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
Today marks Day 2 of the NBA Cup knockout round. Last night, the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic won their way to the semifinals from the Eastern Conference. Tonight there are two more games to determine the Western Conference semifinals.
The Phoenix Suns hit the road to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the early game. The Thunder are huge favorites, as the spread on DraftKings is a whopping 14.5 points. When these teams played two weeks ago, the Thunder won a close game by four points. But the Suns had Devin Booker for that game, and he has been out with a groin strain. He is questionable to return tonight, and his availability or lack thereof could be the difference between another close game and a blowout.
The late game features the San Antonio Spurs traveling to southern California to face the Los Angeles Lakers. The last time these two played, the game came down to the wire in a Lakers two-point victory. But in that game, the Spurs had Victor Wembanyama in the middle while the Lakers were without both LeBron James and Austin Reaves. Though Wembanyama practiced fully on Sunday, he was still ruled out of tonight's game. Meanwhile, the Lakers are back at full strength with both LeBron and Reaves joining Luka Doncic the lineup. This dynamic led to Draftkings listing the Lakers as 7.5 point favorites.
We'll dig further into the action below, to identify some fantasy hoops streamers, betting angles and DFS prospects of interest for this Western knockout round in the NBA Cup.
Wednesday's fantasy stream team
Julian Champagnie, SF, San Antonio Spurs (Rostered in 11.4% of ESPN leagues): Champagnie had started nine straight games before returning to his role off the bench on Monday. But the shift to the bench didn't slow Champagnie down; he scored 17 points with 6 rebounds, 5 3-pointers and 2 steals in 29 minutes. Champagnie is on the court to shoot from deep, and has notched at least two 3-pointers in three straight and 13 of his last 15 games.
Cason Wallace, SG, Oklahoma City Thunder (15.3%): Wallace has been battling for the league lead in steals all season, and in his last game he tied a career- and season-high with five steals. Wallace can also score double-digit points, contribute moderately in rebounds and assists and knock down one to two 3-pointers a night, but his bread and butter is steals. He has at least one steal in 12 straight games, averaging 2.3 SPG in that stretch.
Collin Gillespie, PG, Phoenix Suns (47.1%): Gillespie has been in this space several times this season, and still remains below the 50% rostered threshold. Gillespie has started five of the last six games for the Suns, and could get another start if Booker (questionable, groin) doesn't play. In his five starts this season, Gillespie has averaged 21.0 PPG, 5.0 APG and 4.4 3PG.
Dre's bets for Wednesday
Thunder -14.5 vs. the Suns (-110)
The Thunder are anacondas. They squeeze teams with their elite defense for 48 minutes a night, and any time their opponents blink, the Thunder are ready to pounce with fast breaks and 3-pointers to put the game out of reach. If the game remains competitive, they have one of the most consistent offensive threats in the NBA in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to help put things away. The Thunder have won 15 straight games and sport a season average scoring margin of 16.1 PPG. While the Suns kept their last game against the Thunder competitive, that has been the anomaly this season. And with questions about Devin Booker's availability and health level even if he plays, I look for the Thunder to pull away in this game.
LeBron James Over 12.5 total rebounds and assists (-121)
James popped for a season-high 29 points last game, only the second time in his seven games that he has scored more than 20 points. But he has been much more consistent in his non-scoring contributions. He has at least 12 total rebounds and assists in six of his seven games, and has 13 or more in four of those games, including each of the last two.
Top Daily Fantasy values of the day
Play Daily Fantasy NBA at DraftKings
$8,100+ salaries
Luka Doncic, PG, Los Angeles Lakers ($12,000)
Doncic is by-far the most likely prospect to put a huge number on the board tonight; he has scored between 57.8 and 81.2 fantasy points in nine straight games, and also dropped 81.2 fantasy points the last time he faced the Spurs just over a month ago.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, PG, Oklahoma City Thunder ($10,600)
Gilgeous-Alexander is metronome consistent with relatively low variance. In his past eight games, including one against the Suns, SGA has scored between 50 and 58.2 fantasy points in six of the games, with one 39 FP game and one 62.5 FP game. He scored 55.8 FP last week against the Suns.
$6,000-$8,000 salaries
Dillon Brooks, SF, Phoenix Suns ($6,500)
Brooks has been the one constant in the Suns' injury-filled lineup, and has scored more than 29 fantasy points in seven of his last nine games, including 29.2 FP against the Thunder last week.
Deandre Ayton, C, Los Angeles Lakers ($6,300)
Ayton has notched double figures in either points or rebounds, or both, in each of his past six games. He has scored between 21.5 and 48 fantasy points in all six of those games, with 30 or more in four of the six. He exploded for 42 fantasy points the last time he faced the Spurs.
$3,500-$6,000 salaries
Harrison Barnes, SF, San Antonio Spurs ($4,900)
Barnes is a high-variance player, but when he gets it going he can put points on the board in a hurry. He has scored 20 or more points five times since Nov. 7, including in two of his past four games. He notched 28 fantasy points in his last game against the Lakers.
Dylan Harper, PG, San Antonio Spurs ($4,700)
Harper is back and healthy for the Spurs and is playing well, posting more than 31 fantasy points in two of his past three games.
Cason Wallace, PG, Oklahoma City Thunder ($4,500)
Wallace's value is tied to steals, but he does that as consistently and well as any player in the league. A low-ceiling/high-floor player, Wallace has scored 21 or more fantasy points in three of his last five games.
Projections and Injury Reports
Basketball Power Index by ESPN Analytics. Injury aggregation by Rotowire.com. Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook
Phoenix Suns at Oklahoma City Thunder
7:30 p.m. ET
Line: Suns +14.5 (-112) | Thunder -14.5 (-108)
Money line: Suns +650 | Thunder -1000
Total: 226.5 (-105 O, -115 U)
BPI Projection: Thunder by 15.5, straight up 88%, 228.6 total points.
Injury Report:
Suns: Koby Brea, (GTD - Wrist); Devin Booker, (GTD - Groin); Isaiah Livers, (OUT - Hip); Jalen Green, (OUT - Hamstring)
Thunder: Nikola Topic, (OUT - Groin); Thomas Sorber, (OFS - Knee); Isaiah Hartenstein, (OUT - Calf); Isaiah Joe, (OUT - Knee)
San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Lakers
10 p.m. ET
Line: Spurs +7.5 (-115) | Lakers -7.5 (-105)
Money line: Spurs +225 | Lakers -278
Total: 240.5 (-112 O, -108 U)
BPI Projection: Lakers by 5.7, straight up 67%, 236.1 total points.
Injury Report:
Spurs: Harrison Ingram, (GTD - Undisclosed); Jordan McLaughlin, (GTD - Hamstring); Victor Wembanyama, (OUT - Calf)
Lakers: Maxi Kleber, (GTD - Back)