This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
The NBA has only two games going on Tuesday, but both are intriguing. The early game pits the still Kawhi-Leonard-less Spurs against the Warriors. The Warriors haven't been as dominant as anticipated to start the season, but they still have plenty of firepower against the undermanned Spurs. In Portland, the young and exciting Lakers take a crack at the Trail Blazers' explosive backcourt and sometimes borderline dominant young center. Both games should be entertaining, and there is potential fantasy value all throughout.
Guard (premium)
Stephen Curry, GS at SA ($9,500): Curry edges out Damian Lillard ($9,800) for this slot, but both are worthy. Both are coming off their best games of the season, a 61 fantasy point effort for Lillard on Wednesday and a 54 fantasy point effort from Curry earlier this week. Curry earns the spot by dint of being more consistently productive all season, and coming off a rest day instead of playing on the second half of a back-to-back like Lillard.
Guard (moderate)
CJ McCollum, POR vs LAL ($8,000): This slot was also a toss-up between a Warrior and a Trail Blazer, with Klay Thompson ($6,800) as the other mid-priced shooting guard on Thursday. McCollum is coming off a couple of pedestrian games for him, but has provided some solid value earlier this season, and has a good bounce-back chance against the young and fast-paced Lakers.
Guard (affordable)
Danny Green, SA vs GS ($5,000): Green has struggled in two of his last three games, but on the main has been consistently positive this season. Manu Ginobili is sitting out on Thursday to rest, giving Green even more potential responsibility and opportunity on Thursday.
Forward (premium)
Kevin Durant, GS at SA ($9,900): Durant had a pedestrian effort for him in his last game, but generally produces somewhere in the upper 40s to lower 50s of fantasy points on a daily basis. Add in the absence of Kawhi Leonard, which means that the Spurs have no one that can slow Durant down, and he could be in for a bounce-back on Thursday.
Forward (moderate/affordable)
Larry Nance, LAL at POR ($5,200): Nance, Julius Randle, Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram seem to have found a good balance in which all four can produce positively on a consistent basis. Nance is coming off a season-high 39.4 fantasy points in his last outing, and though that's likely the high end of his potential on a given night, he does have three games between 26 and 40 fantasy points in his last four outings.
Forward (affordable)
Julius Randle, LAL at POR ($4,700): Randle seems to be embracing the aggressive sixth man off the bench role of late. Outside of a poor effort in Utah last weekend, Randle has been consistently strong of late with three games between 29.9 and 33.5 fantasy points produced in his last four games.
Center (premium)
Jusuf Nurkic, POR vs LAL ($7,400): Nurkic surprisingly destroyed the Jazz to the tune of 45.2 fantasy points on Wednesday, but produced only 19.7 fantasy points the game before against the Raptors. His production fluctuates from game to game, but he does have the highest upside of any center going on Thursday.
Center (moderate)
Pau Gasol, SA vs GS ($6,100): Gasol has been consistently productive but unspectacular all season, producing between 20.4 and 29.6 fantasy points in six of his seven games with one outlier 47.9 fantasy point performance earlier this week. His consistency makes him an attractive option on Thursday, as the other center options are less reliable.
Center (affordable)
Brook Lopez, LAL at POR ($5,300): Lopez has struggled of late, which could be due to lesser opportunity as the Lakers develop four productive forwards and also try to work Andrew Bogut into the equation. Lopez has only one 30+ fantasy point effort in his last five games, with the other four efforts between 14.6 and 21.2 fantasy points. He has a low expected value, with the chance of unexpected upside, on Thursday against the Trail Blazers.
