Fantasy NBA DraftKings DFS Values (Feb. 4)

The best night of the week for the NBA and daily fantasy basketball purposes is Wednesday night. And making tonight better is that the lone late game, Mavericks at Warriors, has the highest over/under (216.5), by far.

Golden State vs. Dallas will tip off at 10:30 PM; all other games have a 9:00 PM start time (or earlier).

In addition to studs like Stephen Curry, some of my favorite value plays can be found in the final game of the night as well.

It's always a great feeling to be in a strong position in a tournament with a healthy allotment of PMR (player minutes remaining) and to watch your team(s) rise up the leaderboard.

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With that said, here are my favorite DraftKings values ($6,500 salary or less) for Wednesday's NBA games:

PG - J.J. Barea, Dallas Mavericks (at GS), $3,400: Not only is Rajon Rondo (face) ruled out for tonight, but Devin Harris (knee, ankle) is questionable for tonight's game. Either way, Barea got the start over Harris without Rondo on Monday and finished with 10 points, eight assists and four rebounds as he scored 26.5 fantasy points in 29 minutes. Even though the Mavs are nearly double-digit underdogs to the Warriors, there are still projected to be one of tonight's top-scoring teams with a Vegas-projected total of 103.5. The debate for favorite value point guard came down to Barea and D.J. Augustin, who has back-to-back 52-point games and three of them in his past five, but many of my lineups will feature both point guards.

Others to consider: D.J. Augustin, Detroit Pistons ($6,200); Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs ($5,500); Jordan Clarkson, Los Angeles Lakers ($4,800); Trey Burke, Utah Jazz ($4,600); Jerryd Bayless (if Brandon Knight is out), Milwaukee Bucks ($4,300); Marcus Smart, Boston Celtics ($3,700)

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SG - Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (vs. LAL), $5,800: The Bucks are dealing a bunch of injuries as Brandon Knight, Ersan Ilyasova and Zaza Pachulia all sat out in the team's last game, but the Greek Freak has been playing consistent minutes with strong production. Antetokounmpo has double-doubles in back-to-back games and 30-plus fantasy points in three consecutive games. In addition, he has played at least 33 minutes in six consecutive games.

Others to consider: Eric Gordon, New Orleans Pelicans ($6,400); Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards ($6,000); Joe Johnson, Brooklyn Nets ($5,600); Kevin Martin, Minnesota Timberwolves ($5,500); Arron Afflalo, Denver Nuggets ($5,500); Dion Waiters, Oklahoma City Thunder ($4,500); Avery Bradley, Boston Celtics ($4,200)

SF - Chandler Parsons, Dallas Mavericks (at GS), $5,700: Typically (and frustratingly), I tend to start Parsons when he flops. That said, tonight's game against the Warriors is going to be an up-tempo game with a lot of real points and fantasy points alike and his price point should allow him to reach (and exceed) value. Connecting on 10-of-17 three-pointers in his past three games, Parsons has now scored more than 30 fantasy points in back-to-back games with at least 26.5 fantasy points in seven of his eight games. Of course, he was in many of my lineups in the one exception (5.75 fantasy points) during that eight-game span. (Perhaps my inclusion of Parsons on this list is your cue to stay as far away as you can.)

Others to consider: Wilson Chandler, Denver Nuggets ($5,700); Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks ($5,600); Josh Smith, Houston Rockets ($5,300); Luol Deng, Miami Heat ($5,000); Jared Dudley (if he starts again), Milwaukee Bucks ($4,500);

PF - Jared Sullinger, Boston Celtics (vs. DEN), $6,500: After a one-game punishment (benching) for being late, Sully was back in the starting lineup last night and delivered 41.75 fantasy points against the Knicks front court. Tonight, he gets an even more favorable matchup against the Nuggets, who have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing power forwards this season. Over the past 14 games (minus the one-game benching), Sullinger has scored more than 25 fantasy points in every game.

Others to consider: David West, Indiana Pacers ($6,300); Kenneth Faried, Denver Nuggets ($6,200); Donatas Motiejunas, Houston Rockets ($5,600); John Henson, Milwaukee Bucks ($5,000); Kris Humphries, Washington Wizards ($4,600); Patrick Patterson, Toronto Raptors ($4,300); Ed Davis, Los Angeles Lakers ($4,200)

C - Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls (at HOU), $6,400: Over a one-week span (Sat., Jan. 31st to Fri., Feb. 6th), the Bulls will play only one game -- tonight against the Dwight Howard-less Rockets. Over his past three games, Noah has scored a minimum of 34.5 fantasy points and averaged 43.5 fantasy points. During that three-game span, he averaged 12.0 points, 14.0 rebounds and 6.67 assists with a block and a steal per game.

