After a massive Wednesday slate, we take a breath with a four-game ledger Thursday night. Three of the eight teams in action are on the second night of a back-to-back, although all are at home. The injury report is also light, certainly a benefit on such a compact slate.
Slate Overview
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Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Thursday, Jan. 8 @ 1:30 a.m. EST:
Indiana Pacers at *Charlotte Hornets (-4) (O/U: 233.5)
Miami Heat (-7) at *Chicago Bulls (O/U: 241.5)
Cleveland Cavaliers at Minnesota Timberwolves (-3) (O/U: 240.5)
Dallas Mavericks (-8) at *Utah Jazz (O/U: 236.5)
* Denotes second game of back-to-back set
The betting metrics paint a fairly appealing picture from a DFS perspective Thursday, as we have no double-digit favorites and all four games have very healthy projected totals, to varying degree. The pair of contests with 240-plus-point tallies are especially attractive, and the Cavaliers-Timberwolves matchup could offer the best game environment of the night.
Injury Situations to Monitor
For all the latest updates, visit RotoWire's NBA Injury News page and our comprehensive NBA Injury Report.
Brandon Miller, CHA (knee): OUT
In Miller's ongoing absence, Sion James and Josh Green should absorb the majority of small forward minutes, while LaMelo Ball and Kon Knueppel could be among the biggest beneficiaries in terms of extra usage.
Coby White, CHI (calf): GTD
If White sits out again, Kevin Huerter would be in line for another start at shooting guard.
Other notable injuries:
Josh Giddey, CHI (hamstring): OUT
Jalen Smith, CHI (concussion): OUT
Bennedict Mathurin, IND (thumb): OUT
P.J. Washington, DAL (ankle): DOUBTFUL
Jaime Jaquez, MIA (ankle): QUESTIONABLE
Jaylon Tyson, CLE (illness): PROBABLE
Elite Players
We have one player with a five-figure salary on Thursday's slate in Anthony Davis ($10,900).
Davis has bounced back from a 26.9 FD-point tally three games ago to produce 54.9 and 44.2 FD points in his last two contests, and he draws a favorable and fast-paced matchup against the Jazz.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Donovan Mitchell, CLE ($9,600)
Mitchell should be refreshed after getting Tuesday's game off for rest and has scored 46.7 to 61.5 FD points in his last three games, factors that should make him very popular Thursday.
Anthony Edwards, MIN ($9,500)
Edwards has scored 42.5 to 54.7 FD points in four straight games, which should get him on plenty of rosters Thursday.
Lauri Markkanen, UTA ($8,600)
Markkanen has boasted a floor of 40 FD points in his last six games, making him one of the safer options if spending up Thursday.
LaMelo Ball, CHA ($8,500)
Ball will take the floor without Brandon Miller and although he's been under 40 FD points in four straight, his upside should make him very popular on the small slate.
Keyonte George, UTA ($8,500)
George posted 46.9 FD points Wednesday against the Thunder and is now averaging 39.9 FD points per contest for the season, which should set him up for a high roster rate Thursday.
Key Values
Kel'el Ware, MIA at CHI ($6,800)
Ware comes into Thursday's favorable positional matchup on a multi-game stretch of strong production, as he's averaging 35.3 FD points on the strength of 15.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per contest across his last 11 games. That stretch includes five double-doubles and seven double-digit rebounding efforts overall, and he posted 46.3 FD points via a 20-point, 14-rebound double-double in his one previous meeting with the Bulls this season. Chicago is surrendering an NBA-high 54.1 FD points per game to PFs on the season as well, including an NBA-high 57.1 in the last 15 contests. Additionally, it's worth noting Ware is shooting a blistering 53.7% from behind the arc, while the Bulls are allowing 36.5 percent from behind the arc.
Jusuf Nurkic, UTA vs. DAL ($6,500)
Nurkic is thriving in his starting center role, most recently having posted a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double that also included five assists and two steals across 31 minutes against the Trail Blazers on Monday and following it up with a 15-point, 15-rebound double-dub on his way to 49 FD points in an overtime loss to the Thunder. While the third game in four nights Thursday is somewhat of a concern, the matchup against a Mavericks team that's allowing the second-most rebounds per game (55.6) and the second-most FD points to centers (59.6) in the last seven games. Then, Dallas is also conceding the second-most points in the paint per road game (56.5), while Nurkic is scoring 68.7 percent of his points in that part of the floor.
Ayo Dosunmu, CHI vs. MIA ($5,700)
Dosunmu is in the midst of a nice run off the Bulls' bench, as he'd been averaging 28.9 FD points across 26.8 minutes per game over the last five contests prior to Thursday on the strength of 14.0 points, 5.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game. Dosunmu then kept it going Wednesday against the Pistons, posting 31.7 FD points across 31 minutes. The fifth-year veteran's surge has come during Josh Giddey's ongoing absence due to a hamstring injury, and he was averaging 37.9 FD points per 36 minutes with Giddey off the floor going into Wednesday. With what should be another solid allotment of minutes and what's projected to be an extremely fast-paced game, Dosunmu could offer another strong return on investment.
ALSO CONSIDER: Daniel Gafford, DAL at UTA ($5,500)
