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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2014-15 NBA Power Rankings: Week 6

When healthy, the Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the few elite teams in the NBA.

Although they are only 5-12 through the first 17 games after winning back-to-back games, they are getting healthy as Russell Westbrook returned from his multi-week hand injury to drop 32 points in just 24 minutes and he added eight assists, seven rebounds and a steal.



Not only has Westbrook returned, but Kevin Durant, the NBA's reigning MVP, is on the verge of returning from his foot injury. Durant is listed as questionable for Tuesday's game, but he's likely to return at some point within the next week if he doesn't return on Tuesday.

Based on odds from Sportsbook.ag, only four teams have better odds to win the NBA Championship than the Thunder (12/1): Cavs (3/1), Spurs (9/2), Warriors (13/2) and Bulls (10/1).

Here are my Week 6 NBA Power Rankings:

1. Memphis Grizzlies (Record: 15-2, Last Week: 1): In the final year of his existing contract, Marc Gasol is having a career-best season (20.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game). Gasol is the only player in the league averaging a 20/8/3/1/1 line this season.

2. Golden State Warriors (Record: 14-2, Last Week: 2): The Warriors have the league's longest active winning streak (nine games).

3. San Antonio Spurs (Record: 12-4, Last Week: 5): The Spurs have won seven games in a row and that streak began against the Sixers, who is also their Monday night opponent. With games in back-to-back nights, we'll likely see a lot of Matt Bonner, who led them in scoring vs. Philly on Nov. 17th, and very little, if any, of Tim Duncan and usual starters tonight.

4. Portland Trail Blazers (Record: 13-4, Last Week: 6): The Blazers currently rank in the top six in the NBA in scoring (104.2 PPG), rebounding (48.1 RPG), assists (24.0 APG) as well as defense (96.2 PPG allowed).

5. Houston Rockets (Record: 13-4, Last Week: 3): With Dwight Howard (and others) sidelined, James Harden continues to put up dominant stat-stuffing numbers. Harden is averaging 28.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.4 blocks over his past five games.

6. Toronto Raptors (Record: 13-4, Last Week: 4): After tearing his adductor longus tendon, DeMar DeRozan hopes to return in four weeks. Stepping into the starting lineup, Greivis Vasquez scored 19 points with five assists, but the Raptors have now lost back-to-back games.

7. Dallas Mavericks (Record: 13-5, Last Week: 9): Even though Dirk Nowitzki is playing just 28.6 minutes per game, the fewest since his rookie season, Nowitzki is averaging 24.4 points per 36 minutes, which is his most since the 2008-09 season (24.7).

8. Chicago Bulls (Record: 11-6, Last Week: 8): In the games that Derrick Rose has played at least 20 minutes, the Bulls are 7-1. In the games he hasn't, they are 4-5.

9. Los Angeles Clippers (Record: 11-5, Last Week: 11): Even with DeAndre Jordan (11.6 RPG) and Blake Griffin (7.5 RPG), the Clippers have been one of the worst rebounding teams in the league this season. Only the Heat (36.9/G) average fewer rebounds per game than the Clippers (37.9/G). Only the Sixers (-5.7/G) and Heat (-3.7/G) are worse in terms of rebounding differential.

10. Washington Wizards (Record: 10-5, Last Week: 7): Marcin Gortat had his best game of the season against the Pelicans on Saturday night. The Polish Hammer finished with a season-high 24 points and 13 rebounds, which ties a season high. It was his third double-double in the past four games.

11. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record: 8-7, Last Week: 14): Last year, Kevin Love led the NBA in 20/10 games (50). DeMarcus Cousins was second with 40 of them. While Love certainly won't get 50 of them this year, he did get his third 20/10 game of the season on Saturday with a season-high 28 points and 10 boards.

12. Phoenix Suns (Record: 10-8, Last Week: 10): In his four games last week, Markieff Morris averaged 14.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.5 steals per game, but the Suns dropped three of those four games.

13. Sacramento Kings (Record: 9-8, Last Week: 12): DeMarcus Cousins has missed back-to-back games, but he has an active streak of five games with 22-plus points and 12-plus rebounds. Since the 2011-12 season, there have been only two longer streaks: Kevin Love (seven games) and LaMarcus Aldridge (six).

14. Miami Heat (Record: 9-7, Last Week: 13): After a seven-game absence, Dwyane Wade returned to score a season-high 27 points in the win over the Knicks. Wade now has scored 20-plus points in five consecutive games (that he has played), which ties his longest such streak of last season.

