This article is part of our DFS NBA series.
We have a second straight two-game NBA Cup Quarterfinals slate Wednesday, and there are some injury question marks hanging over the night due to the uncertain status of Alperen Sengun (knee), Jalen Johnson (shoulder) and Josh Hart (ankle). Nevertheless, we still have a solid player pool to work with, and some potential advantages to be had for other players on those teams if any of those potential absences come to fruition.
As customary, we'll highlight multiple advantageous positional matchups to exploit at each position for your Yahoo Fantasy lineups, as well as a good trio of candidates that may be best to steer clear of due to a combination of circumstances/salary.
Guards
Jalen Brunson, NYK vs. ATL ($42): Brunson could be taking the floor Wednesday without Josh Hart (questionable, ankle), a scenario in which the talented guard sports a team-high 33.1% usage rate. However, even if Hart plays, Brunson is in an advantageous spot against a Hawks team that's allowed 50.5 Yahoo points per game to point guards, along with the eighth-highest offensive efficiency rating to the position (27.5). Both of those figures are partly the result of Atlanta surrendering 43.6% shooting from behind the arc to ones, a weakness Brunson, who has four tallies of at least 48.8 Yahoo points in his last eight contests, is well-equipped to exploit considering his career-high 43.2% success rate from deep thus far this season.
Jalen Green, HOU vs. GSW ($30): Green may be positioned to take advantage of the
We have a second straight two-game NBA Cup Quarterfinals slate Wednesday, and there are some injury question marks hanging over the night due to the uncertain status of Alperen Sengun (knee), Jalen Johnson (shoulder) and Josh Hart (ankle). Nevertheless, we still have a solid player pool to work with, and some potential advantages to be had for other players on those teams if any of those potential absences come to fruition.
As customary, we'll highlight multiple advantageous positional matchups to exploit at each position for your Yahoo Fantasy lineups, as well as a good trio of candidates that may be best to steer clear of due to a combination of circumstances/salary.
Guards
Jalen Brunson, NYK vs. ATL ($42): Brunson could be taking the floor Wednesday without Josh Hart (questionable, ankle), a scenario in which the talented guard sports a team-high 33.1% usage rate. However, even if Hart plays, Brunson is in an advantageous spot against a Hawks team that's allowed 50.5 Yahoo points per game to point guards, along with the eighth-highest offensive efficiency rating to the position (27.5). Both of those figures are partly the result of Atlanta surrendering 43.6% shooting from behind the arc to ones, a weakness Brunson, who has four tallies of at least 48.8 Yahoo points in his last eight contests, is well-equipped to exploit considering his career-high 43.2% success rate from deep thus far this season.
Jalen Green, HOU vs. GSW ($30): Green may be positioned to take advantage of the potential absence of Alperen Sengun (knee). Green has been the biggest beneficiary whenever he's been on the floor without the big man this season, boasting a team-high 31.2% usage rate in that scenario while also putting up 26.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals per 36 minutes. Green checks in running hot as well, having scored 33.3 (vs. the Warriors) to 39.9 Yahoo points in his last three games while shooting 40% from 3-point range. Green also had a season-best 56.4 Yahoo points five games ago against the Sixers, and Golden State checks in surrendering 43.6 Yahoo points to two-guards in the last seven games.
ALSO CONSIDER: OG Anunoby, NYK vs. ATL ($28)
Guard to Avoid
Bogdan Bogdanovic, ATL at NYK ($22): Bogdanovic is naturally a fine player that can deliver some very fantasy-friendly scores when he has the hot hand, but he'll enter Wednesday questionable due to a quadriceps injury that already cost him the Hawks' most recent game. The veteran is also averaging a modest 22.1 Yahoo points per game after a delayed start to the season because of a hamstring injury, making him a bit of a risk even if he's available against a very tough Knicks defense that's yielding just 43.1% shooting to second-unit players.
