Daily Fantasy Basketball (March 1st): DraftStreet Advice

In 2013, FantasyPros invited experts to compete in a daily fantasy football competition in which they tracked the accuracy of the experts.

Of the 59 experts tracked, our three experts within that group all finished in the top third: Sean Beazley (eighth), Dan Yanotchko (16th) and yours truly (17th).

Hopefully you have noticed that I have begun posting daily value plays in FanDuel NBA daily leagues (and you can see my post for tonight's games here).

Going forward, Sean will be provided some thoughts about DraftStreet leagues and here are some of his thoughts for tonight's games on DraftStreet:

Value Play of the Night: Reggie Evans - F - Sacramento - $5,325

Evans' teammate Derrick Williams was the sleeper stud of the night coming in with 41 FP. DeMarcus Cousins is back tonight, which means Williams will go to the bench. In limited minutes, Evans is more valuable than Williams due to his beast rebounding ability. Evans only needs around 15 FP to hit value tonight. I think Evans could be in line for a nice 20-25 point night.

Injury Watch: Will Bynum - G - Detroit - $9,272

Starting PG Brandon Jennings is questionable for the game tonight with a toe injury. If Jennings is able to go, I might back Bynum out of a few GPP's, but I still think he has great value in a game that should be very high scoring. This is the highest total of the night at 217.

Rebound of the Night: Chandler Parsons - F - Houston - $13,248

As mentioned above, this game should be very high scoring. The Rockets are in the bottom quarter of the teams in the NBA vs. small forwards. Parsons has been miserable the last two games combining for a total of 32 FP. I think Parsons has upside of 40 tonight against the Pistons, especially if the Pistons go big with Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe and Josh Smith all on the court.

Stud of the Night: John Wall - G -Washington - $19,412

Wall comes at a pretty hefty price tag tonight, but out of all the players 19K and up, he is my favorite. Wall will be licking his chops tonight against the 76ers, who rank dead last against PGs this year. Wall could be in line for a career night. I'm expecting 50 FP from Wall tonight.

Put Sean's advice to use in a DraftStreet league.

If you play in full-season leagues, check out my rest-of-season Fantasy NBA rankings.

Keep track of our Fantasy NBA updates by following us on Twitter, "liking" us on Facebook and/or adding us to your Google+ circle.

Report: Nene out 4-6 weeks with sprained knee

Initially, there were fears that Washington Wizards center Nene Hilario would miss the rest of the season after sustaining a knee injury on Sunday against the Cavs.

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Monday's MRI shows that Nene has a sprained left MCL and he will miss four to six weeks with the injury.

Based on the longer end of that range, that would put Nene's return roughly on or before April 7th. The regular season concludes for the Wizards on April 16th.

Only John Wall (19.7) and Bradley Beal (16.8) are averaging more points per game than Nene (14.2), who is tied with Trevor Ariza for third on the team in scoring. Nene is also third on the team in rebounding behind Marcin Gortat (8.9 rebounds per game) and Ariza (6.5). In addition, he ranks second on the team in blocks (0.92 per game) and third in steals (1.24).

With Nene sidelined, both Trevor Booker and Kevin Seraphin will see more minutes.

OKC's Kevin Durant extends 30-point streak to 11G

It should probably come as no surprise, but Thunder forward Kevin Durant once again scored more than 30 points.

Entering the night with a 10-game streak of 30-plus points, Durant scored 41 points tonight against the Hawks on 15-of-25 shooting from the field, which included five three-pointers, and six-of-eight from the line.

Averaging 38.45 points per game during that stretch, Durant has scored at least 40 points in four of those contests. In addition, Durant has averaged 6.27 rebounds, 6.00 assists, 1.64 steals and 1.00 blocks during that stretch.

The only other player with 30-plus points in more than three consecutive games was Miami's LeBron James (four games). This season, Durant has accounted for three of the seven streaks of at least three consecutive games with 30-plus points.

Aside from Durant and James, only James Harden and John Wall have one three-game streak each of 30-plus points.

On Wednesday, Durant and the Thunder will face LeBron and the Heat in Miami.

John Wall scores season-high 29 points

After posting back-to-back games with 20-plus points and double-digit assists, Wizards point guard John Wall missed repeating that feat by just one assist.

In tonight's win over the Hornets, Wall finished with a season-high 29 points and nine assists.