15. Atlanta Hawks (Record: 9-6, Last Week: 16): Paul Millsap is currently tied with John Wall for the league lead in steals per game (2.33) and only Anthony Davis has more games with at least 10 points, eight rebounds and two steals this season.

16. Denver Nuggets (Record: 8-8, Last Week: 18): Ty Lawson has seven double-doubles in his past nine games and he was just one assist shy of double-doubles in the other two games during that span.

17. Milwaukee Bucks (Record: 10-8, Last Week: 17): Rookie Jabari Parker had his best week of his young career. In his four games played last week, Parker averaged 13.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

18. New Orleans Pelicans (Record: 7-8, Last Week: 15): Getting more minutes (averaging 27/G over past four games), Austin Rivers has been really shooting the ball poorly since scoring 17 points on Nov. 17th. In his past seven games, Rivers has made just eight of 41 shot attempts (19.5 percent).

19. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record: 5-12, Last Week: 25): As noted above, the Thunder are finally getting (close to) healthy and while they may be fighting an uphill battle after their slow start, they are still one of the favorites to win it all.

20. Indiana Pacers (Record: 7-10, Last Week: 19): With the exception of perhaps the Thunder, no team has been as devastated by injuries as the Pacers, but they have at least one key player back. In his two games back, David West averaged 16.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 24.0 minutes per game and should eventually see his minutes increase.

21. Brooklyn Nets (Record: 6-9, Last Week: 20): All six of Brooklyn's wins this season have come against teams with a losing record. Seven of their opponents thus far currently have a winning record and the Nets have lost all seven of those matchups.

22. Orlando Magic (Record: 7-12, Last Week: 22): Only the Kings have a worse turnover differential than the Magic and only the Rockets, Kings and Sixers have a lower assist-to-turnover ratio than Orlando. Rookie Elfrid Payton leads the team in assists with 4.9 per game.

23. Utah Jazz (Record: 5-12, Last Week: 21): One of the things the Jazz have done well is keep opponents off the free-throw line. Only the Hornets (.233) have a lower opponent's free-throw attempt rate than the Jazz (.236).

24. Boston Celtics (Record: 4-10, Last Week: 23): Since the 2010-11 season, no player has more triple-doubles than Rajon Rondo (16); LeBron James is second (nine). In his nine games since his triple-double this season, however, Rondo has only two double-doubles including none in the past five games.

25. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record: 4-11, Last Week: 28): Mo Williams has three consecutive double-doubles and has averaged 19.0 points and 11.3 assists during that span.

26. Charlotte Hornets (Record: 4-14, Last Week: 24): With a winning record (.524) last year and only their second playoff appearance in the previous 10 seasons, expectations were high for the Hornets. Unfortunately, their 4-14 (.222) start is much more similar (at least so far) to the very lean years of 2011-12 (7-59, .106) and 2012-13 (21-61, .256).

27. New York Knicks (Record: 4-14, Last Week: 26): Missing two games, Carmelo Anthony returned to score 31 points (11-of-26 shooting) with eight rebounds, but the Knicks lost their fourth consecutive game and now 13th out of their past 15 games.

28. Los Angeles Lakers (Record: 4-13, Last Week: 29): With his triple-double against the Raptors Sunday night, Kobe Bryant became the oldest player to ever record a 30/10/10 triple-double.

29. Detroit Pistons (Record: 3-14, Last Week: 27): The Pistons currently rank last in the NBA in points per shot (1.10) and only the Sixers (66.9 percent) are shooting worse at the free-throw line the Pistons (67.5 percent). No other team in the league is shooting below 70 percent from the line.

30. Philadelphia 76ers (Record: 0-16, Last Week: 30): Rookie K.J. McDaniels has played 30-plus minutes in back-to-back games and the extremely athletic rookie followed up a game of 18 points and six boards with a 21/13 double-double and nine of those boards were offensive rebounds.

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2014-15 NBA Power Rankings: Week 5

Here are my Week 5 NBA Power Rankings:

1. Memphis Grizzlies (Record: 12-2, Last Week: 1): Grizzlies center Marc Gasol now has eight games of 20-plus points this season. Gasol had just eight 20-point games (out of 59) last season. Since Gasol returned from injury on Jan. 14, 2014, the Grizzlies have an NBA-best record (45-15, .750).

