The 51-27 Houston Rockets travel to San Francisco to take on the 46-31 Golden State Warriors, as the 2nd and 5th ranked teams from the Western Conference face off tonight. This is a hotly anticipated matchup to end the weekend, as a young Rockets team will have to take on an experienced Warriors team in their court. Although they are ranked higher, Houston will need to prove once again that they are a team to be taken seriously when the NBA playoffs come around in a few weeks.
The Rockets showed up and beat the OKC Thunder, a top-two NBA team and top team in the West, but Golden State is getting hot at the right time. They are neck and neck with the Nuggets and Lakers, as here are a few starts and sits for Houston against Golden State at 8:30 PM EST for Sunday night.
Rockets vs. Warriors DFS Start ‘Ems
Here are a few of the players that we are leaning on heavily in this game. These players are in a good spot to put together a solid performance and have a favorable matchup.
Stephen Curry, PG ($9.4K DraftKings)
Even at his price, Stephen Curry is on a heater and is basically a must-start. The veteran point guard is coming off three monster games, going 52.5, 50.8, and 95 fantasy points in the last three contests. With a 45.5% conversion rate on his 30 made three-pointers, Curry should be a start but the Rockets did play up against SGA pretty well. This could be a slightly tougher matchup against Houston, so that might have him even out even with a good game that could be down compared to his last three.
Brandin Podziemski, PG/SG ($6.5K DraftKings)
The young point guard/shooting guard for the Warriors, Brandin Podziemski, has also been on a hot streak, with 26 and 28 points on the floor in back-to-back games. Seeing consecutive starts, even if Houston is tough against his position, being 8th ranked, there’s not too much reason not to go back to him with his price tag. Bodziemski has had his career highs in the last three out of four games.
Rockets vs. Warriors DFS Sit ‘Ems
On the flip side of things, here are a few of the players we are sitting in this one.
Amen Thompson, PG/SF ($8.8K DraftKings)
Although Amen Thompson had a brilliant game against Shai Gigeous-Alexander, the young point guard/ small forward may not be worth the price tag if he struggles defensively against a top-shooting team with the Warriors. Houston’s young star among the group hasn’t had more than 25 points shooting in a game. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a letdown game in this spot.
Jalen Green, SG ($7.8K DraftKings)
The same can be said for Jalen Green, despite coming off a monster game against OKC. The Thunder couldn’t contain him, as he had 34 points on the court but has had let-down games, like on 3/31 against the Lakers. This could be his third single-digit point game since the start of March. He did play the most amount of minutes since 3/25 so if he is limited in any way, then he won’t be worth starting.
Total Apex Lock of the Game
Alperen Sengun, C ($9.2K DraftKings)
Even with his price salary, the Rockets center Alperen Sengun continues his fantasy hot streak, going over 30 every game. Against OKC, he splashed 31 points on the floor, was perfect from the field, and made a statement against the Thunder, especially on Chet Holmgren with a spinning dunk.
Total Apex Fade of the Game
Jimmy Butler, SF/PF ($8.3K DraftKings)
Jimmy Butler has been solid for the Warriors as an experienced small forward/ power forward, but this could be more of a Chef Curry game. Also, he has had a few 20 fantasy pointers among his 40 pointers, like against the Nuggets, where he had 40.3 fantasy points against the Nuggets. Both defensive stars Butler and Draymond Green at PF/ C are more of sits due to the matchup, as the Rockets are 8th-ranked (2nd against SF/ PF) against the position.
