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André Snellings
Multiple Authors
ESPN’s fantasy basketball daily cheat sheet is your pregame destination before you set your lineups for that night’s games. Here you’ll read our best advice for the night, including a selection of players you can stream as well as game-by-game injury reports.
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Top streamers | Best bets | DFS picks | Odds & Injury report
What you need to know for Wednesday’s games
The NBA has six games on tap for Wednesday, including half that are between teams vying for playoff positioning.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have a tough game on the road against a hot Orlando Magic squad that has won four straight and is one of three teams within a half-game of each other for the fifth through seventh seeds. The Cavs are only a half game behind the New York Knicks for the three seed in the East, but the Knicks are facing a lottery-bound Utah Jazz squad. Both the Cavs and Magic need this win, so the competition level should be high.
The same is true in Denver, where the sixth-seeded Nuggets host the three-seeded Houston Rockets in a Western tilt between two of the five teams separated by two games for the final four guaranteed playoffs spots. The Nuggets have lost two straight, including a classic against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, while the Rockets won on Tuesday. Every win is precious.
The last game of the night is another postseason influencer, with the Minnesota Timberwolves on the second half of an all-LA back-to-back against the LA Clippers. The Timberwolves got ran by the Los Angeles Lakers last night to fall to the five seed, while the Clippers only have a half-game lead to hold onto the eighth seed. All these and many other storylines will be on display tonight.
Dré’s fantasy stream team for Wednesday
Kyle Filipowski, PF, Utah Jazz (rostered in 44.7% of ESPN leagues): Filipowski has grabbed double-digit boards in four straight games, including double-doubles in the last three in which he has averaged 17.7 PPG, 13.3 RPG, 4.7 APG and 3.4 steals + blocks.
Precious Achiuwa, PF/C, Sacramento Kings (39.9% rostered): Achiuwa moved into the starting lineup for the Kings just before the All-Star break, and coming out of the break he has been an impact player to the tune of 15.9 PPG, 9.3 RPG and 2.2 stocks (steals + blocks) over his last 10 outings.
Maxime Raynaud, C, Sacramento Kings (33.7%): Raynaud, like Achiuwa, has made his presence felt as a starter for the Kings. He has averaged a double-double over his last 10 games with 16.8 PPG and 10.3 RPG.
Tristan da Silva, SF, Orlando Magic (10.1%): Da Silva is a strong 3-point shooter, but of late he has shown he can be more than that. In his last eight games, he is averaging 12.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 2.9 APG and 1.4 SPG in addition to his 2.4 3PG.
Dré’s favorite bets for Wednesday
Desmond Bane OVER 2.5 made 3-pointers (+135): Bane is due for a big night behind the arc. He has made one or fewer 3-pointers in four of his last five games, but this comes on the heels of him making 28 treys over his previous six games with at least three in five of the six games. He has been streaky from behind the arc all season but almost always ends one of his multi-game lulls with a three-plus trey effort. On Wednesday, he will help lead a Magic squad missing several key rotation players against the Cavs, whom they need to beat. Bane will be called upon to score, and the Cavs rank among the bottom 10 in the NBA in 3-pointers allowed to both shooting guards and small forwards.
Nikola Jokic OVER 28.5 points (-112): Jokic has been on a heater lately, averaging 30.6 PPG in his last nine outings with 30 or more in six of those games. He has also dominated the Rockets with his scoring all season, averaging 32.7 PPG in their three previous matchups. Jokic is coming off a monster game in a heartbreaking loss to the Thunder on Monday and will need to carry his team again tonight with Jamal Murray still working back to full strength after spraining his ankle last week.
Anthony Edwards OVER 28.5 points (-105): Edwards is poised to bounce back after an ice cold night against the Lakers. Last night, Edwards made only two of 15 shots on his way to 14 points. But Edwards rarely has two off games in a row. In fact, in three of the last four times this season he scored fewer than 20 points — including the last two times in a row — Edwards has exploded for 40 points in the following game. Edwards is also facing a Clippers team he dropped 31 points against just two weeks ago, in a game the Timberwolves need to win to keep pace in the Western Conference.
Top Daily Fantasy values of the day
$8,100+ salaries
Nikola Jokic, C, Denver Nuggets ($12,100): Sometimes the highest price player on the slate is worth it. Jokic has outproduced his season average of 65 fantasy points in six of his last nine games, including a whopping 91.5 point explosion in that stretch.
Karl-Anthony Towns, C, Knicks ($8,700): Towns is on a scoring heater with 56 points in his last two games and could have the chance to show out against a friendly Jazz defense that ranks bottom-eight in the league in fantasy points allowed to opposing centers.
$6,100-$8,000 salaries
RJ Barrett, SG, Toronto Raptors ($6,800): Barrett has scored 20 or more points in five straight games, and in his last three that has translated to 36 or more fantasy points in all three outings.
Maxime Raynaud, C, Kings ($6,500): Raynaud is playing well with three games of 39.8 or more fantasy points in his last four outings.
$3,000-$6,000 salaries
Aaron Gordon, PF, Nuggets ($6,000): Gordon is still working himself back from his long injury layoff, but in his last game he popped for 44 fantasy points against the Thunder to indicate he is pretty close to full strength.
Moussa Diabate, C, Charlotte Hornets ($5,900): Diabate scored 31.8 fantasy points in his last game, the sixth time in his last eight outings he has scored 29 FP or more.
Projections and Injury Reports
Basketball Power Index by ESPN Analytics. Injury aggregation by Rotowire.com. Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook
Cleveland Cavaliers at Orlando Magic
7:30 p.m. ET
Line: Cavaliers -3.5 (-110) | Magic +3.5 (-110)
Money line: Cavaliers -166 | Magic +140
Total: 226.5 (-105 O, -115 U)
BPI Projection: Cavaliers by 3.7, straight up 61%, 233.9 total points.
Toronto Raptors at New Orleans Pelicans
8 p.m. ET
Line: Raptors -2.5 (-105) | Pelicans +2.5 (-115)
Money line: Raptors -130 | Pelicans +110
Total: 234.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Pelicans by 0, straight up 50%, 231.8 total points.
New York Knicks at Utah Jazz
9 p.m. ET
Line: Knicks -14.5 (-105) | Jazz +14.5 (-115)
Money line: Knicks -1000 | Jazz +650
Total: 230.5 (-105 O, -115 U)
BPI Projection: Knicks by 14.8, straight up 87%, 237.1 total points.
Houston Rockets at Denver Nuggets
10 p.m. ET
Line: Rockets +7.5 (-115) | Nuggets -7.5 (-105)
Money line: Rockets +235 | Nuggets -290
Total: 231.5 (-105 O, -115 U)
BPI Projection: Nuggets by 2.5, straight up 58%, 229.7 total points.
Charlotte Hornets at Sacramento Kings
10 p.m. ET
Line: Hornets -12.5 (-110) | Kings +12.5 (-110)
Money line: Hornets -750 | Kings +525
Total: 224.5 (-108 O, -112 U)
BPI Projection: Hornets by 11.6, straight up 81%, 226.7 total points.
Minnesota Timberwolves at LA Clippers
10:30 p.m. ET
Line: Timberwolves +1.5 (-108) | Clippers -1.5 (-112)
Money line: Timberwolves +110 | Clippers -130
Total: 226.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Clippers by 3.3, straight up 60%, 225.6 total points.