Charlotte Hornets ( -6 ) @ Brooklyn Nets – O/U: 209

*Projected Pace Rank: 3rd

The Hornets had a massive come-from-behind win against the Spurs on Monday, so you have to wonder if they’ll be able to dial up that same type of intensity against the lowly Nets. The line on the game opened up at -7.5 in favor of the Hornets, and has now dropped down to -6. However, Charlotte is still battling for a playoff spot and the Nets are just there to collect a paycheck.

Kemba Walker is obviously the top player in this game and Nicolas Batum will make his own case to have that honor. Both guys have great matchups (Nets in the bottom third of NBA against every position), but you’ll be paying a premium for their services. In my opinion, you’ll want much more exposure to the Houston/OKC game than any other tonight. If you can fit that game and then a Walker or Batum without crippling the rest of your lineup, Bacardi and Cola- do it, do it!

Marvin Williams is a game-time decision, and if he can’t go, then we can expect Cody Zeller, Frank Kaminsky and Al Jefferson to log a ton of minutes.

Jeremy Lin went nuts last out of nowhere, and surprisingly, I think he can do it again- or, at least, have a meaningful performance. He’s near the minimum price and could fit in well with a certain bearded superstar.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson will return to the Nets lineup tonight, and while it’s a longshot for him to have a productive night, someone’s minutes will be getting scaled back. My guess is that it’s Wayne Ellington since he’s already been getting phased out of the lineup.

Thad Young is my favorite play for the Nets; I really couldn’t believe how high his price was getting, but he is certainly making the price tag makers look like geniuses with at least 42 FDP in his last three games and at least 36 in the last five. To think the Nets got him straight up for Kevin Garnett somewhat eases the pain of that horrible trade that brought KG here in the first place.

Brook Lopez has done well against the Hornets recently, averaging 44.5 FDP in the last meetings. This is a very good matchup for him and I’d be looking at rostering The Big Ugly.

Bojan Bogdanovic scares me a little bit with the return of RJH; it shouldn’t, but it does. Sean Kilpatrick has been getting solid minutes of late, but his minutes could be on notice as well.

Houston Rockets @ Oklahoma City Thunder ( -9.5 ) – O/U: 224

*Projected Pace Rank: 1st

James Harden (ankle) is listed as a game-time decision, and if he can’t go, then that puts a whole lot of chaos at the feet of the Rockets tonight. The Beard was reported to have some trouble cutting, but he did go through the whole shootaround. It seems like he can go as of now, but keep updated on the news throughout the day.

Patrick Beverley, Trevor Ariza, Michael Beasley and Corey Brewer are in a great spot if Harden doesn’t play. This game has the highest pace by far and is a good spot to be in. Beasley, especially, is a guy that has caught the eye of everyone in DFS, and hopefully, you were able to get some shares of him before the ownership levels started to rise. Tonight, I bet that rate will be at an all-time high.

Kevin Durant had an elbow issue over the last couple days, and while it seems like he’s good to go, stay close to the news before tip. The Rockets are the worst team in the NBA against small forwards, so this is a dream matchup for KD. His sidekick Russell Westbrook is in a great spot, regardless of whether KD is in the lineup or not, but we all know how his usage rate increases without him.

On paper, it may seem like Serge Ibaka has a great matchup but the Rockets have actually been doing a solid job against power forwards recently- ranked 29th on the season, but 12th this month. If KD is out, then Ibaka becomes more of a necessity in my eyes. Down low, I’d rather target Enes Kanter or even Steven Adams for a little bit cheaper.

Andre Roberson and Dion Waiters are longshot plays with great matchups tonight.

Miami Heat ( -9 ) @ New Orleans Pelicans – O/U: 210

*Projected Pace Rank: 2nd

We actually saw this matchup on Christmas Day and Anthony Davis went B-A-N-A-N-A-S on the Heat, but it’s a cold world, and there’s no AD for the rest of the season. When such is this case, you absolutely have to fire up Ryan Anderson, but an even colder world, there’s no Rhino tonight. Ugh, what in the hell?

This is such a bad matchup for the Pelicans with their top two guys out, but Jrue Holiday is probably the spot I would look to if a pistol was pointed at my skull. The Heat give up the fifth-fewest fantasy points in the NBA and they’ll face little resistance on that end tonight.

On the other hand, the Heat have great matchups across the board and you can really take your pick of any starter (Dwayne Wade, Goran Dragic, Luol Deng, Joe Johnson), but Hassan Whiteside is the one guy that I believe is a necessity at the center position. The fantasy point totals haven’t been there in the last four games, but I’m pretty sure tonight that will be a different story since the Pelicans are the second-worst team in the NBA defending centers this season.

Memphis Grizzlies ( -2.5 ) @ Los Angeles Lakers – O/U: 201

*Projected Pace Rank: 4th

The late-night…errr…hammer comes to us once again from La La Land and the Lakers could benefit from catching the Grizzlies on the back-end of a back-to-back. For the second night in a row, the Grizz are -2.5 favorites against a much worse team and I think we could even see a Lakers win tonight. With this same spread, the Suns nearly covered last night, but couldn’t complete the task.

This is probably a game that Kobe Bryant will suit up for. He’s said plenty of times that Tony Allen is the toughest defender that he ever went against and Kobe only plays meaningful games nowadays- this one I’m pretty sure he’ll want a piece of. Now I’m going and saying that you should roster Kobe tonight, but I do think it makes Allen interesting.

In all actuality, there really aren’t too many appealing plays from this game. You can probably get away without having anyone from it, but from the Grizzlies I don’t mind Matt Barnes, Ray McCallum or Zach Randolph, and for the Lakers, Julius Randle, Brandon Bass or Lou Williams.