Others to consider: Brook Lopez, Brooklyn Nets ($6,300); Robert Sacre, Los Angeles Lakers ($3,300)

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Fantasy NBA DraftKings DFS Values (Jan. 30)

With my value posts in the past, I've listed several options at each position that I liked for that night's games. The idea was that multiple suggestions would lead to greater flexibility when constructing your lineups.

For today's post, I'm going to switch things up and give you my favorite value play at each position as well as list several alternative options that I like as well.

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With that said, here are some DraftKings values ($6,500 salary or less) for Friday's NBA games:

PG - Mario Chalmers, Miami Heat (vs. DAL), $4,800: With Dwyane Wade (hamstring) out for several weeks and Luol Deng (calf) out on Friday as well, Chalmers will get a nice bump in his usage rate. Chalmers has scored 30-plus fantasy points in back-to-back games and should be able to duplicate those numbers against the Mavs, who have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing point guards this season.

Others to consider: Darren Collison, Sacramento Kings ($6,500); Jarrett Jack, Brooklyn Nets ($6,200); Isaiah Thomas, Phoenix Suns ($5,400); Greivis Vasquez, Toronto Raptors ($4,200); Zach LaVine (if Mo Williams is out), Minnesota Timberwolves ($4,000)

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SG - Kevin Martin, Minnesota Timberwolves (at PHI), $4,600: In the two games back in November before Martin's extended absence, he scored 40.75 and 51.5 fantasy points, respectively. Returning from his wrist injury on Wednesday, Martin came off the bench, but he played 29 minutes and scored 21 (real) points as well as 27.5 fantasy points. Facing a Sixers team that has allowed the second-most fantasy points to opposing off guards, Martin should build upon the success he had earlier this week.

Others to consider: Eric Gordon, New Orleans Pelicans ($5,900); J.R. Smith, Cleveland Cavaliers ($5,000); Lou Williams, Toronto Raptors ($4,700); Avery Bradley, Boston Celtics ($4,200); Iman Shumpert, Cleveland Cavaliers ($3,000)

SF - Joe Ingles, Utah Jazz (vs. GS), $4,100: I strongly considered listing Danny Granger here as he should get another start with Deng ruled out, but Ingles has played a minimum of 30 minutes and scored at least 21.5 fantasy points in four consecutive games. Over that four-game span, Ingles has averaged 8.5 points including 2.0 three's, 6.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game.

Others to consider: Chandler Parsons, Dallas Mavericks ($5,800); Josh Smith, Houston Rockets ($5,300); Danny Granger, Miami Heat ($3,400); Jerami Grant, Philadelphia 76ers ($3,200)

PF - Nerlens Noel, Philadelphia 76ers (vs. MIN), $5,000: With a relatively inconsistent game log, Noel is better as a tournament play, but he has averaged nearly 30 fantasy points (29.28) per game over his past eight games. Noel has averaged 9.13 points and 7.88 rebounds per game during that span, but his upside comes from both blocks (2.0/G over past 10 games) and steals (2.11/G over past nine games). Last but not least, the T'Wolves have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing power forwards.

Others to consider: Markieff Morris, Phoenix Suns ($5,800); Donatas Motiejunas, Houston Rockets ($5,300); Brandon Bass, Boston Celtics ($5,200); Robert Covington, Philadelphia 76ers ($5,200)

C - Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls (at PHO), $6,400: Both Noah and Miami's Hassan Whiteside are priced at $6,400 and there is no wrong choice here, but I like Noah's matchup better. (To be fair, I'll have plenty of exposure to Whiteside tonight as well, though.) One concern is that the Bulls game went into double OT last night and Noah has now played 40-plus minutes in two games over three nights, but he was a point and assist shy of a triple-double last night and has racked up 96.0 fantasy points in those two games. Even though the Bulls are 5.5-point underdogs, they are projected to score the sixth-most points (of 18 teams) based on Vegas odds tonight.

Others to consider: Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat ($6,400); Timofey Mozgov, Cleveland Cavaliers ($5,200); Nikola Pekovic, Minnesota Timberwolves ($5,000); Omer Asik, New Orleans Pelicans ($4,400); Alex Len, Phoenix Suns ($4,200); Alexis Ajinca (if Anthony Davis is out), New Orleans Pelicans ($3,000)

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Fantasy NBA FanDuel DFS Values (Jan. 29)

Earlier today, I posted some value plays that I like on DraftKings and now I turn my attention to FanDuel.

With that said, here are some FanDuel values (salaries of $7,000 or less) for Thursday's NBA games:

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PG - Elfrid Payton, Orlando Magic (vs. MIL), $6,000: Payton has displayed incredible consistency for a rookie point guard by scoring more than 25 fantasy points in eight consecutive games. Over that stretch, Payton has averaged 13.13 points, 8.0 assists and 2.13 steals per game. Although the Bucks have held opposing point guards to the fewest fantasy points this season, Payton does a number of different things to generate fantasy points.

