles, three-point snipers, and electrifying dunks. Young is elite at the first two and thus, should be a focal point in this game. Young will be making his second appearance in the showcase, with his first coming in the 2020 season. He put up a very efficient line of 10 points, 10 assists, and three rebounds over just 15 minutes, and it could've been much better as he shot just 2-for-6 from three. He's very likely to see more playing time in this one, and it also feels like a very safe bet to assume he's going to take (and make) more shots from deep as well. He's shooting over 38% from downtown this season and comes into this game absolutely scorching, shooting 20-for-41 (48.8%) on threes over his last five games. For the most part, teams actually put up some kind of effort on defense in the regular season. In the All-Star Game...not so much. Fire up Trae.
Devin Booker ($5,600 DK, $11,000 FD)
DBook hasn't exactly been on fire recently, but he's the type of player who has a chance to explode in an exhibition game like this. He's shooting roughly 37% on seven attempts per game from deep this season, and his 25.5/5.2/4.5 slash line is more than respectable. He got snubbed for last year's All-Star Game, but most of the players who went off (outside of Giannis) were sharpshooting guards - Curry, Lillard, Beal, and Harden. Booker definitely fits that mold and Team Durant is going to need his scoring as they're clearly the weaker squad. LaVine (knee) could see reduced/zero minutes, which would make Booker an even more appealing option tonight.
Dejounte Murray ($6,800 DK, $12,000 FD)
Murray is an under-the-radar option as a player to consider in the flex or even the multiplier spots. He doesn't shoot a ton of threes, but he's been a stat-stuffing machine through the first half of the season as he's averaging 19.9/8.3/9.3 with over two "stocks" (steals+blocks) per game. He's among a select few players who could easily take advantage of the lackadaisical nature of this game by racking up a handful of easy defensive stats, and those are just a bonus on top of his points, rebounds, and assists potential. He could see more playing time than people are expecting, too. Starter Ja Morant is still pretty fresh off an ankle injury, Zach LaVine is questionable with a knee injury, and starter Andrew Wiggins should be a candidate to see reduced minutes from a sheer talent standpoint. Murray's going to get overlooked, but he's looking like a great contrarian option on both sites tonight.
Others to consider: Nikola Jokic ($8,600 DK, $12,00 FD), Ja Morant ($8,200 DK, $11,500 FD), Karl-Anthony Towns ($4,800 DK, $9,500 FD)
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