This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
After a busy Friday night, we take a break in the form of a four-game main slate Saturday. The injury report reads like a who's who of the top players in the league, however, and several of those stars are already ruled out. Therefore, we'll be working with an especially narrow player pool, especially at the high end of the salary spectrum.
Slate Overview
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Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Saturday, 3/22 @ 12:00 a.m. EDT:
Golden State Warriors (-3) at Atlanta Hawks (O/U: 230.5)
Washington Wizards at New York Knicks (-15.5) (O/U: 220.5)
Milwaukee Bucks (-1.5) at Sacramento Kings (O/U: 228.5)
Chicago Bulls at Los Angeles Lakers (-11) (O/U: 233.5)
Spreads are evenly divided among either extreme Saturday, with the two double-digit favorites offset by Warriors-Hawks and Bucks-Kings matchups that are projected to be very competitive. Absent stars are contributing to the lines in both cases, as Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Domantas Sabonis are all ruled out for the Warriors, Bucks and Kings, respectively.
Projected totals gives us reason for optimism, considering three games sport figures north of 228 points as of early Saturday. That includes the Bulls-Lakers matchup that could see both its spread and total increase if LeBron James is confirmed as available after a seven-game absence due to a left groin strain.
Injury Situations to Monitor
For all the latest updates, visit RotoWire's NBA Injury News page and our comprehensive NBA Injury Report.
LeBron James, LAL (groin): QUESTIONABLE
If James doesn't return Saturday, Luka Doncic will continue to see even more usage than usual, while Dorian Finney-Smith is likely to draw a start at power forward.
Domantas Sabonis, SAC (ankle): OUT
In Sabonis' ongoing absence, Jonas Valanciunas will continue as the starting center and the likes of DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk and Zach LaVine will see a bump in usage.
Damian Lillard, MIL (calf): OUT
In Lillard's absence, Giannis Antetokounmpo will be primed for even more opportunities than usual, while Kevin Porter and Ryan Rollins are likely to handle the majority of point guard minutes.
Stephen Curry, GSW (pelvis): OUT
In Curry's absence, Brandin Podziemski could shift to point guard while Buddy Hield enters the starting five at two-guard.
Jalen Brunson, NYK (ankle): OUT
In Brunson's ongoing absence, Miles McBride should continue as the starting point guard if he can play through his groin issue, while Cameron Payne is likely to step into the first unit in his stead otherwise.
Other notable injuries:
Bobby Portis, MIL (suspension): OUT
Bilal Coulibaly, WAS (hamstring): OUT
Tre Jones, CHI (foot): QUESTIONABLE
Miles McBride, NYK (groin): QUESTIONABLE
Rui Hachimura, LAL (knee): QUESTIONABLE
Kevin Huerter, CHI (thumb): PROBABLE
Caris LeVert, ATL (knee): PROBABLE
Austin Reaves, LAL (ankle): PROBABLE
Trae Young, ATL (Achilles): PROBABLE
Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIL (knee): PROBABLE
Luka Doncic, LAL (calf): PROBABLE
Elite Players
We have two players with five-figure salaries on Saturday's slate: Luka Doncic ($12,000) and Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,800).
Doncic will have some extra rest after sitting out Thursday's game against the Bucks, and he could be taking the floor without LeBron James once again. He'll also come in on a five-game streak of games with over 54 FD points.
Antetokoumpo will be on the floor without Damian Lillard, a scenario in which he boasts a 35.2 percent usage rate and averages 61.3 FD points per 36 minutes. He also checks in averaging 55.9 FD points over his last five games overall.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Karl-Anthony Towns, NYK ($9,800)
Towns will continue operating without Jalen Brunson on Saturday and has scored at least 41 FD points in five of the last seven games.
Trae Young, ATL ($9,700)
Young has scored over 50 FD points in three of the past four games, which should help ensure his popularity on such a small slate and at his salary.
Austin Reaves, LAL ($8,700)
Reaves, like Doncic, is expected to return from a one-game absence Saturday and has scored between 48 and 74.1 FD points in four consecutive games, which should lock in a high roster rate for him at his salary irrespective of LeBron's availability.
Jimmy Butler, GSW ($8,400)
Butler is averaging 46.7 FD points per 36 minutes without Stephen Curry on the court this season and has scored 43.6 to 57.2 FD points in his last three contests, all factors that should enable him to be in plenty of lineups.
Malik Monk, SAC ($8,000)
Monk has scored over 40 FD points in three consecutive games and will be working without Domantas Sabonis again Saturday, which should ensure the guard is one of the more popular plays on the slate.
Key Values
Mikal Bridges, NYK vs. WAS ($6,600)
Bridges has been playing well during Jalen Brunson's current absence, averaging 33.8 FD points on 21.0 points (57.9 percent shooting), 5.1 assists and 3.9 rebounds per contest over that seven-game sample. Bridges' two best tallies during that span are an impressive 37.8 and 46.8 FD points, underscoring the upside he offers at his salary. The matchup against one of the most defensively vulnerable teams in the league could likely coax one of those higher-percentile performances from him, considering Washington ranks No. 28 in offensive efficiency rating allowed to shooting guards (25.8) and is allowing 38.4 percent three-point shooting to the position. The Wizards are also surrendering an Eastern Conference-high 46.0 FD points per game to SGs, furthering Bridges' already strong case.
Brandin Podziemski, GSW at ATL ($6,100)
As noted earlier, Podziemski could have primary ball-handling duties Saturday in Stephen Curry's stead, and if so, he'll be in a position to capitalize against a vulnerable opponent. The Hawks rank No. 24 in offensive efficiency rating surrendered to point guards (28.2) and have allowed 39.6 percent three-point shooting to ones, while Podziemski has drained 50.0 percent of his shot attempts from the field, including from behind the arc, in his first two games back from a five-game absence due to a low-back strain. Podziemski has also averaged 25.5 FD points in that pair of contests, and he's eclipsed 30 FD points on 16 occasions this season. It's also worth noting no team has allowed more fantasy production to PGs over the last 15 games than Atlanta, which has yielded 54.7 FD points per contest to ones in that span.
Kevin Huerter, CHI at LAL ($5,700)
Huerter is fully expected to play through his thumb injury Saturday and comes into a showdown with the Lakers running very hot, as he's shooting 57.9 percent, including 50.0 percent from distance, over his last three games. The veteran wing is also averaging 39.2 FD points over that span, and zooming out to a larger sample of his last 12 contests, Huerter is still clocking a solid 28.8 FD points with the help of 39.4 percent three-point shooting in that span. Los Angeles has also surrendered 37.8 percent shooting from behind the arc to two-guards, and they've also yielded an NBA-high average of 4.4 made threes to the position on the way to surrendering the fifth-most FD points per contest (48.2) to SGs in the last seven games.
ALSO CONSIDER: Jonathan Kuminga, GSW at ATL ($5,500)
