We wrap up another week in the Association with a six-game slate with a 6:00 p.m. EST tip. Yesterday was a decent day for the primer. We had a few excellent calls, like Spencer Dinwiddie, Bam Adebayo, and Tyrese Haliburton even ended with a good night despite having to leave for some time with an ankle injury before eventually returning to the game.
As I always hammer home, the primer is written from a first-look standpoint, and it’s essential to stay up to date with all the news that comes out throughout the day. Doing so allows you to gain a significant edge by pivoting to better value plays that open up. An example last night was Tyler Herro (ankle) officially ruled out, resulting in Max Strus receiving a massive increase in value. Strus ended up being optimal and was only 11.5% rostered on FanDuel and below 5% on DraftKings.
It’s always good to reflect on the night before to see where the player’s roster percentage ended up, what you could have done differently, and what you were spot on about. However, it’s a new day with a fresh slate to tackle. So, let’s go ahead and dive into Sunday’s edition of the NBA DraftKings and FanDuel DFS Primer.
Schedule and Odds
- MEM (-1.5) @ WAS (+1.5) O/U: 225
- MIN (+5.5) @ CLE (-5.5) O/U: 227
- UTA (+3.5) @ PHI (-3.5) O/U: 219.5
- DEN(-1.5) @ CHI (+1.5) O/U: 231.5
- GS (-4) @ SAC (+4) O/U: 234.5
- BKN (-3) @ LAL (+3) O/U: 225
Check out our consensus game odds as well as the odds from each sportsbook at BettingPros
Injury Report
- Desmond Bane (toe) doubtful
- Danny Green (knee) OUT
- Jaren Jackson Jr. (foot) doubtful
- Ja Morant (ankle) doubtful
- Ziaire Williams (knee) OUT
- Jarrett Allen (ankle) questionable
- Donovan Mitchell (ankle) questionable
- Ricky Rubio (knee) OUT
- Dean Wade (knee) questionable
- Dylan Windler (ankle) OUT
- Naz Reid (illness) OUT
- Lonzo Ball (knee) OUT
- Coby White (quadricep) OUT
- Collin Gillespie (leg) OUT
- Bones Hyland (health & safety protocols) OUT
- Ish Smith (calf) OUT
- Andre Iguodala (hip) OUT
- Thomas Bryant (elbow) OUT
- Anthony Davis (back) probable
- LeBron James (hip) doubtful
- Dennis-schroder.php” class=”fp-player-link fp-id-2780″ target=”_blank”>Dennis Schroder (elbow) OUT
- James Harden (foot) OUT
- Kyrie Irving (suspension) OUT
- Bradley Beal (conditioning) OUT
Note: Check the injury report throughout the day because injury designations change by the hour.
Core Plays
Stephen Curry (PG – GS): $10,200 DraftKings, $10,400 FanDuel
Curry is having a tremendous season, averaging 33.3 points, 6.7 assists, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game. The veteran point guard is shooting a stellar 62.7% from the field in November and an astonishing 52.1% from behind the arc. He’s coming off back-to-back games with 40 or more points, and before those performances, he dropped 39 against Orlando. The 34-year-old is averaging over 50 fantasy points a game and hasn’t scored less than 40 yet this season. He’s a fantastic option regardless of whether you’re playing cash games, single entry, or mass entry GPP’s. It doesn’t matter the format, but get some exposure to “Chef Curry.”
Domantas Sabonis (C/PF – SAC): $8,600 DraftKings, $9,100 FanDuel
I like his salary on DraftKings much more, but Sabonis can anchor lineups on either site. He gets a very appealing matchup against Golden State. The Warriors are 27th in the NBA with a defensive rating of 114.9 and have struggled against capable big men all season. Sabonis has a solid floor making him a viable option to build your lineups around tonight. The Kings’ center has had a double-double and scored 20 or more points in four of his last five games. He rebounds and scores the ball tremendously well, and he’s among the best passing bigs in the NBA. On the season, Sabonis is averaging 6.1 assists a game. I’m going to be getting to a lot of him.
Cash Game Considerations
Dillon Brooks (SG/SF – MEM): $5,500 DraftKings, $5,300 FanDuel
Desmond Bane (toe) and Ja Morant (ankle) are doubtful for tonight’s game against the Wizards. That’s a lot of usage that has to go somewhere, and Dillon Brooks will be one of the primary beneficiaries. Brook’s usage rate jumps to 31.0 percent from 27.3 percent with both guards off the floor. He’s coming off a 21-point performance on Friday and will be $100 cheaper tonight. With his increase in usage and price point, it will take a dud of a game for Brooks not to return at least five times the return on investment.
