This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Basketball series.
After Wednesday's crazy 12-game slate, Thursday is much calmer with only four games, which means the scores needed to win should be lower. After all those games Wednesday, it's unsurprising that half of Thursday's teams are on the second night of a back-to-back (the 76ers, Clippers, Hawks, and Warriors).
The Lakers are the worst defense in action, while the Warriors and the Wizards are the best ones. Without Joel Embiid (knee), the 76ers' defense has fallen back toward league-average, and they do not need to be specifically avoided.
GUARDS
Bradley Beal, WAS vs. LAL ($28): Calling Beal hot right now doesn't really do him justice – over his last four games, he is shooting 63.1 percent from the field and has scored at least 27 points three times. Thursday, he faces a Lakers defense that is one of the worst in the league, and that is allowing teams to shoot 39 percent from behind the arc over their last 10 games.
Austin Rivers, LAC vs. GS ($19): The Clippers were embarrassed by the Warriors last week, and Rivers put up his worst game since Chris Paul's (thumb) latest injury. Rivers still posted 10 points, six assists and 22.9 fantasy points – a minor profit. During this latest Paul-free stretch, Rivers is averaging 17.8 points, 4.3 assists and 2.3 threes for 28.4 fantasy points per game. It's hard to imagine that the Clippers will allow themselves to be destroyed so thoroughly again, and this time they get home court advantage. The Warriors defense is absolutely stifling, but they were no less stifling last week when Rivers was nonetheless able to help fantasy lineups. On paper, this matchup should have the fastest pace of the four.
Other suggestions: Nik Stauskas, PHI at SA ($10); James Harden, HOU vs. ATL ($62)
Guard to Avoid
D'Angelo Russell, LAL at WAS ($26): A lot of host sites drop a player's price while they are out with an injury, making their first few games back an unusually good value. Yahoo, however, is not one of those sites. Russell costs exactly the same as he did on Jan. 20 when he left before halftime with a knee and calf injury. The Wizards are one of the toughest matchups for a guard, with opponents ranking in the bottom 10 in points, rebounds and steals. Before getting hurt, Russell has scored fewer than 18 fantasy points in three of four games.
FORWARDS
Blake Griffin, LAC vs. GS ($39): For Griffin to hit, he usually needs all three of his skills to be operational: scoring, rebounding and passing. In his first game back after missing 18 games with a knee injury, his rebounding and passing looked good, but he only scored 12 points. In his second game, the walloping at the hands of the Warriors, he scored well but totaled only six combined rebounds and assists. He finally put it all together Wednesday, and daily gamers celebrated his 49.1 fantasy points. It was also his first game playing more than 30 minutes since returning; before the injury, he was averaging 21.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in 33.7 minutes per game.
Dario Saric, PHI at SA ($11): This feels as absurd to type as it does to read: the Mavericks defense is a tougher fantasy matchup than the Spurs. The Mavericks play slower, and over the last 10 games, allow fewer points per possession. This matters, because against the Mavericks on Wednesday Saric scored 10 and grabbed seven boards on his way to 21.9 fantasy points. It was his third 21-and-change game in his last five – of the remaining two, one was far worse, the other far better. It's been more than three weeks since Saric failed to earn a profit, and he doubled his salary in eight of his last 12.
Other suggestions: Otto Porter, WAS vs. LAL ($25); Andre Iguodala, GS at LAC ($10)
Forward to Avoid
Kevin Durant, GS at LAC ($51) and Draymond Green, GS at LAC ($36): There aren't any really bad forward options Thursday, and there is a good argument for using anyone who costs more than Luol Deng ($16). So I'm going with this pair, primarily because I hate trying to figure out which Warriors star has the best chance of going off on any given night. Fantasy sports are supposed to be fun, and this decision three times a week is the least fun I've had all season. Though they've had lots of good games, neither of these two have profited since a Jan. 20 game versus the Rockets – not even during the domination of these same Clippers last week.
CENTERS
DeAndre Jordan, LAC vs GS ($31): Despite getting ejected in the third quarter, Jordan managed to accumulate 12 rebounds, six points, four blocks and 32.4 fantasy points in Wednesday's game against the Suns. For whatever reason, the pricing algorithm continues to underrate Jordan, who has only one game with fewer than 28 fantasy points since Christmas. That was against the Warriors, but due to the massive blowout, he played an uncharacteristically low 23 minutes that night, which contributed to the poor fantasy outing. He's one of just two healthy centers above $20, and his ceiling is much higher than the other option, Dwight Howard.
Ivica Zubac, LAL at WAS ($10): Since Zubac comes off the bench, a lot of his minutes will come without Marcin Gortat on the floor, which is great for his value. He's played at least 21 minutes in each of the last three games, and averaged 15.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per outing during that stretch. The first of those three games came with Julius Randle (illness) in the lineup, so if he returns Thursday it is unlikely to impact Zubac.
Other suggestions: Marcin Gortat, WAS vs. LAL ($19)
Center to Avoid
Nerlens Noel, PHI at SA ($19): There are six healthy centers above minimum salary, so there aren't a lot of options here. Of the six, Noel has the toughest matchup and the least reliable workload. In terms of matchup, the Spurs rank as the second-toughest against centers. As for the workload, the Sixers have become somewhat unreliable with their big man rotation as we near the trade deadline. In the last two games, Noel played 25 minutes one night and then 17 minutes the next. Noel is far from a terrible option, but he is one of the riskiest.
