Today’s NBA Starting Lineups & Matchups 2/25/20: LeBron and Zion face off in LA
Contents
Marquee Matchups
There are seven games on the NBA schedule tonight. Here are the ones you should be sure to watch.
New Orleans Pelicans (25-32) at Los Angeles Lakers (43-12)
- Los Angeles has recently widened its lead atop the Western Conference, winning five straight and retaining a five-game lead over Denver.
- Things, however, have shuffled a bit at the bottom of the West, with the Pelicans making a run at the eighth playoff seed. They are 7-3 in their last ten games and are three games out of eighth place.
- Zion Williamson will be facing the Lakers for the first time this season.
Milwaukee Bucks (49-8) at Toronto Raptors (42-15)
- At this point, the Bucks seem to have a lock on first place in the East with the NBA’s best record. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games.
- The Raptors have also been on a hot streak lately, going 9-1 in their last 10 games, and they’ve maintained a solid home record.
- For more in-depth analysis of this matchup, read our matchup preview.
Boston Celtics (39-17) at Portland Trail Blazers (26-32)
- The Trail Blazers are on the outside looking in at the Western Conference playoff picture. They’ll likely be in a race to the finish with the Grizzlies, Pelicans, and Spurs to see who gets the last playoff spot.
- The Celtics are coming off quite a battle on Sunday against the Lakers, where they lost 114-112. Before that game, the Celtics had won 12 of their last 14 games.
- This will be the first game of the interconference regular-season series between the Celtics and Blazers.
Today’s Lineups
Top Predicted Performers
• Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers
Davis has absolutely destroyed his former team this season. He’s listed as probable for tonight and that’s not good news for the Pelicans, who have watched him average 43.5 points and 11 rebounds per game in their two games against the Lakers this season. That likely figures into his 51.9 point projection. Davis is available for $10.6k on FanDuel.
• Chris Paul, Oklahoma City Thunder
Paul seemed like he was going to be a short-term rental in Oklahoma City after he was traded by Houston for Russell Westbrook, but Paul has the Thunder playing much better than expected as they are currently in sixth place in the West and appear to be a threat to the Utah Jazz for number five if they can extend their streak to four games tonight. Paul has averaged 30 points and eight assists against the Bulls this season, and he’s lined up against Tomas Satoransky, so at $7.4k for a 37.2 point projection, he’s worth grabbing for tonight.
Potential Duds
• Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
This is the second time I have Zion in this spot and he proved me wrong the first time. But tonight he faces the West’s top team and likely his stiffest competition yet in Anthony Davis, who as I mentioned above, has absolutely destroyed the Pelicans. Williamson is not your prototypical power forward, but Davis is skilled enough to defend him and really make him work. The Lakers also bring over JaVale McGee on help defense. He has a 36 point projection for tonight for his $7.5k salary, but I wouldn’t be incredibly surprised if he has some trouble meeting that mark.