PG - Langston Galloway, New York Knicks (at IND), $4,800: Playing 30 or more minutes in all five of his starts, Galloway has scored at least 20 fantasy points in all five of those games. Based on average production of 29.16 fantasy points per game as a starter, he's priced at 6.08 times his bargain-basement salary. During that five-game span, he has averaged 15.2 points, 2.0 three's, 5.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Especially if Carmelo Anthony sits on the second night of a back-to-back, Galloway may need to shoulder more of the scoring load.

PG - Beno Udrih, Memphis Grizzlies (vs. DEN), $4,200: If Mike Conley (wrist) misses another game (and he's considered to be a game-time decision), then Udrih is a strong value play even though Nick Calathes was more productive in their last game. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies pay at 8 PM so it's possible that we won't know Conley's status prior to the 7 p.m. lineup lock. That said, Udrih has played at least 20 minutes in five of his past seven games and has at least 21 fantasy points in four of those five 20-minute games.

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SG - Arron Afflalo, Denver Nuggets (at MEM), $5,900: Afflalo has scored more than 20 fantasy points in 13 of his past 14 games and has averaged 26.62 during that 14-game span. The Grizzlies have one of the league's best defenses and play at the fifth-slowest pace in the league, but Afflalo has a high floor and scored 28.2 fantasy points in his first matchup against the Grizz.

SG - Jordan Clarkson, Los Angeles Lakers (vs. CHI), $3,700: Clarkson is nearly a must-start for me tonight. Not only is he starting at point guard and only $200 above the minimum salary, but the combo guard is listed at shooting guard on FanDuel (unlike DraftKings, PG). Plus, we have to start two SGs on FanDuel. In his third consecutive start on Tuesday, Clarkson played more than 36 minutes, scored 18 (real) points and 27.1 fantasy points, all of which were highs this season. He has scored at least 19.6 fantasy points in two of his three starts and he just needs to score 18.5 fantasy points to reach 5x value.

SF - Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks (at ORL), $5,500: Compared to other positions, small forward leaves a lot to be desired tonight. Having to start two of them exacerbates the issue. That said, Middleton has scored at least 20 fantasy points in 11 of 13 games and he has averaged nearly 30 fantasy points (29.83) over his past three.

SF - Lance Thomas, New York Knicks (at IND), $4,000: With or without Carmelo Anthony in the lineup, Thomas has been productive in his past three games. The game during that span that Melo missed, however, Thomas played 41 minutes compared to 25 minutes in the other two games. That said, he has scored at least 21.5 fantasy points in all three games with an average of 26.8. If Melo sits, Thomas becomes an especially attractive value play at small forward.

PF - David West, Indiana Pacers (vs. NYK), $6,500: Although he rarely hits 40-plus fantasy points, West is remarkably consistent and priced below the average starting salary ($6,667). In his past 25 games, West has scored less than 20 fantasy points only twice and those two games were 19.6 and 18.7 points, respectively. During that same 25-game span, he's averaging 28.52 FPPG and has averaged a line of 13.12/7.28/3.56 with 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks per game as well.

PF - Jason Smith, New York Knicks (at IND), $4,200: Smith had his first double-double of the season last night with 11 points and 11 rebounds while adding six assists and a steal. He has now played 32-plus minutes in five consecutive games. Smith has scored at least 30 fantasy points in two of his past three games and at least 24 fantasy points in four of his past five games.

C - Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls (at LAL), $6,500: Like West, I like Noah a little more on FanDuel than DraftKings. In both cases, they are priced slightly higher than the average salary on DraftKings but slightly less than the average salary on FanDuel. It was good to see Noah get his first double-double in 11 games and blow up for 47 points in his last game. While repeat numbers (18/15 with six assists and two steals) shouldn't be expected for tonight's game, it's excellent that he feels as good as he has all season and has an exploitable matchup against the Lakers tonight.

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Fantasy NBA DraftKings DFS Values (Jan. 29)

Salaries are fairly low at the top tonight as only six players, four of which are bigs (PF/C), are priced at $8,000 or more, which includes brothers Pau Gasol ($9,300) and Marc Gasol ($8,000).

Both Gasol brothers have great matchups -- Pau vs. LAL and Marc vs. DEN -- and stacking them will be a popular strategy tonight. Marc's teammate Zach Randolph ($8,200) is a strong play as well as the Nuggets allow the second-most fantasy points to opposing power forwards and Z-Bo has 10 consecutive double-doubles.

If you load up on high(er)-priced bigs, the good news is there is plenty of value at guard tonight to allow you do so.

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With that said, here are some DraftKings values ($6,500 salary or less) for Thursday's NBA games:

PG - Elfrid Payton, Orlando Magic (vs. MIL), $5,600: With impressive consistency for a rookie point guard, Payton scored an eight-game low of 26.5 fantasy points against the Grizzlies on Monday. Over that stretch, Payton has averaged 13.13 points, 8.0 assists and 2.13 steals per game. Although the Bucks have held opposing point guards to the fewest fantasy points this season, Payton does a number of different things to generate fantasy points.