Forwards
Karl-Anthony Towns, NYK vs. ATL ($40): Towns has been an excellent fit for the Knicks since coming over shortly before the start of the season, pulling down a career-best 13.3 rebounds per contest while posting his best scoring average (25.1) since the 2019-20 season. The big man is coming off having scored 53.2 and 60 Yahoo points in his last two games, and he carries a 13-game double-double streak into Wednesday night. The Hawks just so happened to have conceded a 63.7 Yahoo-point tally to Towns back on Nov. 6 as well, and Atlanta comes in surrendering 58.3 Yahoo points per game to centers in the last seven games, along with 41.9% 3-point shooting to the position; in turn, Towns is shooting a career-high 44.7% from long distance.
Jonathan Kuminga, GSW at HOU ($25): Kuminga's production can experience some fluctuations, but the talented wing is on an upswing coming into Wednesday's game. Kuminga has averaged 19.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game over the last six contests, and he's scored 34 Yahoo points or more in three of the last four games. His best total during that span happened to be against these Rockets, as he lit up Houston for 44.4 Yahoo points three games ago while shooting 13-for-22 on his way to a season-high 33 points. The Rockets have given up 45 Yahoo points per game to power forwards in the last seven contests, furthering Kuminga's case at a salary he's proven highly capable of eclipsing.
ALSO CONSIDER: Mikal Bridges, NYK vs. ATL ($31); DeAndre Hunter, ATL at NYK ($20)
Forward to Avoid
Zaccharie Risacher, ATL at NYK ($18): Risacher certainly has plenty of promise and has already flashed his potential on numerous occasions during his rookie season, but he enters Wednesday having scored 20.8 Yahoo points or less in four straight games. Risacher is shooting just 40% over that span, and he's averaging 21.4 Yahoo points for the season. It's worth nothing the first overall pick embarrassed the Knicks back on Nov. 6 with a career-best showing of 33 points and 60.9 Yahoo points, but given New York's typical defensive efficiency and talent, it's likely they're prepared to prevent anything close to a repeat.
Centers
*Alperen Sengun, HOU vs. GSW ($42): Sengun's inclusion comes with the asterisk next to his name due to his uncertain availability as a result of his knee injury. If the big man is cleared to play, he carries more than enough upside to justify this salary, and he just scored 37.1 Yahoo points over 29 minutes against the Warriors two games ago, as well as 33 across 21 minutes on Nov. 2. The Warriors are also allowing 55.8 Yahoo points per game to centers on the season, and Sengun has the ceiling befitting an even higher salary than the one he carries.
Onyeka Okongwu, ATL at NYK ($21): I'm suggesting Okongwu as opposed to the player he backs up, Clint Capela, due to what I feel is the potential for much better fantasy-point-per-dollar value from the former. Capela does can turn in a strong performance any time he has enough minutes, but he's scored 17.8 and 22.5 Yahoo points in his last two games while logging 24 and 19 minutes, respectively. In contrast, Okongwu has seen 29 and 25 minutes in those same games and turned in 24.2 and 28.3 Yahoo points, and he also scored 26 to 33.2 Yahoo points in four of the five games prior to that stretch. The emerging big has also scored in double digits in seven straight, and although the Knicks are not an appealing matchup for centers in general, Okongwu should have a better chance of seeing fewer minutes against Towns than Capela.
ALSO CONSIDER: Larry Nance, ATL at NYK **if Jalen Johnson sits out** ($11); Jock Landale, HOU vs. GSW **if Sengun sits out** ($10)
Center to Avoid
Trayce Jackson-Davis, GSW at HOU ($17): Jackson-Davis has been turning in some lackluster production in recent games, scoring between 2.0 and 20.2 Yahoo points in five straight before falling out of the rotation altogether Sunday against the Timberwolves. The second-year big has had some encouraging moments during his second season, but with the much more reliable Okongwu available at just $4 more in salary, for example, Jackson-Davis isn't really the safest way to go if you're looking to save at center.
