Welcome back to another NBA Wednesday!
The stars are out on tonight’s slate.
Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo are all expected to lace ‘em up.
But before we dive in, let’s get a time check.
It’s Dame Time.
It just seems ridiculous to click on a number this high, doesn’t it?
However, Lillard is having a career year and continues to pour in points at a historic rate. Lillard currently ranks 3rd in points per game this season.
In fact, his 32.21 average would rank 30th all-time! The stars are aligning for him to have another massive game tonight against Utah.
The Jazz matchup is fantastic, and the healthy 233.5-point total reflects that.
Utah plays at the 3rd fastest pace in the league, and the Blazers play zero defense, which should make for a great game environment for points.
The bigger news revolves around Portland, though, with the absence of Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant tonight.
Per RotoGrinders CourtIQ, Lillard averages an absolutely hysterical 43.47 points per 36 minutes without them on the court – sporting a 40% usage, more than 13 free throws made, and better than five 3-pointers.
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Houston has been a fantasy goldmine this season.
Across all positions, the Rockets yield the 5th most average points and the most 3-pointers in the NBA.
Overall, they own the 2nd worst defensive rating in the league.
Ja Morant is set to return to action tonight for Memphis, but he may play off the bench and won’t log his full allotment of minutes.
In fact, the initial run of projections at RotoGrinders has him projected for just 28 minutes this evening.
Triple J has been an animal, playing arguably the best basketball of his career this season.
While many of his ceiling games have been without Morant, I think that momentum carries over tonight in an elite matchup.
Overall, he’s averaging 22.72 points and 8.43 rebounds per 36 minutes (and now gets a breeze of a matchup), while RotoGrinders also has him accruing more than this PrizePicks number tonight.
This line seems a little low, considering both Kevin Durant and Deandre Ayton aren’t playing for Phoenix tonight.
There’s a chance CP3 could eclipse this number on just points and assists alone, but he’s an above-average rebounder for a point guard, which helps provide some wiggle room.
Via RotoGrinders CourtIQ, Paul averages 18.94 points, 11.23 assists, and 6.21 rebounds across a massive 421-minute sample size without Durant and Ayton on the court this season.
The Lakers surprisingly own the league’s 2nd best defensive efficiency across the last 15 games.
However, both teams have been playing at an above-average pace during that sample size. CP3’s usage and role outweigh the minor cons of this matchup tonight.
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Fool me once; shame on you. Fool me twice…
Jokic made me look like a total fool a few weeks ago.
He recorded a season-high NINE 3-point attempts (making three) when I wrote about this pick.
It was the anomaly of all anomalies.
Jokic has played 22 games since February 1st, tallying less than this 0.5 number in 16 of them.
Last time I checked, a 69% hit rate is pretty good!
In fact, he didn’t even attempt a single 3-pointer in nine of those games.
It’s back to the well for tonight’s game, as this seems to be a solid selection to have on a few of our entries tonight.
You can follow Justin Carlucci on Twitter @ThejCarlucci