PG - Langston Galloway, New York Knicks (at IND), $4,300: Playing 30 or more minutes in all five of his starts, Galloway has scored at least 32 fantasy points in four of those five games. Based on average production of 30.95 fantasy points per game as a starter, he's priced at 7.2 times his bargain-basement salary. During that five-game span, he has averaged 15.2 points, 2.0 three's, 5.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. If Carmelo Anthony rests on the second night of their back-to-back, Galloway may need to shoulder more of the scoring load.

PG - Jordan Clarkson, Los Angeles Lakers (vs. CHI), $3,800: Starting his third consecutive game at the point on Tuesday, Clarkson played more than 36 minutes, scored 18 (real) points and 28.25 fantasy points, all of which were highs this season. He has exceeded 20 fantasy points in two of his three starts and he just needs to score 19.0 fantasy points to reach 5x value.

PG - Beno Udrih, Memphis Grizzlies (vs. DEN), $3,200: If Mike Conley (wrist) misses another game, then Udrih is a strong value play even though Nick Calathes was more productive in their last game. That said, Udrih has played at least 20 minutes in five of his past seven games and has at least 22 fantasy points in four of those five games with 20-plus minutes.

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SG - Arron Afflalo, Denver Nuggets (at MEM), $6,100: Afflalo has scored at least 22.5 fantasy points in 13 of his past 14 games and has averaged 28.7 during that 14-game span. The Grizzlies have one of the league's best defenses and play at the fifth-slowest pace, but Afflalo has a high floor and scored 29.75 fantasy points in his first matchup against the Grizz.

SG - Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (at ORL), $5,400: The allotment of minutes by Jason Kidd is as difficult to predict as the allocation of workloads to running backs by Bill Belichick, but the Greek Freak has seen 33-plus minutes in five of his past six games. During that span, he has averaged 25.67 fantasy points per game -- or slightly less than 5x his salary (4.75). With his all-around statistical contributions, The Alphabet has upside for 35-40 points (and would be 1 and 2 in the player nickname rankings tonight).

SG - O.J. Mayo, Milwaukee Bucks (at ORL), $4,400: With limited upside as a bench player getting less than 30 minutes per night, Mayo has still been consistent with at least 21.5 fantasy points in nine consecutive games and an average of 25.97 during that stretch. Mayo needs just 22.0 fantasy points to reach 5x value.

SF - Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks (at ORL), $5,200: On nights with a large slate of games, I typically avoid the Bucks with the possible exception of Brandon Knight. On a night with four games, I'm more willing to roll with some Bucks in my lineups. That said, Middleton has scored at least 25 fantasy points in three consecutive games and in six of his past nine. Based on the options throughout the price scale tonight, small forward is my least favorite position, which means that Middleton will likely be my most-owned Buck tonight.

PF - David West, Indiana Pacers (vs. NYK), $6,300: Perhaps one of the least exciting options in daily fantasy basketball, West is consistently productive, which is exciting in its own way. In his past 25 games, West has scored less than 20 fantasy points only once and that one game was 19.5 points. During that same 25-game span, he's averaging 30.18 FPPG and has averaged a line of 13.12/7.28/3.56 with 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks per game as well.

PF - Jason Smith, New York Knicks (at IND), $3,900: Smith had his first double-double of the season last night with 11 points and 11 rebounds while adding six assists and a steal. Smith has played 32-plus minutes in five consecutive games and he has scored at least 25.5 fantasy points in four of those games.

C - Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls (at LAL), $6,300: Although we shouldn't expect another 50 fantasy points, Noah had an 18/15 double-double with six assists and two steals in Tuesday's overtime win at Golden State. Noah has recently mentioned that he feels as healthy as he has felt all season and he should easily reach value in an exploitable matchup against the Lakers.

C - Zaza Pachulia, Milwaukee Bucks (at ORL), $4,600: If Ersan Ilyasova (groin) misses tonight's game, Pachulia may get a bump in minutes. (Pachulia has played roughly two minutes less over his past six games with Ilyasova in the lineup than he had in the previous 10 games without him.) Either way, he has a favorable matchup against the Magic, who have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing centers. Over his past 16 games, Pachulia is averaging 27.86 fantasy points, which is 6.06 times tonight's salary.

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Hassan Whiteside Triple-Doubles Off Bench

Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside returned from a two-game absence and had the best game of his career in 25 minutes off the bench.

Both Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade scored 20-plus points and Luol Deng added a double-double, but Whiteside was the star of the day.

With three double-doubles earlier this month, Whiteside had his first ever career triple-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high 12 blocked shots.