Surprisingly, the Grizzlies have just the sixth-lowest odds to win the Western Conference based on odds from Sportsbook.ag.

2. Golden State Warriors (Record: 10-2, Last Week: 3): Marreese Speights has played only 158 minutes in 11 games, but he leads the NBA in points per 36 minutes (29.5) and in points per 100 possessions (39.5).

3. Houston Rockets (Record: 10-3, Last Week: 2): James Harden is shooting a career-low 39.1 percent from the field, but he is shooting a career-high 89.5 percent from the line and making a league-high 9.2 free throws per game.

4. Toronto Raptors (Record: 11-2, Last Week: 6): The Raptors currently lead the NBA in point differential (+12.2). They rank second in the league in scoring offense (106.9 per game) and sixth in scoring defense (94.7 per game).

5. San Antonio Spurs (Record: 9-4, Last Week: 5): Tony Parker is a career 32.1-percent shooter from three-point range, but he has made 63.6 percent of his attempts this season. His career-best percentage is 39.5 percent (2006-07).

6. Portland Trail Blazers (Record: 10-3, Last Week: 9): Since starting the season 3-3, the Blazers have won seven consecutive games, the longest active winning streak in the NBA, and will face the winless Sixers on Monday night.

7. Washington Wizards (Record: 9-3, Last Week: 8): In his three games since returning from injury, Bradley Beal is averaging 16.7 points, 4.7 points and 1.3 steals per game in 30.7 minutes per game off the bench.

8. Chicago Bulls (Record: 8-5, Last Week: 7): Derrick Rose, who has missed the past four games due to a hamstring injury, may or may not play Monday night. If he's unable to play tonight, however, he is confident that he'll return for Tuesday's matchup against the Nuggets.

9. Dallas Mavericks (Record: 10-4, Last Week: 11): Brandan Wright had his first double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) on Saturday against the Rockets and has now scored in double digits in seven consecutive games. Wright has yet to shoot below .545 in any game this season and he leads the league with a .785 field goal percentage.

10. Phoenix Suns (Record: 9-5, Last Week: 16): Among players with no starts this season, Isaiah Thomas (15.4 PPG) and Gerald Green (14.2) rank second and fourth in the NBA in per-game scoring. In addition, Thomas is currently leading all Suns players in scoring.

11. Los Angeles Clippers (Record: 7-5, Last Week: 10): Chris Paul continues to lead the NBA in assist/turnover ratio (6.33). If he continues to average 9.5-plus assists per game and 1.5 turnovers (or less) per game, CP3 will become the first player in league history to do so for a full season.

12. Sacramento Kings (Record: 8-5, Last Week: 13): The Kings lead the NBA in offensive rebound percentage (30.0) and rebound percentage (55.4).

13. Miami Heat (Record: 8-6, Last Week: 14): Over the past six games with Dwyane Wade sidelined, Mario Chalmers has averaged 20.0 points, 7.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

14. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record: 5-7, Last Week: 4): Four games last week. Four losses last week. With LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love & Co. are still adjusting to each other, the Cavs averaged just 89.5 points in those four losses.

15. New Orleans Pelicans (Record: 7-5, Last Week: 12): Anthony Davis is averaging 26.3 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and 2.0 steals per game. The last player to average 26/11/3/2 is, well, nobody.

16. Atlanta Hawks (Record: 6-5, Last Week: 15): Fourteen different players have seen the court for the Hawks this season. All 14 of them are averaging double-digit minutes.

17. Milwaukee Bucks (Record: 7-7, Last Week: 17): The Bucks already have seven wins and compared to last season, it's more than a month earlier than they got their seventh win last year, which occurred on New Year's Eve against the Lakers. (And then they went 1-14 in January.)

18. Denver Nuggets (Record: 6-7, Last Week: 28): After a 1-6 start to the season, the Nuggets have won five of their past six games including the previous four games. Having another perfect week will be tough, however, as they face the Bulls on Tuesday and then have a home-and-home with the Suns this week.

19. Indiana Pacers (Record: 5-8, Last Week: 20): Although Roy Hibbert will miss Monday's game with an ankle injury, David West is close to returning and even Paul George has hopes (albeit unlikely ones) of returning this season.

20. Brooklyn Nets (Record: 5-8, Last Week: 18): Deron Williams currently ranks fifth in the league in minutes per game and Williams is one of three players with double-digit games of 15-plus points and five-plus assists this season. The other two are Stephen Curry and James Harden.

