This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
We have a four-game slate Tuesday night, with three of the four contests having the potential to turn out as especially competitive based on the matchups. The injury report is also particularly light in terms of potential short-term absences, which helps keep the player pool strong enough despite the fact only eight teams are in action.
Slate Overview
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Despite the fact three of the four games on the slate feature teams with at least 20 wins facing each other, there are three spreads overall of 5.5 points or greater. The one contest between the two squads with winning records – the 76ers and Clippers – has the narrowest line of the night at 0.5-to-1.5 points as of late Monday night.
Meanwhile, the outlook for fertile DFS environments is fairly bright, as two games carry projected totals of over 230 points and the Philly-Los Angeles clash sits at 226 points.
Injury Situations to Monitor
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Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIL (knee): QUESTIONABLE
Antetokounmpo has missed the last three games with knee soreness, and considered he'd been labeled as probable for Monday's win over the Pacers before being ruled out, his status particularly bears monitoring.
Paul George, LAC (hamstring): QUESTIONABLE
George was able to go through a full practice Monday, so he could have a strong chance of returning from a five-game absence. If he does, Nicolas Batum will likely return to the second unit.
Other notable injuries:
Kevin Durant, BKN (knee): OUT
Devin Vassell, SAN (knee): OUT
Jamal Murray, DEN (ankle): PROBABLE
Khris Middleton, MIL (knee): GTD
Elite Players
We have four players with five-figure salaries on Tuesday's slate: Joel Embiid ($11,600), Nikola Jokic ($11,500), Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,400) and James Harden ($10,500).
Embiid posted 59.2 FD points in Sunday's win over the Lakers, his sixth tally of greater than 50 FD points in the last eight games. He also totaled 64.9 FD points across 37 minutes in the first meeting with the Clippers back on Dec. 23.
Jokic scored 55 FD points against the Magic on Sunday on the strength of his third triple-double in the last four games, and he's now scored over 50 FD points in four straight contests.
Antetokounmpo will be looking to come back from a three-game absence due to knee soreness Tuesday, and if he does, he'll be facing a Raptors squad he just recorded 61.2 FD points against on Jan. 4.
Harden has scored over 50 FD points in four of the last five games, and he's generated a double-double or triple-double in five consecutive contests. He also recorded a triple-double against the Clippers in the first meeting Dec. 23, leading to 64.7 FD points across 41 minutes.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Damian Lillard, POR ($9,900)
Lillard has scored over 50 FD points in three straight and four of the last five overall, which should make him very popular Tuesday.
Pascal Siakam, TOR ($9,500)
Siakam is coming off having scored 51.1 FD points Monday against the Knicks, his fourth game in the last five with more than 45 FD points.
Kawhi Leonard, LAC ($9,400)
Leonard could continue operating without Paul George on Tuesday, and the fact he's scored 39.6 to 62.8 FD points in four straight should lead to him finding his way into plenty of lineups.
Kyrie Irving, BKN ($9,300)
Irving hasn't really seen a big usage bump during the first two games of Kevin Durant's absence, but his name value and reasonable salary relative to his ceiling should lead to him being highly rostered Tuesday.
Jrue Holiday, MIL ($7,900)
Holiday could be taking the floor once again without Giannis Antetokounmpo and just scored 60.3 FD points across 37 minutes against the Pacers on Monday.
Key Values
Marcus Morris, LAC vs. PHI ($5,100)
Morris has once again flashed some nice upside this season relative to his current salary, having posted at least a 5x return on that figure in 17 of 41 games. That includes four tallies of over 30 FD points, and he'll draw a matchup that could be conducive to another productive performance Tuesday. The 76ers have allowed the eighth-highest offensive efficiency rating to power forwards (27.9), along with 49.8 percent shooting. Additionally, Philadelphia is surrendering 45.8 FD points per game to fours on the season, including the second most over the last 15 games (51.8).
Seth Curry, BKN at SA ($4,900)
Curry sports a 24.6 percent usage rate and averages 29.8 FD points per 36 minutes without Kevin Durant on the floor, and he'll face a Spurs team Tuesday that's allowed an NBA-high 39.9 percent success rate from three-point range. That figure is especially relevant when evaluating Curry, considering he's drained 42.2 percent of his attempts from behind the arc, including 51.5 percent in the last six games. San Antonio is also conceding 39.6 percent shooting to two-guards specifically, along with the third-most FD points per game to the position (44.3). Additionally, the Spurs are giving up the second-highest offensive efficiency rating to second-unit players (48.2), furthering Curry's case.
Nassir Little, POR at DEN ($3,900)
Even on a modest four-game slate, Little is unlikely to be rostered at anything beyond the five percent range after just having returned from a month-plus absence due to a hip injury. Little didn't look rusty in his first game, posting 21.7 FD points across just 16 minutes against the Mavericks on Sunday while shooting 3-for-5 from three-point range. Little is shooting an efficient, career-best 47.4 percent overall, including 39.6 percent from three-point range, over 22 games overall, and at his miniscule salary while facing a Nuggets team that's allowed an NBA-high 48.6 offensive efficiency rating to second-unit players, he's an interesting option if you're looking to pay almost all the way down at one spot in tournaments.