Not only were his 12 blocks the most by any player this season, the last time that any player had double-digit blocks was 2/28/13 (Joakim Noah, 11). In that game, Noah triple-doubled with 23 points and 21 rebounds as well. The last player to have 12 blocks was JaVale McGee (3/15/11).

Whiteside has yet to play more than 28 minutes in any game this season, but he is averaging 12.33 points, 8.56 rebounds and (now) 4.0 blocks per game in the month of January through today's triple-double.

The Heat will face the Bucks next on Tuesday night.

Consensus NBA Power Rankings, Week 22

As Yogi Berra once said, it's been "deja vu all over again" for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Losing to the Bulls on Saturday, the 76ers extended their franchise-worst losing streak to 24 games. The previous club record was set more than 40 years ago when the Sixers lost 20 consecutive games in the 1972-73 season.

Not only are the Sixers tied with the Cavs for the second-longest losing streak in NBA history, but the 2010-11 LeBron James-less Cavs squad set the NBA record of 26 straight losses.

Up next for the Sixers are two difficult road matchups against the Spurs (on Monday) and Rockets (on Thursday). If (or should I say when?) the Sixers lose those two games, they will tie the record.

After that point, they have a couple of winnable (or at least, less difficult) games against the Pistons, Hawks, Bobcats and Celtics. All four of those teams have losing records.

As the Sixers continue to tank lose, the obvious goal is to accumulate more ping-pong balls for the lottery and the opportunity to get a stud like Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker in June's NBA Draft. And since they traded Jrue Holiday to the Pelicans last year, the Sixers have two first-rounders in such a highly-touted draft class this year.

[Related: 2014 NBA Mock Draft - 2014 NBA Mock Draft Database]

With the opportunity to rebuild their roster with a couple of lottery picks this year, the Sixers actually have had success with their two lottery picks last year.

Point guard Michael Carter-Williams could possibly win the NBA Rookie of the Year award this year. And while Nerlens Noel has yet to play this season as he recovers from his torn ACL injury, coach Brett Brown has lofty expectations for Noel as he recently compared him to Chicago's Joakim Noah.

“Every time I see Joakim, I hope I’m seeing what we get in Nerlens,” Brown said (via CSN Chicago). “He’s one of the prime examples that I point to as we try to groom a young player.”

Of course, he's not Noah yet, but as a Sixers fan, I'd be thrilled to see Noel develop into a player that is close to what Noah brings to the Bulls.

- Check out our 2013-14 NBA Power Rankings for Week 22

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Consensus NBA Power Rankings, Week 21

At the end of the 2013 (calendar) year, the Eastern Conference Finals seemed destined to be a rematch of last year's matchup between the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers.

Two and a half months later, the Heat (5/6) and Pacers (13/10) are clearly the favorites to represent the conference in the NBA Finals (based on odds from Sportsbook.com).

Two teams have the potential to make it more interesting than it appeared in December.

The Bulls and Joakim Noah, Mr. Triple-Double lately, have a ton of heart and could play spoiler in the second round of the playoffs. Based on standings through Sunday's games, the Bulls would be the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.

While the Bulls have the fourth-best odds (25/1) to win the Eastern Conference, the team with the third-lowest odds (20/1) currently occupies the No. 6 seed, the Brooklyn Nets.

They have certainly come a long way since this moment:



Even though they are 3.5 games behind the Raptors, the Nets have been extremely good since the calendar turned to 2014. After a 10-21 start in 2013, the Nets have won 23 of 33 games since the start of 2014 without Jason Kidd spilling any more drinks on the court.

Here is this week's roundtable question for our experts: Fill in the blank: The Brooklyn Nets have a ____ percent chance of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.

Kevin Hanson: 15 percent

First off, I expect a Pacers-versus-Heat matchup just like the majority of the planet, but the Nets (and Bulls) have made it more interesting with a month to go in the regular season. Although they have turned their season around without him, the loss of Brook Lopez for the season hurts. Granted, Deron Williams is one of the better point guards in the league and Shaun Livingston has been an excellent story this season. But it's hard to get excited about guys like Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett helping this team make a deep playoff run. In fact, I think the Bulls have a greater chance of getting to the Conference Finals than the Nets.

John Trifone: 10 percent

The Nets have a 10-percent chance of reaching the Conference Finals. They are looking like they will be either the fifth or sixth seed in the East, so where they ultimately finish could play a role in their chances. If they finish as the fifth seed, they'll play at Chicago, which could be a one-and-done for them. I don't like their chances of winning two series if the first one starts in Chicago. If they finish sixth, I think they will get by Toronto, but I still only give them a puncher's chance of knocking off one of the two Titans in the East. They certainly are playing much better in the second half of the season, but there is still a pretty big gap between the top two and the rest of the East.