21. Utah Jazz (Record: 5-9, Last Week: 23): Only the Lakers (11) have allowed more 100-point games to their opponents than the Jazz (10) this season.

22. Orlando Magic (Record: 6-9, Last Week: 26): Nikola Vucevic currently leads the NBA in double-doubles with 11 of them in 15 games this season.

23. Boston Celtics (Record: 4-8, Last Week: 21): The Celtics rank last in the league in FTA Rate (.220), which measures how often a team gets to the free-throw line in relation to field-goal attempts.

24. Charlotte Hornets (Record: 4-10, Last Week: 19): Expectations were high for the Hornets entering the season, but they have now lost five games in a row and seven of their past eight games.

25. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record: 3-12, Last Week: 22): Although Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant will be back in the near future, Reggie Jackson is one of just two players in the league to currently average at least 20 points, seven assists and five boards per game. The other is Golden State's Stephen Curry.

26. New York Knicks (Record: 4-10, Last Week: 24): The Knicks currently lead the NBA in three-point shooting percentage (40.6 percent). The Knicks have eight players averaging at least one three-point shot per game and five of them are shooting at least 40 percent from behind the arc.

27. Detroit Pistons (Record: 3-10, Last Week: 25): After shooting 60.8 and 62.3 percent from the field in his first two seasons, respectively, Andre Drummond is shooting just 39.7 percent from the field this year although he's shooting a career-high 43.6 percent from the free-throw line.

28. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record: 3-9, Last Week: 27): The T'Wolves have managed to keep their opponents from scoring 100-plus points in three games. They are tied with the Celtics and Lakers to rank last in the league in that category.

29. Los Angeles Lakers (Record: 3-11, Last Week: 29): Jordan Hill has an active streak of six consecutive games with 10-plus points and 10-plus rebounds, which is tied with Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins for the longest such streak this season.

30. Philadelphia 76ers (Record: 0-13, Last Week: 30): This tweet says it all:

Your weekly @numberFire update: Sixers favored in ZERO of remaining 69 games. Best win odds are 44.6% on March 30 at home against ... Lakers
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) November 24, 2014

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Daily Fantasy Basketball: FanDuel Values for March 15th

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 Saturday's games, Knicks PF Carmelo Anthony ($10,300) 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 Saturday (March 15th) FanDuel leagues:

PG - Mike Conley, Memphis Grizzlies (at PHI), $6,600: With the Sixers allowing the most points this season to opposing point guards, Conley is a must-start tonight. Even Nick Calathes ($4,300), who has scored 20-plus fantasy points in three consecutive games, is worth consideration. Even though Calathes has played only 15-19 minutes per game in his past five, it's possible this turns into a blowout giving him even more minutes. Over his past five games, Conley has averaged 15.0 points, 4.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game.

PG - D.J. Augustin, Chicago Bulls (vs. SAC), $5,800: Augustin has 23.6-plus fantasy points in six of his past seven games and in each of his past three. During that seven-game stretch, Augustin has averaged 19.71 points and 3.86 assists per game.

PG - George Hill, Indiana Pacers (at DET), $4,800: Hill scored 35.7 fantasy points against the Sixers last night with 14 points, nine assists, six boards and two steals. He now has 24.6 or more fantasy points in three consecutive games and he gets another favorable matchup on Saturday. The Pistons have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing point guards this season.

PG - Shaun Livingston, Brooklyn Nets (at WAS), $4,300: Despite a tough matchup, Livingston posted 31.4 fantasy points in 38 minutes against the Heat on Wednesday. He now has three consecutive games with at least 21 fantasy points. Doing a bit of everything, Livingston has averaged 10.25 points, 3.25 rebounds, 3.13 assists and 2.25 steals per game over his past eight.

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SG - Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls (vs. SAC), $6,600: With only Lance Stephenson more expensive on Saturday, perhaps Butler can't be classified as "cheap," but he's certainly worth starting today. Butler is averging 16.67 points, 6.33 rebounds, 2.33 assists and 2.0 steals per game over his past three and he gets a top-three matchup against the Kings on Saturday.

SG - Kyle Korver, Atlanta Hawks (vs. DEN), $5,000: Korver has scored 30-plus fantasy points in two of his past three games and he gets favorable matchup on Saturday. The Nuggets have allowed the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing shooting guards this season.

