This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
We have a solid seven-game main slate Saturday night, which many might consider an ideal size for DFS roster construction. There isn't an overabundance of big names on the injury report, either, offering us a strong player pool to work with.
Slate Overview
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The spreads on Saturday night's slate are relatively diverse, with a trio at 2.5 points or less as of early Saturday and another couple up on the board at 4.5 and 5.5 points. All projected totals already listed are over 220 points as well, including two over 230 points – the Trail Blazers-Timberwolves and Celtics-Warriors clashes.
Injury Situations to Monitor
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Jamal Murray, DEN (knee): PROBABLE
Murray is expected to fill his usual starting point guard role after scoring 40 FD points against the Blazers on Thursday.
Donovan Mitchell, CLE (lower leg): GTD
If Mitchell is out again Saturday, Caris LeVert would be due for another start at shooting guard.
Lauri Markkanen, UTA (illness): GTD
If Markkanen is sidelined again Saturday, Malik Beasley is likely to remain in the starting five.
Other notable injuries:
Nicolas Claxton, BKN (hamstring): GTD
Josh Hart, POR (ankle): PROBABLE
Andrew Wiggins, GSW (groin): OUT
Michael Porter, DEN (heel): OUT
Norman Powell, LAC (groin): OUT
Collin Sexton, UTA (hamstring): OUT
Reggie Jackson, LAC (rest): OUT
Al Horford, BOS (COVID-19 protocols): OUT
Elite Players
We have five players with five-figure salaries on Saturday's slate – Luka Doncic ($11,800), Nikola Jokic ($11,500), Jayson Tatum ($10,600), Kevin Durant ($10,300) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($10,200).
Doncic scored 61.7 FD points against the Bucks on Friday night, extending his streak with at least 50 to six consecutive contests.
Jokic has put up 55.5 and 69.7 FD points in two of his last three games and faces a Jazz team that's been highly generous to centers all season; Jokic has been a beneficiary, scoring 46.8 and 38 FD points in 33 and 25 minutes, respectively, across two prior meetings.
Tatum dipped to 37 FD points against the Suns on Wednesday night, but that was over only 29 minutes. He'd scored 46.7 to 71.7 FD points in four of the prior five and should be playing a hefty workload against the Warriors.
Durant scored 49.8 FD points Friday night against the Hawks, his eighth straight with at least 42.3.
SGA was under 40 FD points Wednesday night against the Grizzlies, his first time under that threshold since Nov. 18.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Stephen Curry, GSW ($9,900)
Curry scored only 25.8 FD points against the Pacers in an abysmal outing his last time on the floor, but he naturally brings the upside of a five-figure player and should be very popular in the Finals rematch against the Celtics.
Damian Lillard, POR ($9,700)
Lillard went off for 67.8 FD points across 37 minutes Thursday night against the Nuggets in only his second game back from his calf injury, which should keep him very popular Saturday.
Tyrese Haliburton, IND ($9,500)
Haliburton has scored 56.9 and 40.9 FD points in his first two games back from an absence due to a groin injury and should therefore be in plenty of lineups.
Kristaps Porzingis, WAS ($9,100)
Porzingis has been thriving in Bradley Beal's absence, scoring over 51 FD points in two of his last three and 44.8 in the other game in that sample on Friday night versus the Pacers.
Anthony Edwards, MIN ($8,800)
Edwards dipped to 32.2 FD points in 34 minutes against the Jazz on Friday night, but he'd scored 48.6 to 63.1 in the first three games of Karl-Anthony Towns' absence.
Key Values
Tim Hardaway, DAL at CHI ($5,900)
Hardaway is an ideal value play to attack the Bulls with, considering Chicago is allowing the fifth-highest three-point shooting percentage (37.9) of any team on its home floor. Hardaway scored 25.6 to 44 FD points in the five games prior to his clunker versus Milwaukee on Friday night, when he went just 3-for-9 from the floor. While there's always a risk of a downturn with the streaky Hardaway, the upside he brings at his salary, and the matchup against a Bulls squad allowing 39.9 percent shooting from long distance to small forwards specifically.
John Wall, LAC at WAS ($5,900)
Wall will draw the start against his old team Saturday night in place of Reggie Jackson (rest), making him one of the more intriguing fantasy-point-per-dollar values on the slate. The veteran has been very productive off the bench thus far for Los Angeles after a season off, averaging 25.3 FD points across 21.9 minutes over his first 21 games. Wall has scored 26 to 43.3 FD points in 11 of those contests, and he'll have a solid matchup against a Washington squad that's given up over 44 FD points per game to point guards in the last 15.
Malik Beasley, UTA at DEN ($5,000)
Lauri Markkanen could miss a second straight game Saturday night due to his illness, leaving Beasley with a second consecutive starting assignment against a former team. Beasley came through with 34.3 FD points across 36 minutes versus the T-Wolves on Friday night, and even if he's back on the second unit Saturday, he's generated plenty of production in a bench role this season. Beasley has delivered over 5x on his current salary in 11 of 28 games overall, and the opposing Nuggets have given up the second-highest offensive efficiency rating to bench players (46.9) while also surrendering the highest shooting percentage to second units (49.3).
ALSO CONSIDER: Kawhi Leonard, LAC at WAS ($5,800)