Sean Beazley: 0.00001 percent

Brooklyn's roster is filled with NBA veterans, but it's a three-team race in the East with the Pacers, Heat, and Bulls as the elite teams. I think the Nets will struggle to make it out of the 1st round.

Dan Yanotchko: 0 percent

The Brooklyn Nets have a zero-percent chance of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals this year. This year, it will be Miami vs. Indiana for the third straight time, as there is no one even close to those two teams in the East. The Nets started horribly this year, and have managed to right the ship at 33-31, so they are two games over .500. The problem is that the Nets are challenged offensively, as they only average 97.4 points per game, and they are ranked 29th overall in rebounds per game. The Nets will just be a warm-up for either Miami or Indiana depending on their seed.

Moving up only slightly from last week (16th), the Nets are currently the 14th team in our Week 21 NBA consensus power rankings.

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Daily Fantasy Basketball: FanDuel Values for March 13th

If you play daily fantasy sports (and who doesn't these days?!), you know that one of the keys to success is uncovering undervalued players to allow you to load up on studs elsewhere.

In case you've never played daily fantasy basketball, every player has a salary and your roster cannot exceed the game's salary-cap maximum.

For FanDuel leagues, rosters consist of nine players and the salary cap is $60,000, which averages to roughly $6,667 per player. To give you an idea of the range for Thursday's games, Thunder SF Kevin Durant ($12,000) has the contest's highest salary while many are tied for the lowest at the game-minimum salary ($3,500).

There are a number of benefits compared to traditional full-season re-draft leagues, such as:

• you don't have to worry about being saddled by players sidelined by injury;
• having a late pick doesn't rule out owning studs like Kevin Durant or LeBron James;
• you get the instant gratification of winning your league(s) that night.

And you know that enthusiasm you have after drafting your fantasy team(s)? Well, you get to experience that feeling on a nightly basis with daily fantasy basketball.

OK, with the preliminary stuff out of the way, here are some value plays to consider for Thursday (March 13th) FanDuel leagues:

PG - Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder (vs. LAL), $8,700: While I've never before listed a player with a salary greater than $7,500 in this post, Westbrook will be the exception as he's a must-start against the Lakers, especially considering there are only three games on tonight's NBA slate. In his past seven games, Westbrook has 34.9-plus fantasy points and he has averaged 48.0 fantasy points in his past four games, which includes a triple-double in just 20 minutes against the Sixers. The Lakers have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing point guards this season.

PG - D.J. Augustin, Chicago Bulls (vs. HOU), $5,800: In his past six games, Augustin has scored 22-plus points four times including in his previous two games. During that six-game stretch, he has averaged 20.83 points, 3.17 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game.

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SG - Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls (vs. HOU), $6,700: Only James Harden ($10,000) has a higher price at shooting guard, but the gap is enormous. In his eight games since returning from injury, Butler has scored 30 or more fantasy points six times. During that span, he is averaging 16.5 points, 6.13 rebounds, 2.38 assists and 2.38 steals in more than 42 minutes per game. The Rockets have allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to opposing shooting guards this season.

SG - Jodie Meeks, Los Angeles Lakers (at OKC), $5,800: While I don't expect a repeat of his 42-point performance (49.4 fantasy points) when these two teams met on March 9th, Meeks is one of the league's best shooters and you know he will get his minutes. With Mike D'Antoni pulling the strings, there is no guarantee for others. For example, Kent Bazemore ($4,900) has played 32, 16 and 20 minutes in his past three games.

SG - Kyle Korver, Atlanta Hawks (vs. MIL), $5,000: With strong outings in back-to-back games, Korver has averaged 21.5 points, 3.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals in his past two games. In those two games, he has had 32.8 and 32.9 fantasy points, respectively.

SF - DeMarre Carroll, Atlanta Hawks (vs. MIL), $5,800: In his past eight games, Carroll has scored a minimum of 19.2 fantasy points in each game while averaging 25.49 FPPG. During that stretch, he has averaged 14.88 points, 5.25 rebounds and 1.25 steals per game. Carroll gets a favorable matchup tonight as the Bucks have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing small forwards this season.

SF - Ryan Kelly, Los Angeles Lakers (at OKC), $4,500: After losing his starting gig and seeing a huge reduction in minutes, Kelly has played 33-plus minutes in back-to-back games. In those two games, he has scored 41.7 and 36.0 fantasy points, respectively. Against OKC on the 9th, Kelly played 37 minutes and scored 12 points while adding eight assists, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal. In most of my FanDuel contests tonight, it will be a Durant-Kelly duo at SF for me.

PF - Serge Ibaka, Oklahoma City Thunder (vs. LAL), $8,200: Like Durant and Westbrook, it would be extremely hard (i.e., foolish) to sit Ibaka. No team has allowed more fantasy points to opposing power forwards and Ibaka abused the Lakers for 48.5 fantasy points (21 points, 15 boards, two blocks and two steals) in their previous matchup on Sunday.

