If you are new to everyday fantasy basketball – maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot – then are you busy. The NBA scene changes on a week-to-week, day-to-day basis, and – depending on injury news – even a minute-by-minute basis, making each lead piece unique that requires an ever-changing approach.
With so much changing so fast, we are here with many tools to help you. We have daily projections, a matchup hot card, a setup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help you take advantage.
Daily fantasy NBA is very dependent on chance, so you need to make sure you are up to date with major injuries. Our projections update to tip-off to reflect current news, we have updates for player news, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications to post updates regarding your players.
We will also come to you every day with your primer, and break down some of the top games of the day at each position.
Let’s break down today’s headline:
De Lei
| Away | back home | Over / Under | back home Distribution |
Away Total |
back home Total |
Away Tempo |
back home Tempo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee | Orlando | 224.5 | +12.0 | 118.25 | 106.25 | 1 | 26 |
| Indiana | Miami | 214.0 | -5.0 | 104.5 | 109.5 | 22 | 27 |
| Houston | Oklahoma City | 224.0 | +3.0 | 113.5 | 110.5 | 2 | 21 |
| LA Lakers | Portland | 223.5 | +7.5 | 115.5 | 108.0 | 11 | 13 |
The only major injury status still to be checked after a starter is with Orlando Magic ahead of Aaron Gordon, who is improving with his ongoing hamstring injury but is still on call for game-time for Saturday.
Point Guard
Chris Paul ($ 7,900): Paul now has a two-game-to-zero deficit to rally the Oklahoma City Thunder, so that the veteran can take more on his shoulders than the best player of OKC. His game Thursday was an odd one for the veteran, as his 15 points and 2 assists were well below the playmaker’s bubble average of 16.85 points per game and 6.57 assists per game. And this is against a Houston Rockets squad that is second in the league in pace. Get it up to an off-night for Paul, who is now as much as $ 8,000 as a result.
DJ Augustin ($ 4500): Point guard is especially barren for value recordings, even minutes to watch, as Augustin is the only point guard who averages more than 22.0 minutes per game under $ 5000 on FanDuel. Orlando was defeated by Milwaukee on Thursday, so it was encouraging to see that Augustin actually deserved more playing time despite that, as he pitched 27 minutes – even though he delivered a poor, 17.9-FanDuel point performance. Still, if you want to save on salary at this location, Augustin is the safest bet to see significant time on the floor.
Other notable picks: Malcolm Brogdon ($ 7,400), Markelle Fultz ($ 5,500)
Shooting sports guard
CJ McCollum ($ 7,000): McCollum has been terribly inactive in the first two games of his series against the Los Angeles Lakers, but his price continues to drop, and his playing time is not. Even with the absence in Game 2, McCollum averages 37.4 minutes per game, making this price tag feel too small for a player who averages 1.02 FanDuel points per minute in the regular season. Maybe Damian LillardThe finger injury ultimately helps McCollum regain some traction as he leads the Portland Trail Blazers with 16 shots in Game 2.
Dennis Schroder ($ 5,300): In the same vein as McCollum, Schroder has significantly underperformed his court time in the first two games of his series. He averaged 31.7 minutes despite blowouts in both games, but that alone translated to 16.3 FanDuel points per game in the first two games versus Houston. Schroder led the Thunder at 27.2% in usage during the regular season, so he has an incredibly solid role in the scoring hierarchy in a great matchup: Houston gave up the sixth most FanDuel points against two guards in the regular season .
Other notable picks: Khris Middleton ($ 6,600), Victor Oladipo ($ 5,900)
Slight forward
Giannis Antetokounmpo ($ 11,300): It would be very difficult to keep Giannis out of a lineup at the moment, as he, even with two blowouts leading to reduced minutes, is averaging 1.73 FanDuel points per minute in his first two games against the Magic. A lot of that is on the power of handball, as his 0.57 rebounds per minute is leading the NBA postseason at the moment, and that is with many elite centers still playing in Orlando. Giannis is still in a 12.0-point spread today, but seeing that as has been the case in the first two games that have conceded more than 12 points apart, and he has still crossed past value, it seems it to be a no-brainer for the Greek Freak.
Eric Gordon ($ 5,300): The leader for the Rockets in use without Russell Westbrook is actually Gordon, not superstar James Harden. Gordon’s 31.7% use is slightly higher than Harden’s 29.7%, but Gordon plays more often without Harden than vice versa. Yet the difference in price market between the two is enormous, considering the similar charge these two have shared up to this point. The hope is, with that use, Gordon can improve on his relatively poor 4.0 assists per game and 35.6% shots, making him a play point for cornerstone on this slate.
Other notable picks: Carmelo Anthony ($ 5,000), James Ennis ($ 4,400)
Power Forward
Anthony Davis ($ 10,700): Trying to build to be Giannis and Anthony Davis should be the core strategy in cash games, especially with James Harden struggling because of Oklahoma City’s extra defensive attention. Davis averaged 53.2 FanDuel points per game in the first two games, which is remarkable considering what he overcame to place in these markets. Davis had an 8-for-24 shooting attempt in Game 1 and saw only 29 minutes in a blowout in Game 2, which normally could have seriously hampered his fantasy potential. If Davis gets his full rate of minutes shot closer to his season-long average of 50.3%, the results could be monstrous. Portland just struggled to match Davis because they put the most power forward in the regular season: they put up the second most FanDuel points against the fourth.
Jeff Green ($ 5,000): Jeff Green is a new favorite toy for Mike D’Antoni and as a result looks many minutes as the backup “center” to PJ Tucker. The reality is that both are still conventional wingers and can play together, which has allowed Green to still average 34.5 minutes per game in the first two playoff games against OKC. Green also sees time on the floor for Houston in blowouts, which is useful given the average victory margin of 14 points in this series up to this point. Green has turned his heavy workload into 28.8 FanDuel points per game in the playoffs so far, which would be great value here.
Other notable picks: Bam Adebayo ($ 8,000), Gary Clark ($ 4,100; if Aaron Gordon is out)
Center
Jusuf Nurkic ($ 7,400): Nurkic has been incredibly strong since returning to the NBA while playing in the bubble, averaging 1.35 FanDuel points per minute, which was second as MVP Damian Lillard (1.45) bubbled up on his team. Averaging 43.67 FanDuel points per game, Nurkic has a price tag that feels like enormous value. The reality is that its production is incredibly volatile. He transferred 55 FanDuel points in four games, but failed to earn 30 points in two games, including Thursday’s blowout. However, when he sees his normal minutes last, Nurkic can produce rap, which at least on Saturday is at least a very high on a center position with a lot of volatility in its own right.
Other notable picks: Myles Turner ($ 6,500), PJ Tucker ($ 4,000)
Austin Swaim is not a FanDuel contributor. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Austin Swaim also participates in DFS games on FanDuel with his personal account, username ASwaim3. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he can employ various strategies and player selections when entering matches with his personal account. The messages expressed in his articles are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
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