Welcome back to the Thursday’s edition FanDuel NBA Lineup Advice!
Tonight’s point projection totals:
DET vs. ORL – 203
HOU vs. BOS – 216
MIN vs. MIL- 213
NYK vs. SA – 199
PHI vs. POR – 208
Create FanDuel lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool 
Point Guards
Ish Smith (DET): $5,500 at ORL
Ish Smith takes over the point guard starting job with Reggie Jackson (ankle) now out for at least six weeks or as long as eight weeks. Smith should see plenty of minutes while getting a plus matchup here as the Magic allow the fourth most fantasy points to opposing point guards this season. It makes sense to get Smith in your lineup.
Damian Lillard (POR): $8,800 vs. PHI
Lillard is coming off a two-game absence due to a hamstring injury but will be all systems go for Thursday’s favorable matchup with the 76ers. Even though this game isn’t the highest projected game of the night, it certainly has the makings of being the highest scoring game of the night. Expect Lillard to return to form against the 76ers. Shabazz Napier will move off the fantasy radar.
Welcome back to the Thursday’s edition FanDuel NBA Lineup Advice!
Tonight’s point projection totals:
DET vs. ORL – 203
HOU vs. BOS – 216
MIN vs. MIL- 213
NYK vs. SA – 199
PHI vs. POR – 208
Create FanDuel lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool
Point Guards
Ish Smith (DET): $5,500 at ORL
Ish Smith takes over the point guard starting job with Reggie Jackson (ankle) now out for at least six weeks or as long as eight weeks. Smith should see plenty of minutes while getting a plus matchup here as the Magic allow the fourth most fantasy points to opposing point guards this season. It makes sense to get Smith in your lineup.
Damian Lillard (POR): $8,800 vs. PHI
Lillard is coming off a two-game absence due to a hamstring injury but will be all systems go for Thursday’s favorable matchup with the 76ers. Even though this game isn’t the highest projected game of the night, it certainly has the makings of being the highest scoring game of the night. Expect Lillard to return to form against the 76ers. Shabazz Napier will move off the fantasy radar.
Shooting Guards
Andrew Wiggins (MIN): $5,400 at MIL
Wiggins price tag continues to remain low enough to be one of the better value plays in DFS and it actually went down after his 21 point performance against the Nuggets on Tuesday. I know Wiggins is more of a scoring option than all-around stat stuffer but he’s posted at least 22 fantasy points in each of his last seven games including a solid 39 fantasy points against the 76ers on December 13th.
Eric Gordon (HOU): $5,800 at BOS
Gordon has scored at least 20 points in each of his last four games while Chris Paul has been out of the lineup. Similar to Andrew Wiggins, Gordon is a solid scoring option for the Rockets but his all-around stats can use an uptick for fantasy owners. However, if Paul is out again, he’s a solid DFS play at his current price tag.
Small Forwards
Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL): $11,900 vs. MIN
Antetokounmpo is second in the NBA in scoring with over 29 points per game behind only James Harden, who is now averaging over 32 points per game. Antetokounmpo is also leading the NBA in minutes per game this season so we know the minutes will be there on a nightly basis. His knee injury is hopefully behind him as he scored 28 points in the previous game and this should be a shootout as one of the higher scoring games of the night.
Mario Hezonja (ORL): $4,900 vs. DET
Herzonja has been able to see an uptick in minutes with all the injuries to the Magic’s frontcourt. Aaron Gordon is trending toward playing with Evan Fournier on the doubtful side. Herzonja is still a solid play in DFS with Gordon back and the Magic shorthanded.
Power Forwards
Jayson Tatum (BOS): $5,700 vs. HOU
Tatum has been excellent in his rookie season posting solid numbers across the board including 14.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while shooting efficiently from the floor (56 percent) and from three-point land (48 percent). Tatum gets a favorable matchup and high-scoring shootout with the Rockets on Thursday as the Rockets allow the sixth most fantasy points to opposing power forwards this season. Also, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Morris could both miss another game leaving more chances for Tatum.
Taj Gibson (MIN): $5,500 at MIL
One of the more under the radar offseason moves which has certainly paid off is the acquisition of Taj Gibson. Gibson is averaging 21.5 points and 6.5 rebounds over his last two games and we should expect more of the same against the Bucks on Thursday. Even with Nemanja Bjelica back, Gibson remains the PF to start in Minnesota.
Center
Pau Gasol (SA): $6,500 vs. NYK
Yes, Pau Gasol will round out my starting lineup on Thursday as he has posted back-to-back double-doubles including a triple-double on Sunday against the Kings. It’s also a mouthwatering matchup against the Knicks as they allow the fifth most fantasy points to opposing centers this season.
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Sean Fitzpatrick is a FantasyPros Correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Sean, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @seanfitz2323.
