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 Monday
There are five games on the NBA schedule tonight, a relatively light load for a Monday. This is due to the NBA Cup, which finishes up with the championship game on Tuesday that pits the San Antonio Spurs against the New York Knicks. But that's tomorrow.
There are some good matchups on the schedule tonight, including three games where both squads enter with a winning record. The other two games project as the highest- and lowest-scoring games of the night, and all five have competitive spreads within 5.5 points or less according to DraftKings.
The marquee game of the night pits the second and third seeds in the Western Conference against one another, with the Houston Rockets facing the Denver Nuggets. This game projects to an absolute pick'em according to our ESPN BPI analytics; the game predictor favors the Rockets by a mere tenth of a point (119.5 - 119.4). With superstars abound on both teams, this game is must-see TV.
Another game of interest features the third seeded team in the Eastern Conference hosting the top seed as the Detroit Pistons go east to Boston. The Boston Celtics are playing their best basketball of the season, including their recent win that broke the Pistons' then-13 game winning streak. The spread in this game is only 1.5 points, according to DraftKings, one of three games with that razor-thin expected margin.
The Dallas Mavericks face the Utah Jazz in the game that projects to the highest scoring of the night. Per DraftKings, the over/under line is set at 239.5 points. This suggests there should be plenty of opportunity for the players in this game to put big numbers on the board, good news for both fantasy and betting props.
Let's dig further into the action below, to identify some fantasy streamers, betting angles and DFS prospects of interest for this Monday night's games.
Monday's fantasy stream team
Jordan Walsh, SF, Boston Celtics (rostered in 19.4% of ESPN leagues): Walsh has settled into the Celtics' starting lineup, but while he was initially more of a role player he is stepping up his scoring game of late. In his last four outings, Walsh has averaged 17.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.3 3PG and 2.3 SPG.
Cedric Coward, SF/SG, Memphis Grizzlies (36.5%): Coward is having a strong rookie season. He moved into the starting lineup for the Grizzlies a month ago and has already notched five double-doubles on the season, including two in his last three games (17.0 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 4.7 APG in those three games).
Cam Spencer, SG, Memphis Grizzlies (14.7%): Spencer comes off the bench for the Grizzlies, but he has been producing fantasy starter numbers. He is a shooter with a perpetual green light, and he uses the threat of his shot to pull out defenders and allow him to set up his teammates off the dribble. In his last four games, Spencer has averaged 17.5 PPG, 5.8 APG and 3.3 3PG in 27.0 MPG.
Dre's bets for Monday
Jaylen Brown to score 30-plus points (-121): First, note the prop is Brown 30-plus points (-121) and not over 29.5 points (-123) because the odds are slightly more favorable. And Brown has pretty much lived at 30-plus points for the past few weeks. In his last eight games, Brown has scored 30 or more seven times, including dropping 33 on the Pistons when they met on Nov. 26.
Keyonte George OVER 23.5 points (-103): George has turned into one of the better young offense creators in the league this season, and his recent play suggests he is more likely than not to surpass this line. George averaged 24.6 PPG over his past 12 outings, but he tends to be more polarized in his results: he is either on or off. And in eight of those 12 games he has been on to the tune of at least 27 points, including the 39 he dropped in his last outing on Friday night.
Jamal Murray OVER 29.5 total points+assists (-124): Murray has been scorching for the past month as both a scorer and a distributor when playing his normal allotment of minutes. In the last eight games when Murray has played 30 or more minutes, he has gone over the 29.5 points+assists line in seven of those games while averaging 31.0 PPG and 8.0 APG. This includes his only game against the Rockets this season, when he dropped 26 points and 10 assists.
Top Daily Fantasy values of the day
$8,100+ salaries
Nikola Jokic, C, Denver Nuggets ($12,700): On a sparse slate, sometimes there is something to be said for taking the high-priced player that consistently puts monster numbers on the board. Jokic averages 67.5 fantasy points, but surpassed that (69.5 FP) in his last matchup against the Rockets.
Jamal Murray, PG, Denver Nuggets ($8,700): In a potential stack, Murray has routinely outplayed his average of late. In the three games this month where he played at least 30 minutes, Murray has scored 48.2 FP, 54.8 FP and 72.0 FP. The last time he saw the Rockets, he dropped 48.5 FP.
$6,100-$8,000 salaries
Keyonte George, PG, Utah Jazz ($7,800): George has the most explosive upside of any player in this price range with eight games of 45 or more fantasy points in his last 12 games, including 63.5 FP in his last outing.
