The final main roster before this season’s All-Star break is finally here. The three teams will compete in hardwood on Thursday, starting from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm ET. While there’s a lot to celebrate this weekend, there’s also a lot to catch up after 10 games on Wednesday. Mikal Bridges stole the show with a career-high 45 points, but he’s not the only player to score. We’ll discuss who’s cool and who’s not, and we’ll have a DFS game here on Thursday.
Who is hot
Lamelo Ball
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Ball’s third triple-double of the season nearly eluded him twice last week, but he pulled it off Wednesday with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists. The Charlotte Hornets quarterback’s third year was more responsible than usual when hot Terry Rosier (arm) came out and put on a show against the visiting San Antonio Spurs. Ball is having the best month of the season and will look to keep it up after the All-Star break.
Zach LaVine
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DeMar DeRozan missed his second game of the month on Wednesday, and LaVine took advantage of his absence with one of his best performances of the year. The Chicago Bulls wing had 35 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. He has averaged 28.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game since early February with a 10-point loss against the Charlotte Hornets.
Jalen Brunson
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Brunson has been one of the most obnoxious players this year, but he didn’t let that slow his career down ahead of the weekend. The New York Knicks point guard outperformed his 2022–23 season average in five straight games and had 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. In February, he averaged a whopping 31.9 points per game on 59.7% shooting.
Who is not
Paolo Bankero
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This season’s Rookie of the Year leader seems to have finally hit a wall. The Orlando Magic’s Banchero scored 13 points on 13 shooting last against the Toronto Raptors and is clearly having the worst month of his first professional basketball campaign. He scored under 17 points in six of February’s eight competitions while shooting a dismal 34.4 percent from the field. The break could be good for the Duke product.
DFS play
Jrue Holiday
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Holiday was one of the top three fantasy performers on Tuesday’s main roster and would benefit from keeping some key Milwaukee Bucks players out of Thursday’s game against the Bulls. Pat Connaughton (calves) and Chris Middleton (knee) won’t fit, so Antetokounmpo and Holiday will need to reinforce him on both sides. Holiday’s defense will be critical to slowing down LaVine and he could develop his latest 40-point burst without three of his team’s top seven scorers in every game.
Still deciding who to commit to your DFS list? Below we’ve identified a player to ban and one to avoid until cautioned, but you can check out my full selection of stud and value play in each position by heading over to SportsLine.
Source: www.cbssports.com
