UPDATE: Westbrook will indeed rest tonight vs. the Pistons.
#Pistons Andre Drummond (eye-vocado) and Luke Kennard (knee soreness) are questionable on the injury report for tonight at Houston. #Rockets Russell Westbrook (rest) will not play.#DFS
— Rod Beard (@detnewsRodBeard) December 14, 2019
With no Russ, load up James Harden on DraftKings at $12,600. He’s the best GPP play on the seven-game slate. Harden is coming off another 80-plus fantasy point outing last night vs. the Magic and has over 100 points the past two games combined. Also a slight bump to Ben McLemore and we could see some Chris Clemons tonight.
Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook will play Friday vs. the Orlando Magic, but beat reporter Jonathan Feigen hinted at Russ resting Saturday vs. the Detroit Pistons.
Tonight. Westbrook is likely to sit tomorrow in the second half of the back-to-back. https://t.co/K5m4n7l6RQ
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) December 13, 2019
So Feigen doesn’t confirm that Russ will sit out Saturday, but we can at least plan on it happening. It’s something coach Mike D’Antoni has tried to do with Westbrook a bit this season, and entering Friday the guard has played 11 straight games.
Fantasy Basketball Analysis: Houston Rockets PG/SG Russell Westbrook
So James Harden isn’t impacted much by Westbrook being out. We’ve seen The Beard have huge games with/without Westbrook on the court. Granted, no Russ should mean Harden could see around 40% usage against the Pistons, who don’t have anyone who can matchup against Harden. Depending on Harden’s price, he’d be the top GPP play for Saturday’s slate.
Other options to step up include Ben McLemore and Austin Rivers, who is probable to return Friday. PG Chris Clemons got some run against the Cavaliers on Wednesday, so he’s a candidate to see a bit more playing time off the bench.