 Hey everybody, I'm Greg Sussman inside Studio 34 and today it's gonna be a fun show because with just two games on the MBA slate not only are we gonna give you some top plays some value plays We're gonna pick the games tonight from a betting standpoint as well for the DFS part of it We're joined by Drew Digmire of dailyrotor.com. What's going on Drew? Just two games so a little bit of a shortened slate of options to choose from but we'll do our best to guide people in the Right direction here. Let's start out with some of the top plays on the board drill We'll start in Oklahoma City with Paul George who returned from injury earlier this week and played a full complement of minutes Played a full complement of minutes also took 25 shots. So no concerns about his health going forward He was he was an ample and willing shooter in that first game back and the matchup tonight is pretty good Portland has struggled against wing players specifically against small forwards They ranked dead last in defensive efficiency against the position this season So of the top spends relative to their price tag We view Paul George as the best play and the primary spend that you should you should consider on the slate Paul George is always a player that you want to get in there But now that he's back and shooting 25 times a game. Yeah That'll work especially on a two-game slate Another star that you should consider tonight Well, it's the star on the opposite team playing Paul George in the Thunder tonight and that's Damian Lillard Why Lillard over Westbrook tonight? The reason for Lillard over Westbrook is more about salary and overall roster construction than anything else tonight Westbrook salary kind of inflated a little bit both guys are priced pretty pretty appropriately There's not a ton of value to be had on their tags But it's a little bit easier to build well-rounded rosters with Damian Lillard Knowing that you're gonna have to spend up at small forward for one of Paul George or Yana Santatacumpo unless you can squeeze both of those guys in So we like Damian Lillard a little bit better from a roster construction play Oklahoma City is a good defensive team in terms of defensive efficiency But they play very fast and so that allows a lot of opportunities This game has a much higher total than the Milwaukee, Indiana game And it's the game that we primarily like to target So getting one stud kind of from each side with Paul George and Damian Lillard makes a lot of sense to build the stars part of Your lineups fair enough a good reason to go with Lillard tonight. He's a pivot to Westbrook. That's all right, too The stats will obviously be there One last story we want to get to before the value plays and that's of course Yana Santatacumpo on a small slate tonight Obviously, you have to bring up Yana's potentially instead of Paul George Obviously mentioned PG-13 one of your favorite plays on the board. You have to like Yana's as well Yeah, you have to love Yana's the big question mark with Yana's is just where the minutes are gonna be But the last three games they've been kind of more back to normal 33 32 34 minutes those last three games No Milwaukee has been playing a little bit under underwhelming of late So this is a good bounce back opportunity at home against Indiana with their 10-point favorites I do think it's a fine matchup for Yana's even though Indiana is a good defensive team and I think his ownership will come in lower than Paul George So I think he's a he's a fine play and obviously small four is just a difficult position to fill on the whole If you can get up to both Yana's and Paul George with a lot of punts It's also a viable approach tonight as well Absolutely Yana's the minutes do you seem more secure than they were and well We know how good he is when he is on the court and playing these games Yana Santatacumpo certainly someone to consider tonight All right, so those are the stars that are on the board for tonight's slate Let's get into the value plays here Drew because this is where it's gonna be important Everybody knows about Yana's and Paul George and Damian Lillard But the values are what's tough to come by and we start in Portland where you think the big man you want to play is Yusuf Nurkic But you're recommending NS canter. How come? Yeah, Yusuf Nurkic is certainly more likely to outscore NS canter But on a per dollar basis we view NS canter as a little bit better way to build on this slate Obviously you talked about all the studs that we have with Damian Lillard with Yana Santatacumpo Paul George and Russell Westbrook All those guys are gonna require a ton of salary And so the center position is one of those positions that maybe you can get a little bit of salary relief and as cancer's just 4500 and on a permanent basis He's as productive as everybody else on the slate at the center position with the exception of Yusuf Nurkic Who is slightly ahead of him if Nurkic gets into foul trouble or of any sort against even Adams You could see those minutes take up for NS cancer and we think the matchup is a little bit better More favorable for NS cancer that he could extend some of his playing time as well Just because he has a big size advantage on New Orleans Noelle Who's a very very good defender just thin and lanky compared to canter's bulk So we like cancer as a source of salary relief and kind of roster construction wise it just makes sense on the slate He makes a lot of sense on this slate because he could put up a lot of fantasy points in just not a lot of time on the court And facing a guy like New Orleans Noelle Which we assume he will the points and the revounds and just a whole lot of fantasy goodness should be there tonight More fantasy goodness is in Indiana where West Matthews makes a little bit of sense tonight. How come you're going with Matthews? Matthews is in it at another one of these positions where there's not a ton of value to be had and he's Relatively cheap so he looks like the best source of salary relief at a shooting guard position that you know We'd rather spend let's say just under 10k for Damian