$3,500-$6,000 salaries
Kyle Filipowski, PF, Utah Jazz ($5,400): Filipowski plays well when Jusuf Nurkic (out, rest) is either out or limited; in the last three games where Nurkic played 20 minutes or less, Filipowski dropped 44, 28.5 and 37 fantasy points.
Jordan Walsh, SF, Boston Celtics ($5,000): Walsh has dropped at least 21 fantasy points in six straight games, with 31 or more in four of the six.
Ryan Nembhard, PG, Dallas Mavericks ($4,500): Nembhard is coming off his worst game since moving into the starting lineup, but in the four games before he had notched at least 20.2 FP with two games over 45 FP. On Monday, he faces a friendly Jazz defense that allows the third-most fantasy points to opposing point guards.
Projections and Injury Reports
Basketball Power Index by ESPN Analytics. Injury aggregation by Rotowire.com. Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook
Detroit Pistons at Boston Celtics
7 p.m. ET
Line: Pistons +1.5 (-105) | Celtics -1.5 (-115)
Money line: Pistons +105 | Celtics -125
Total: 230.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Celtics by 2.5, straight up 58%, 229.3 total points.
Injury Report:
Pistons: Isaac Jones, (GTD - Knee)
Celtics: Jayson Tatum, (OUT - Achilles); Ron Harper Jr., (GTD - Knee)
Toronto Raptors at Miami Heat
7:30 p.m. ET
Line: Raptors +5.5 (-102) | Heat -5.5 (-118)
Money line: Raptors +185 | Heat -225
Total: 235.5 (-105 O, -115 U)
BPI Projection: Heat by 4.4, straight up 63%, 239.2 total points.
Injury Report:
Raptors: A.J. Lawson, (GTD - Hip); Jamison Battle, (GTD - Ankle); RJ Barrett, (OUT - Knee)
Heat: Terry Rozier, (OUT - Not Injury Related); Kasparas Jakucionis, (GTD - Ankle); Pelle Larsson, (OUT - Ankle)
Dallas Mavericks at Utah Jazz
9 p.m. ET
Line: Mavericks -1.5 (-112) | Jazz +1.5 (-108)
Money line: Mavericks -120 | Jazz +EVEN
Total: 239.5 (-112 O, -108 U)
BPI Projection: Mavericks by 3, straight up 59%, 241.2 total points.
Injury Report:
Mavericks: Kyrie Irving, (OUT - Knee); Dante Exum, (OFS - Knee); Dereck Lively II, (OFS - Foot); Anthony Davis, (GTD - Calf); Daniel Gafford, (GTD - Ankle); , (OUT - Illness)
Jazz: Walker Kessler, (OFS - Shoulder); Georges Niang, (OUT - Foot); Jusuf Nurkic, (OUT - Rest)
Houston Rockets at Denver Nuggets
9:30 p.m. ET
Line: Rockets +1.5 (-112) | Nuggets -1.5 (-108)
Money line: Rockets -102 | Nuggets -118
Total: 237.5 (-105 O, -115 U)
BPI Projection: Rockets by 0.1, straight up 50%, 238.9 total points.
Injury Report:
Rockets: Dorian Finney-Smith, (OUT - Ankle); Fred VanVleet, (OUT - Knee); Tari Eason, (GTD - Oblique)
Nuggets: Aaron Gordon, (OUT - Hamstring); Christian Braun, (OUT - Ankle); Julian Strawther, (GTD - Back); Tamar Bates, (OUT - Foot)
Memphis Grizzlies at LA Clippers
10:30 p.m. ET
Line: Grizzlies +4.5 (-112) | Clippers -4.5 (-108)
Money line: Grizzlies +154 | Clippers -185
Total: 227.5 (-115 O, -105 U)
BPI Projection: Clippers by 1.9, straight up 56%, 227.8 total points.
Injury Report:
Grizzlies: Javon Small, (OUT - Toe); Zach Edey, (OUT - Ankle); Scotty Pippen Jr., (OUT - Toe); Ty Jerome, (OUT - Calf); , (GTD - Knee); John Konchar, (OUT - Thumb)
Clippers: Bradley Beal, (OFS - Hip); James Harden, (GTD - Calf); Nicolas Batum, (GTD - Illness); Derrick Jones Jr., (OUT - Knee)