SG - Tim Hardaway, Jr., New York Knicks (vs. MIL), $3,900: While he doesn't do much other than score and he does that inconsistently, Hardaway has scored 28 and 22 points in his past two games, respectively. With an average of 27.5 fantasy points over his past two games, he's a bargain at $3,900 if he can deliver roughly that many points again on Saturday.

SF - J.R. Smith, New York Knicks (vs. MIL), $5,800: Smith has scored more than 20 fantasy points in six consecutive games and he has averaged 27.55 per contest during that stretch. Over those seven games, he has averaged 16.5 points, 3.17 assists and 3.17 rebounds per game. The Bucks have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing small forwards this season.

SF - DeMarre Carroll, Atlanta Hawks (vs. DEN), $5,800: Carroll has scored 20-plus fantasy points in four consecutive games and in eight of his past nine. Over that nine-game span, he has averaged 14.89 points, 5.33 boards and 1.11 steals per game. The Nuggets have allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing small forwards.

SF - Mike Dunleavy, Chicago Bulls (vs. SAC), $5,000: Ending a four-game rough patch, Dunleavy scored 21 points and added seven rebounds, two assists and a steal in 37 minutes on Thursday. The Kings have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing small forwards.

PF - Kenneth Faried, Denver Nuggets (at ATL), $7,000: Not necessarily cheap as the fifth-most expensive power forward, Faried really produced this month, though. In eight games in March, he has scored 29.6 fantasy points in all but one game and averaged 37.53 fantasy points per game. Not only is he averaging 21.5 points, 10.13 boards and 1.13 steals per game, but he has a top-10 matchup against the Hawks as well.

PF - Zach Randolph, Memphis Grizzlies (at PHI), $6,900: On March 1st, Randolph had 23 points and 14 rebounds against the Cavs, but he has not had any 20/10 games since then. (He does have three other double-doubles this month, though.) In the City of Brotherly Love, however, there is an excellent chance that his 20/10 drought ends.

C - Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies (at PHI), $7,300: Over his past 10 games, Gasol has a minimum of 28.1 fantasy points, which he scored last night against the Raptors. During that 10-game stretch, however, Gasol is averaging 34.64 fantasy points, which exceeds his season average (30.2 FPPG). Of course, you know the drill by now: start your centers against the Sixers. Only the Lakers, who are off tonight, allow more fantasy points to opposing centers.

C - Pero Antic, Atlanta Hawks (vs. DEN), $4,200: After back-to-back games with at least 22 fantasy points, Antic had a quiet outing (eight points, seven rebounds) despite a favorable matchup against the Bucks on Thursday. Fortunately for Antic, he gets an excellent opportunity to bounce back as the Nuggets have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing centers.

C - Cole Aldrich, New York Knicks (vs. MIL), $3,900: If Tyson Chandler (personal reasons) does not return from his two-game absence, Aldrich could possibly replicate his outstanding performance (12 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks) from Wednesday. This season, the Bucks have allowed the third-most fantasy points to opposing centers. The good news is this is the only game before 7 p.m. so you will know beforehand whether or not Chandler will return.

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Western Conference Finals Prediction: Spurs vs. Grizzlies (Trifone)

I have absolutely no idea who is going to come out of the West.  I typically have a pretty strong opinion on who I feel is going to come out of a given matchup, but these two teams are as evenly matched as they come.  Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph have been dominant in the playoffs, exposing a flawed Oklahoma City Thunder team.  Clearly, Russell Westbrook has meant more to that team than people may have thought, because when asked to carry the load on his own, Kevin Durant fell short of where we had become accustomed to seeing him succeed.

As for the Spurs, they are a tough team to predict.  Last year, they were playing close to perfect basketball, and rolling through the playoffs, only to go cold and lose four straight games to OKC.  This year, they steam-rolled the Lakers in four, and then looked like the inferior team in their first two games at home against the Warriors.  Personally, I thought that they weren't going to get past that series after Golden State left San Antonio with a 1-1 series tie, thoroughly outplaying them in each of the first two games.  The Spurs bounced back, though, and were the better team the rest of the way.

Now, the Spurs face another younger team, but one with a drastically different style than they played in last year's Conference Finals, or this year's Semi-Final matchup.  Memphis has a strong inside game and plays very tough defense.  It promises to be a much lower-scoring series with less transition offense and more fundamental basketball.