Lillard then spend you know up around seven or eight K for guys like Chris Middleton or CJ McCollum So just from a roster construction standpoint It makes a little bit more sense to get some salary relief at shooting guard and for West Matthews The matchup isn't as bad as you might think on paper in particular Milwaukee is a team that is yes a very good defense But they allow a ton of three-point field goal attempts the most per game in the league and West Matthews is the guy who Camps out the three-point line fires away. So hopefully he gets hot from deep pays off that cheap price tag Price tag is cheap enough the value is gonna be there for West Matthews and as Drew mentioned There's just not that much of it on the board tonight. You're gonna have to take it where you can get it One last value play that Drew Digmire likes tonight and that is Jeremy Grant with the Thunder We saw what he could do when Paul George was out. Why do you like him still when Paul George is back another one of those positions? It's pretty difficult today No high-end power forwards to really choose from and most of the guys that are gonna play meaningful minutes on this slate are Priced up for the most part that he's young is priced appropriately Alpha Rook aminus priced appropriately The bucks don't really have a lot of power forwards to consider because Giannis kind of plays that position for them And he's small forward eligible. So we think Jeremy Grant has the best price tag of the group He does get steals and blocks which fits the official fantasy scoring He's priced reasonably in the mid fives and over his last five games He's averaging 28 fan dual points per game. So he's coming in in good form as well We think he's your best value at the power forward position Value again tough to come by with just two games on the slate You're gonna have to get this right in order to win some money tonight You think Jeremy Grant's one of those guys that you could go with would be very happy That's gonna do it for the daily fantasy part of tonight's two games late when we come back We'll pick the game We'll give you the teams to bet on tonight and how you win money on that side of things Drew we appreciate the time and we'll see you tomorrow. Thanks so much Greg. Good luck tonight We'll take a break. We'll be back with Joe Ranieri to pick the games right after this Back with you on the fan dual hurry up Greg Sussman now joined by our guy Joe Ranieri to pick the games What's going on Joe? How are you my friend doing fantastic? And I want to win some money tonight. There's two games on the slate It's easy to break down. So I would think and I'm hoping you'll be able to help me do just that First game the early one you can watch it on TNT early tonight It's a Milwaukee Bucks hosting the Indiana Pacers at 8 o'clock Bucks are a 10-point favorite at home over under sits at 223 what do you like? I got to tell you the Indiana. It's a tale of home and away with them They're a different team at home compared to what they are away They're four and four in their last eight overall They're averaging about a hundred and eight hundred nine points per game And they've done an amazing job once they lost Victor Oladipo. They're leading scorer for the season But it's been Bojan Bogdanovitch the entire time along the way averaging about 18 a game along with two assists It's all about consistency with Indiana right now. They have it at home They don't have it away, which is why they've been four and four over their last eight They've lost their last five of eight away from home So this is a tough tough ball game from them going into a place where Milwaukee they dominated home They've only lost 11 games all year at home This team knows how to win and unfortunately, Indiana doesn't know how to win or even cover Away from there the comfy confines of their house. So I'm gonna say lay the points here go with Milwaukee I expect this to be somewhere between 12 to 14 point victory for the Milwaukee Bucks All right, the Bucks get the job done according to Joe That's the direction you're gonna want to go in take Yanis and the crew. I guess a struggling Pacers team in Milwaukee All right up next we go to the Western Conference affair and this one's at 10 30 p.m. Eastern time on TNT Portland travel lasers are at home hosting a thunder of what should be a better game Portland comes in as a four-point home favorite with the Overunders sitting at 2 32 Westbrook and George in Portland. What are you thinking Joe? Well? I think okay Zaya has been hot garbage as of late We are talking a slump of all something I think it has to do with the fact that Paul George has been hurt He has not been 100% he's got that shoulder injury And I don't blame him for all of the issues there, but it's a different team without a 100% Healthy Paul George. In fact, they've been absolutely atrocious Against the number two in their last eight. We are looking at a oh and a team against the number oh and eight Oklahoma City it is not good the thunder have also gone to an eight against the spread In their last ten the blazers. However, seven and three the blazers are home and they love being home Let me tell you you got two teams moving in totally opposite directions here. I love the blazers in this position I love them at home. I love them in the first half laying to and I also love them full game laying four I figure it's gonna be about 124 110 expect a blowout another blowout here Portland at home takes care of business against okc Another blowout that's two for two in blowouts Joe confident with the Portland trailblazers tonight That's gonna do it for us here on the fan duel hurry with just two games Well, we're gonna make you some money anyway. Drew gave the DFS picks Joe hook joke with the gambling picks You're gonna win money on both sides tonight Joe Ranieri. Thanks so much for the time Appreciate it guys. Good luck and good luck to everybody watching we'll be back tomorrow with a full sling of NBA games And all of your daily fantasy picks for Joe and Drew. I'm Greg. Thanks so much for watching and we'll see you next time