Over his past three games, Wall is averaging 26.3 points, 11.0 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game.  In addition, it's only the third time in his career that he has scored 20-plus points in three consecutive games.

Without Wall for the first 33 games of the season, the Wizards were 5-28 during that stretch.  Since Wall has returned, the Wizards are three games above .500 (17-14).

Eastern Conference Preseason Predictions for the 2012-13 NBA Season

With NBA training camps opening up, it's time for preseason predictions.  Kyle Baillargeon takes a team-by-team look into his crystal ball of all 30 NBA teams.

Here is how Kyle sees the Eastern Conference playing out:

1. Miami Heat - 64-18

The champs are back and they brought Ray Allen with them for this round.  Allen will find himself open far more often than he did last year, and he'll make the most of it.  Miami may even make a run for 70.

2. Boston Celtics - 61-21

Retooled and reloaded, the Celtics have been seemingly at the end of their run for the last three years. But they keeping coming back, ready to contend. This squad is bigger up front and could have the best four-guard rotation in the league.

3. Philadelphia 76ers - 50-32

Adding Bynum is huge for Philly, so long as he stays healthy.  Will the team miss Iguodala, though?  If Evan Turner plays to his potential, then the answer to that question is no.

4. Indiana Pacers - 48-34

With more teams going small at the center position, Roy Hibbert is somewhat of an anomaly.  The Pacers were built to succeed in a short season, but how will this team fare over 82 games?

5. Milwaukee Bucks - 44-38

The dropoff is steep in the Eastern Conference, and this number of wins says more about how bad the rest of the conference is as opposed to how good the Bucks are. Jennings, Ellis and crew should have no problem making the playoffs, where they'll hope to make some noise.

6. Brooklyn Nets - 41-41

A tough team to determine, considering the general overhaul.  Deron Williams and Joe Johnson is one of the strongest backcourts in the game.  And don't underestimate how the move to Brooklyn could positively effect the team's psyche.

7. Chicago Bulls - 40-42

It's going to be a long year for the Bulls, though they did play decently for stretches without Rose last year.  The team is not completely devoid of talent, but they just can't expect to contend without their star.  Rose may be ready sometime after the All-Star break, but the Bulls may be better off tanking the season and hoping for a high pick.

8. Atlanta Hawks - 40-42

The Hawks are in a quasi-rebuilding mode, as they still have enough talent to sneak into the playoffs.  However, if they start to slide downhill in the middle of the season, don't be surprised to see Josh Smith on his way out sooner rather than later.

9. Cleveland Cavaliers - 36-46

Irving is the real deal, and this team could surprise people in the east.  They'll definitely be an exciting team, which is all you can ask for right now in Cleveland.

10. Toronto Raptors - 35-47

Valanciunas was considered by many as one of the top prospects out of his draft, and now he gets to show Toronto what they waited for. There's not a whole lot else to be excited for in Toronto, as it seems as though they based their entire offseason on trying to get, and subsequently failing to get, Steve Nash.

11. New York Knicks - 35-47

It's tough to make heads or tails of what the Knicks are trying to accomplish.  Carmelo and Amare don't seem to work entirely well together.  Jason Kidd would have been a great addition if he were five years younger.  Meanwhile, Rasheed Wallace should be a wonderful influence on whatever young players the Knicks have.

12. Detroit Pistons - 33-49

Detroit may have themselves a bright future, but they'll have to make sure they don't waste their cap space after this season like they did a few years ago.  In a perfect world, everyone will stay healthy, they'll show some signs of real potential, and they'll get a high pick.

13. Washington Wizards - 33-49

John Wall is not Derrick Rose or Kyrie Irving, but he is still ultra talented.  This is his team, and he needs to raise his game.  If he does, then he and Bradley Beal could make for a great young backcourt.

14. Charlotte Bobcats - 25-57

The Bobcats did a great job of not screwing up their pick this year, and MKG is a great talent.  Kemba Walker has the keys to the squad now, and he can definitely make things happen on occasion.  This team is still a ways away, but hopefully their front office will make it a streak of good draft picks next year.

15. Orlando Magic - 13-69

Not many good things to say about Orlando.  They didn't get much for the best center in the league.  They would have been smart to stick with Van Gundy, however.

Later today, we will post Kyle's predictions for the Western Conference.

Follow our basketball tweets and/or like us Facebook to keep track of our updates.