Nikola Jokic (C-DEN): $11,300 DraftKings, $10,600 FanDuel
It’s hard not to recommend “The Joker” for cash games anytime he takes the floor. The big man has become the gold standard for fantasy basketball and has been the best fantasy point-per-minute player on the planet for years. Jokic could get 40 fantasy points with his eyes closed if asked. That’s just how good he is. With the Nuggets sitting at -1.5 point favorites, Vegas expects this game to be close. That means Jokic should see his full workload and continue to produce at an elite level. Don’t overthink it. Build your cash lineups around Nikola Jokic.
GPP Targets
Russell Westbrook (PG-LAL): $7,700 DraftKings, $7,400 FanDuel
I was curious if I would ever recommend Russell Westbrook again in DFS. However, he’s settled into his new role off the bench pretty well. This play certainly comes with risk, but what GPP play doesn’t? Westbrook has yet to show the ability to have as high of a ceiling as he once did, although I still think he has it in him. Regardless, he’s still putting up respectable fantasy numbers. Over the last five games, the point guard is averaging 40.2 DKFP and 37.8 FDFP. With LeBron James (hip) doubtful for tonight’s game, Westbrook will lead the way as the team’s playmaker. He also gets an appealing matchup against a Brooklyn Nets team with a bottom OPRK against point guards on both sites. I won’t get much exposure to him, but Westbrook is undoubtedly a viable GPP option.
Darius Garland (PG/SG-CLE): $7,200 DraftKings, $7,800 FanDuel
Donovan Mitchell (ankle) is questionable for tonight’s game against the Timberwolves, and if he can’t suit up, Garland instantly becomes one of my favorite plays on the slate. Even if Mitchell is a go, he may be limited, and Garland could take the lead offensively. As we’ve seen this season already, Garland has a tremendous ceiling. At the beginning of the month, he put up a whopping 62.8 DKFP against Boston. The Timberwolves like to get out and run at the fourth-highest pace in the NBA, so we can expect some extra offensive possessions for the Cavaliers and Garland tonight. Not to mention Minnesota has been in the bottom five of the NBA against point guards. Things are shaping up for Garland to have a big game at a cheap price point.
Value Plays
Nicolas Claxton (C-BKN): $6,100 DraftKings, $6,800 FanDuel
Claxton is more of a value play on DraftKings, but he’s still viable on FanDuel. At $6,100, though, there’s still plenty of value to be squeezed out of the starting center for the Nets. Claxton has averaged about four points higher than his season average, with 36.02 DKFP over his last five games. He scored double-digit points in seven consecutive with 62 rebounds in that span. Not only is he getting it done by scoring the rock and on the boards, but he’s had at least one or more blocks in every game but one this season. Claxton is easily suitable for five times or more the return on investment. I’ll have a lot of exposure to him tonight in tournaments.
Kevin Huerter (SG/SF-SAC): $5,400 DraftKings, $5,800 FanDuel
Huerter has been great for his new team. He’s having a career year with 16.5 points per game on 48.8 percent shooting and making a whopping 50 percent of his three-point attempts. Huerter has a high ceiling, already dropping over 40 fantasy points twice this season. At a sub-6k salary, there’s plenty of value left in the tank.
Advantageous Pricing
- Nicolas Claxton (C-BKN): $6,100 DraftKings, $6,800 FanDuel
- Darius Garland (PG/SG-CLE): $7,200 DraftKings, $7,800 FanDuel
- Nikola Jokic (C-DEN): $11,300 DraftKings, $10,600 FanDuel
- Domantas Sabonis (C/PF-SAC): $8,600 DraftKings, $9,100 FanDuel
- Donovan Mitchell (PG/SG-CLE): $9,300 DraftKings, $10,200 FanDuel
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (SG/SF-DEN): $4,900 DraftKings, $5,600 FanDuel
- Lauri Markkanen (PF/SF-CLE): $7,500 DraftKings, $8,000 FanDuel
- Keegan Murray (SF/PF-SAC): $4,500 DraftKings, $5,800 FanDuel
- Joel Embiid (C-PHI): $11,100 DraftKings, $10,200 FanDuel
- Anthony Davis (PF/C-LAL: $9,800 DraftKings, $11,00 FanDuel
If you enjoyed this article, please give me a follow on Twitter. Any support is greatly appreciated! Also, tune in for Monday’s NBA DFS Primer for DraftKings and FanDuel tomorrow. Until then, good luck with your contests tonight.
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