UPDATE: The Sixers have ruled G/F James Ennis (illness) out for Friday’s game vs. the Rockets.
James Ennis Is OUT tonight with a stomach illness. #Sixers
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) January 3, 2020
This doesn’t impact things much on the Sixers side. Raul Neto would be the backup guard off the bench and may get some more minutes. Furkan Korkmaz, Trey Burke and Shake Milton could also pick up the slack.
There are six games on the slate in the NBA for Friday night and only two Showdown contests to choose from on DraftKings. The early game between the two is the Philadelphia 76ers vs. the Houston Rockets, easily the most competitive game on tap for tonight. Nothing against the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans, but we’ve got Joel Embiid going up against Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Let’s not forget Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris and Al Horford. There’s just a lot of star power in the contest and it should make for an exciting Showdown contest.
Who should I play as my Captain?
Well, like I said, a lot of star power in the contest means a lot of options at Captain for Sixers-Rockets. James Harden ($18,000) is going to cost you the most, but has easily the highest ceiling of any player. I’d be a little concerned though given the matchup and Harden has been nursing a toe injury. If the toe flares up, he could be forced to cede touches to Russ ($15,600). I think Westbrook isn’t a bad option as Captain to go against the grain of all the Harden and Embiid ($15,900) lineups. My top two choices would be Embiid and Russ, giving the edge to Embiid since the Rockets lack frontcourt depth outside of Clint Capela ($12,900)
Who should I use in my UTIL slots?
There are a couple ways to approach this part of your lineup. I like the idea of fitting in two studs — one in the Captain’s slot and one at UTIL. After that you can mix in value and find some nice mid-range options to finish things off. I really like Tobias Harris ($7,800) in this matchup. He hasn’t done much lately, but that’s mostly because the Sixers have been playing tough defense and slower paced teams. The Rockets play at a high pace and this should force the Sixers to chuck up a lot of 3s tonight. My two favorite salary-savers are Eric Gordon ($3,800), who just returned from injury and has gotten back to scoring. The other is Mike Scott ($1,000), who is dirt cheap and should play around 15-20 minutes in the frontcourt.
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