This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
After an idle night Thursday for Thanksgiving, the NBA presents an eight-game Black Friday evening slate following a pair of afternoon tilts. There are a trio of big names on the injury report, but otherwise the ledger is relatively light on meaningful short-term potential/confirmed absences.
Slate Overview
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Friday's point spreads tilt a bit toward the elevated side, as there are six games with figures of 5.5 points or higher on FanDuel Sportsbook as of Friday morning. However, those are offset by some especially elevated totals, including a rare occurrence of two games with 245-plus projected points involving two of the fastest-paced and most porous defensive teams in the league in the Pacers and Wizards.
Additionally, the Spurs-Warriors clash has a figure of 235.5 points, and two others check in at 226.5 and 229.5. It bears noting there are two expected defensive-centric games as well in Heat-Knicks (212 points) and Bulls-Raptors (216.5 points).
Injury Situations to Monitor
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Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIL (illness): PROBABLE
Antetokounmpo is expected to take the floor, but if he were to have a setback, Damian Lillard would be a primary beneficiary in terms of extra usage.
Bam Adebayo, MIA (hip): QUESTIONABLE
If Adebayo sits, Thomas Bryant will make a second straight start and the remainder of the starting five should see extra usage.
Zach LaVine, CHI (foot): QUESTIONABLE
If LaVine can't suit up Friday, Patrick Williams would likely enter the starting five and enhanced usage would be available for the likes of DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic in particular.
Other notable injuries:
CJ McCollum, NOP (chest/lung): OUT
Tyler Herro, MIA (ankle): OUT
Jamal Murray, DEN (hamstring): OUT
Keegan Murray, SAC (back): OUT
Bojan Bogdanovic, DET (calf): OUT
Trey Murphy, NOP (knee): OUT
Duncan Robinson, MIA (thumb): QUESTIONABLE
Elite Players
We have four players with five-figure salaries on Friday's slate – Nikola Jokic ($12,500), Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,400), Tyrese Haliburton ($10,600) and Domantas Sabonis ($10,100).
Jokic just put up 77.6 FD points against the Magic on Wednesday with one of his signature triple-doubles, his fourth 70-plus tally in the last eight and a figure just below the 77.7 FD points he notched Nov. 12 against the same Rockets squad he'll face Friday.
Assuming Antetokounmpo goes as expected, he'll look to post his third total of 70-plus FD points over his last four,, as well as a fourth consecutive double-double.
Haliburton was the star of both of the Pacers' stellar offensive performances to open the week, recording 73 and 60.6 FD points in those contests. He's also managed tallies of 60.7 and 72.9 FD points within his last five outings.
Sabonis has been a bit underwhelming by his lofty standards in the last two games with totals of 29 and 42.8 FD points, but he rattled off six straight tallies of more than 50 FD points prior to that stretch.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
De'Aaron Fox, SAC ($9,700)
Fox has also compiled a pair of modest performances across his last two games, though his average of 46.1 FD points should keep him very popular Friday for what should be a competitive clash with the Timberwolves.
Bam Adebayo, MIA ($9,300)
If Adebayo is able to play through his questionable tag, he should be in plenty of lineups - albeit in a tough matchup - after dropping between 40.5 and 67.8 FD points in seven of his last eight games.
Scottie Barnes, TOR ($9,100)
After three straight sub-40-FD-point tallies, Barnes bounced back to score 49.4 FD points against the Pacers on Wednesday and should be in plenty of lineup Friday.
Anthony Edwards, MIN ($9,000)
Edwards has been at 45.5 and 51.2 FD points in his last two games and should be highly rostered for a showdown with the Kings on Friday.
Victor Wembanyama, SAN ($8,700)
The rookie always carries an elevated roster rate, and he could be even more popular for a marquee matchup against the Warriors following totals of 65.6 and 54.5 FD points in two of his last three games.
Key Values
Jeremy Sochan, SAN at GSW ($5,700)
The Spurs continue to roll with Sochan at point guard. and although the results can sometimes be mixed, the second-year pro has generally been a solid fantasy produce, especially relative to his current salary. Sochan checks into Friday having just produced 34.5 FD points over 31 minutes in a tough matchup against the Clippers, and he'd scored at least 27.6 FD points in five of the previous seven games as well. He's also shooting a blistering 45.5 percent from three-point range over his last eight contests, and the Warriors have allowed the fourth-most points (26.0) and eighth-most FD points (50.5) per game to point guards.
Jabari Smith, HOU vs. DEN ($5,700)
Smith is another player who's recently outperformed his current salary on multiple occasions, scoring 37.8 and 34.8 FD points across his last two games and putting together three other 30-plus efforts over the last 11 contests overall. The second-year big has shown notable improvement as a shooter thus far in his sophomore NBA campaign, draining 48.9 percent of his attempts (compared to 40.8 percent a season ago), including 36.5 percent of his shots from behind the arc. The Nuggets have actually taken a step back in their defense against power forwards this season by allowing the ninth-highest offensive efficiency rating (28.4) and 48.8 percent shooting to the position, along with 46.3 FD points per game to fours.
Buddy Hield, IND vs. DET ($5,000)
Hield came alive in a pair of starts to start the week with 26.9 and 48.9 FD points in the Pacers' two track meets against the Hawks and Raptors. The veteran wing shot an absurd 75.0 percent – including 72.2 from three-point range – during those outings, a reminder of the upside he holds when he gets hot. Hield could play a big part again Friday in a matchup with another massive projected total against a Pistons team surrendering the seventh-most points per game to shooting guards (23.9) and elevated 40.0 percent three-point shooting overall in the last three games. Hield has also already provided at least a 5x return on current salary in six of his first 14 games, despite not starting until the aforementioned appearances from this week.
ALSO CONSIDER: Reggie Jackson, DEN at HOU ($5,000)