Since I have to make a pick, I'm going to take San Antonio.  Both teams have been very impressive, but the Spurs may have just a slight edge.  They have more experience, they have guys who have already won multiple championships, and they have home court advantage.  It's a series that is likely to go seven games, and I'd be surprised if we see any real blowouts.  I'll take Tony Parker and the Big Fundamental to help lead the Spurs to the NBA Finals.

Series Prediction: Spurs in 7 Games 

[Note: This post is from John Trifone.  See his other basketball posts here and/or follow him on Twitter @JohnnyT0122.]

NBA Consensus Power Rankings, Week 14

No other player has done it more than once this season and Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo did it for a fifth time Sunday.

In their 19-point beatdown of the Miami Heat, Rondo finished with a triple-double: 16 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.

In addition, he had double-digit assists for the 13th straight game. That's the longest streak since Steve Nash had 14 straight games with double-digit assists back in 2005.

And who knows? Maybe Nash will be the Heat point guard in 2012.

Nash said on the Dan Patrick Show (via the L.A. Times) that he would be interested in, um, taking his talents to South Beach: "I would listen. He's phenomenal. I love what they're doing there. A lot of people don't like them because they put all that talent there. But they're professional, they play hard, they play together."

Both Nash and Rondo are the only two players to average double-digit assists this season.

Winners of five straight games, the Celtics are now in first place in the Atlantic Division and are the biggest mover up our Power Rankings board this week.

Here are some stats about this week's NBA Consensus Power Rankings:

- Biggest jump from last week: Boston Celtics (+4.92)
- Biggest drop from last week: Utah Jazz (-2.67)
- Team with widest difference between high and low ranker: Indiana Pacers (6) [See our full NBA Consensus Power Rankings.]

Each week, we respond to one roundtable question and here's this week's question: Excluding the top four seeds in each conference, which team will be the toughest out in the postseason?

John (follow on Twitter): Memphis Grizzlies

This one is easy for me, as I think that the Memphis Grizzlies are going to be a tougher out than some of the top four seeds in each conference. Because they are in the same division as San Antonio, who at this point has a pretty firm grip on the division, Memphis is unlikely to crack the top four by season's end, and will likely finish with either the 5 or 6 seed. The Grizzlies went on a run in last year's playoffs, and I was initially reluctant to assume that they had another run like that in them. I felt comparable about the Mavericks, who clearly have a team capable of being in contention, but are certainly not the favorite. Last year, Dallas surprised virtually everyone, getting extremely hot at the right time, and riding out one of the best playoff performances of all time by Dirk Nowitzki (a performance that for a short time, vaulted him into the conversation as a top 10 player of all time.) I feel a secondary run is extremely unlikely, even though they have the bulk of last year's championship roster. I felt similar about Memphis, but after watching them play the last few weeks, they are really built for the playoffs. They have a great mix of youth and experience, and have a team that is athletic enough to hang with the Oklahoma City's of the world. I think behind OKC and San Antonio, Memphis is the next team most likely to make a deep run, and it wouldn't shock me at all to see them in the Conference Finals.

Kevin (follow on Twitter): Philadelphia 76ers

My initial thought was to go with the Grizzlies, and while I think they will make some noise in the West, I'm going to go with the "homer" pick (Sixers). They are currently only one game out of first in the Atlantic so it's very possible that they end up with a top-four seed. Although they have been a mediocre .500 (9-9) since the break, they have plenty of attributes that make them dangerous in the East. The Sixers rank first in the NBA in team defense (87.8 points allowed per game) and first in the league in fewest turnovers (10.5 per game). They are unselfish and deep (Lou Williams leads the team in scoring off the bench) and they have elite perimeter defenders in Andre Iguodala and Jrue Holiday.

Dan (follow on Twitter): Memphis Grizzlies

I am going to go with the Memphis Grizzlies as the toughest non-top-four seed out in this year's postseason (much like last year). They have an awesome rotation of bigs with Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, and Rudy Gay, and solid scoring from both Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo. Memphis is also 17-7 at home, and have the pedigree from last year as a lower seed to spring an upset in this year's playoffs.

Sean (follow on Twitter): Memphis Grizzlies

The defending champ Mavs currently hold the No. 5 seed in the West, and would be the logical choice, but after watching them play over the past two weeks, I just don't think they can make a run. I'm going with the No. 6 seed in the West and that is the Memphis Grizzlies. Zach Randolph is back in the lineup, and they are going to be a very dangerous team in the playoffs. I think they would beat the Lakers right now in a series.

To see where all 30 teams fall in our power rankings going through Week 14, click here.

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