PF - John Henson, Milwaukee Bucks (at ATL), $4,900: Provided Ersan Ilyasova (ankle) misses more time, Henson's fantasy value increases (in theory). Henson has 19.2 or more fantasy points in four consecutive games. With back-to-back games of 30-plus minutes, Henson has scored exactly 10 points with eight rebounds in each game after 12/6 in his previous two games with fewer minutes.

C - Pero Antic, Atlanta Hawks (vs. MIL), $4,300: If you don't start a stud like Joakim Noah, Antic is a cheap option to consider. Not only has he been productive in his past two games (22.1-plus fantasy points in each game), but he has a favorable matchup tonight. Only the Lakers and Sixers have allowed more fantasy points to opposing centers than the Bucks have this season.

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Triple-Double for Joakim Noah vs. Pistons

Once again, Bulls center Joakim Noah recorded a triple-double, the third in his past 11 games.

Against the Pistons on Wednesday, Noah finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists plus two blocked shots.

Noah now has reached double-digit assists in five of his past 13 games.

Over the past month (Feb. 6th - Mar. 5th), Noah has averaged 13.31 points, 11.46 rebounds, 7.15 assists, 1.77 blocks and 1.00 steals per game.

Bulls center Joakim Noah gets another triple-double

Coming off a relatively quiet performance against the Mavs on Friday, Chicago's Joakim Noah bounced back with a triple-double against the Knicks.

Noah finished the game with 13 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 14 assists, but he also added two blocks and two steals as the Bulls extended their winning streak to four games. (The Knicks have now lost six games in a row.)

Not only is it uncommon for a center to get a triple-double, but this was Noah's second triple-double in his past nine games. Of the 18 players with at least one triple-double this season, Noah is the only center.

In addition, Noah now has double-digit assists in four of his past 11 games.

To state it differently, Noah has as many games with double-digit assists (four) as the rest of the Bulls team combined this season. The others are D.J. Augustin (two), Kirk Hinrich (one) and Luol Deng (one), who is now in Cleveland.

Over his past 12 games, Noah has averaged 13.92 points, 12.17 rebounds, 6.92 assists, 1.83 blocks and 1.00 steals per game.

Only Indiana's Lance Stephenson (four) and Golden State's Stephen Curry (three) have more triple-doubles than Noah this season. Portland's Nicolas Batum and Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant also have two of them.

Daily Fantasy Basketball (Feb. 25th): Some FanDuel Bargains

If you play daily fantasy sports (and who doesn't these days?!), you know that one of the keys to success is uncovering undervalued players to allow you to load up on studs elsewhere.

In case you've never played daily fantasy basketball, you select your team based on a player's salary and your team's salary cannot exceed the game salary-cap maximum.

For FanDuel leagues, rosters consist of nine players and the salary cap is $60,000, which averages to roughly $6,667 per player. To give you an idea of the range for Tuesday's games, Timberwolves PF Kevin Love ($11,600) has the contest's highest salary while many are tied for the lowest at the game-minimum salary ($3,500).

There are a number of benefits compared to traditional full-season re-draft leagues, such as:

• you don't have to worry about being saddled by players sidelined by injury;
• having a late pick doesn't rule out owning studs like Kevin Durant or LeBron James;
• you get the instant gratification of winning your league(s) that night.

And you know that enthusiasm you have after drafting your fantasy team(s)? Well, you get to experience that feeling on a nightly basis with daily fantasy basketball.

OK, with the preliminary stuff out of the way, here are some value plays to consider for Tuesday (Feb. 25th) FanDuel leagues:

PG - Aaron Brooks, Denver Nuggets (vs. POR), $3,600: If Ty Lawson (ribs) misses another game (although it's possible that he returns tonight), the recently-acquired Brooks is a quality low-priced option at the point in FanDuel leagues. Starting in only his second game with the Nuggets on Sunday, Brooks finished with nine points, eight assists, two rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes.

PG - Jarrett Jack, PG, Cleveland Cavaliers (vs. TOR), $3,800: Big minutes does not necessarily mean big production as we've seen with Jack in his past two games. Despite averaging nearly 40 minutes per game over his past two, Jack has barely averaged 15 fantasy points. That said, he should get plenty of minutes with Dion Waiters and C.J. Miles out again tonight. Feeling lucky?

PG - Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers (at DEN), $7,900 Five point guards have a higher salary than Lillard so he's not a bargain in absolute terms, but Lillard has scored 40-plus fantasy points in three consecutive games. Only the 76ers (111.0) and Lakers (105.9) allow more points per game than the Nuggets (104.7). [The Blazers allow the fourth-most points (103.6) in the NBA.]

