NBA Wednesday: Kawhi Leonard leads daily fantasy basketball plays

Wednesday brings a tricky eight-game slate. A lot of the teams that will be in action also played Tuesday, so several players could be rested. With that in mind, here are some options to consider on Yahoo, as well as a few to possibly avoid.

GUARDS

Immanuel Quickley, NY at IND ($31): With the Knicks pretty much locked into the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, Tom Thibodeau is giving Jalen Brunson (hand) the night off. Combine that with Julius Randle (ankle) being out, and there will be a lot of minutes and shot attempts up for grabs. Enter Quickley, who has averaged 21.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists over 18 games as a starter. The Pacers have played at the seventh-fastest pace in the league, which works even more in Quickley’s favor.

Johnny Davis, WAS at ATL ($10): We have likely seen the last of most of the Wizards’ regular starters this season. They are giving more minutes to their young players, with Davis being one of them. The 10th overall pick in the 2022 Draft has started back-to-back games, scoring 27.7 and 43.0 Yahoo points, respectively. He is well worth the risk at the minimum salary.

Guard to Avoid

Killian Hayes, DET vs. BKN ($22): With so many players with cheap salaries looking at extended playing time, there really isn’t any need to take a chance on a mid-tier salary player like Hayes. He hasn’t exactly been great, scoring 27.9 Yahoo points or fewer in four straight games. He also logged a whopping 42 minutes against the Heat on Tuesday, so he might have some tired legs for this matchup.

FORWARDS

Kawhi Leonard, LAC vs. LAL ($40): This is a big game for both teams. They have identical 41-38 records. The Clippers currently occupy the sixth seed in the Western Conference, while the Lakers are in the Play-In Tournament with the seventh seed. They are both just one game ahead of the eighth-seeded Pelicans and half a game behind the fifth-seeded Warriors. That means they should both deploy their starters like usual. That’s great news for Leonard, who scored 40 points on his way to 56.6 Yahoo points in his last game Saturday against the Pelicans. He also posted 47.3 Yahoo! points the last time the two clubs squared off.

Story continues

Jordan Nwora, IND vs. NY ($13): The Pacers haven’t gone full tank mode like some other teams have, but they haven’t been playing Tyrese Haliburton (ankle) or Myles Turner (back) down the stretch. They have given more opportunities to Nwora, who has averaged 33 minutes over their last five games. He hasn’t disappointed, providing 18.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists during that span.

Forward to Avoid

Harrison Barnes, SAC at DAL ($18): There’s not much to see here with Barnes. He doesn’t have a massive role within the Kings’ scoring attack, posting just a 17.0 percent usage rate. He also provides very little in the way of assists and defensive stats. That has all contributed to him scoring 26.5 Yahoo points or fewer in 13 of his last 15 games.

CENTERS

Domantas Sabonis, SAC at DAL ($44): The Kings did just play Tuesday, which ended up being a lopsided victory for them over the Pelicans. Sabonis was great again, scoring 44.9 Yahoo points. They haven’t been resting players down the stretch, so as long as Sabonis takes the floor in this game, he could thrive against a Mavericks team that is struggling to defend and doesn’t have much size up front.

Mitchell Robinson, NY at IND ($16): There are a lot of rebounds up for grabs with Randle out. Over the two games he has missed, Robinson hauled in a total of 25 of them. That helped him score 39.3 and 36.2 Yahoo points, respectively. Plenty more rebounds and defensive stats could be coming his way here with Randle out again.

Center to Avoid

Xavier Tillman, MEM at NO ($16): It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride with Tillman lately. Over his last nine games, he scored at least 35.3 Yahoo points four times. However, he scored fewer than 20 Yahoo points in each of the other five games. Robinson is in a better position to be productive and has the same salary, so taking a chance on Tillman to have one of his better performances isn’t necessary.