SG - Evan Fournier, Denver Nuggets (vs. POR), $4,400: Like with Brooks above, Fournier could see expanded minutes especially if Lawson misses another game. Fournier has scored 40-plus fantasy points in two of his past four games. On Sunday, Fournier had 27 points, four rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block in 36 minutes off the bench.

SG - Kent Bazemore, Los Angeles Lakers (at IND), $3,600: In two games with the Lakers, Bazemore has scored 15-plus points and added two steals in at least 29 minutes in each game. Despite the tough matchup against the Pacers, Bazemore is a cheap option that should get roughly 30 minutes and 20 fantasy points.

SG - Ben McLemore, Sacramento Kings (vs. HOU), $3,600: With Marcus Thornton now in Brooklyn, McLemore moved into the starting lineup and played 36 minutes on Sunday. Even though he only scored six points, he added four boards and three steals. Going forward, I would expect better shooting performances from McLemore.

SF - Nicolas Batum, Portland Trail Blazers (at DEN), $6,200: While he isn't necessarily cheap as only four small forwards have a higher salary, Batum is coming off a monster game and could very well follow that up with another strong performance tonight. On Sunday, Batum had 22 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a steal. Especially if LaMarcus Aldridge misses a fourth consecutive game tonight, the Blazers will need more production from Batum.

PF - Mike Scott, Atlanta Hawks (vs. CHI), $4,500: With Paul Millsap out tonight and tomorrow, Scott has an opportunity to continue his hot streak even though the Hawks have a tough matchup. In his past two games, Scott has scored a total of 50 points including a career-high 30 on Saturday against the Knicks.

PF - Thomas Robinson, Portland Trail Blazers (at DEN), $4,300: As noted with Batum, it's possible that Aldridge misses another game and if he does, Robinson will be a quality low-priced option at power forward. On Sunday, he posted a double-double (14 points, 18 rebounds) in 33 minutes while adding a couple of assists and blocks as well.

In the majority of my FanDuel leagues for tonight, I'll be starting Chicago's Joakim Noah at center. Although he's not cheap at $9,100, Noah has averaged 13.54 points, 13.08 rebounds, 5.96 assists, 1.92 blocks and 0.88 steals per game since January. In his past seven games, he has double-digit assists in three of them and even had a triple-double earlier this month.

C - Timofey Mozgov, Denver Nuggets (vs. POR), $3,900: If I were looking for an option (much) less expensive than Noah, Mozgov could be the guy. With Mozgov moving into the starting lineup on Tuesday, that hopefully means that he also gets starter's minutes as well. In the five games in which Mozgov has 30-plus minutes this season, he has averaged 12.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 0.8 steals per game.

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If you play in full-season leagues, check out my rest-of-season Fantasy NBA rankings or my waiver-wire post from yesterday.

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Consensus NBA Power Rankings, Week 18

Entering the 2013-14, the LeBron James-led Miami Heat were clearly the favorites to emerge out of the Eastern Conference in the playoffs.

Along with the Pacers (and the Nets to a lesser degree), the Bulls were one of the teams that seemed most likely to pose a threat to the Heat's potential opportunity for a three-peat.

Perception changed earlier in the season when Derrick Rose went down with another knee injury.

Via Sam Smith with the team's website, here are comments from Rose about the possibility of returning at any point this season for the Bulls and playing for team USA in the summer:

“For sure, if my leg is feeling healthy I’m all in,” Rose said about the USA Basketball invite for this summer’s pre World Cup tournament. ”Of course I want to play for that team. Playing for that team, I think, helped the year I won MVP, just getting in a groove. I’m excited if I am able to play in it.

“I haven’t even had a chance to think about it, to tell you truth,” Rose said about holding open the possibility of a return this season or in the playoffs. “I’m just worrying about my next stage in this process and that’s running. Right now I’m not. I’m on the Alter G (anti gravity treadmill) right now, running on that and hopefully I’ll be running without it pretty soon.

“I haven’t even asked; we haven’t even talked about it (a return schedule),” said Rose. “I just come every day, six days a week and try to do all my work and see how far it’s going to take me when I step back on the court.”

On Sunday, the LeBron-less Heat beat the Bulls by 14 points, but the Bulls aren't a team that should necessarily be counted out.

Even though they rank last in the NBA in scoring offense (92.5 points per game), only the Pacers (90.9 PPG allowed) have a stingier defense than the Bulls (92.3 PPG).

One of the league's most underrated players is Joakim Noah, who has been playing great lately.

Since January, Noah has averaged 13.54 points, 13.08 rebounds, 5.96 assists, 1.92 blocks and 0.88 steals per game. In his past seven games, he has double-digit assists in three of them and even had a triple-double earlier this month.

Compared to our power rankings last week, the Bulls have moved up from 13.00 to 10.50, which is just outside the top 10 in our power rankings. The Suns are currently 10th with an average ranking of 10.25.

- See our full 2013-14 NBA Power Rankings

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