We wrap up another weekend in the NBA DFS streets with an appealing five-game slate. As usual, Sunday’s main slate action will tip off at 6:00 pm EST. So be sure to have your lineups set and keep a close eye on the injury report. As we approach the midway point of the season, more players are starting to feel the effects of such a physically demanding schedule. Therefore, many stars will begin to get the night off for rest, and rotations are starting to look different due to injuries.
Let’s jump into Sunday’s schedule and odds before looking at the ever-so-important injury report. Good luck!
View the best player prop bets for tonight’s slate with our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
NBA DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Primer: Sunday (1/15)
Schedule & Odds
- OKC (+5) @ BKN (-5) O/U: 230.5
- SAC (-7) @ SA (+7) O/U: 244.5
- ORL (+10) @ DEN (-7) O/U: 231
- DAL (+6) @ POR (-6) O/U: 227
- PHI (-3.5) @ LAL (+3.5) O/U: 234.5
Check out our consensus game odds as well as the odds from each sportsbook at BettingPros
Injury Report
- Kevin Durant (knee) OUT
- Aleksej Pokusevski (leg) OUT
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (ankle) OUT
- Devin Vassell (knee) OUT
- Kevin Huerter (conditioning) Questionable
- Doug McDermott (back) Questionable
- Jamal Murray (ankle) Probable
- Chuma Okeke (knee) OUT
- Jonathan Isaac (G-League) Questionable
- Gary Harris (finger) Questionable
- Vlatko Cancar (leg) Probable
- Jeff Green (hand) OUT
- Peyton Watson (adductor) OUT
- Collin Gillespie (leg) OUT
- Christian Wood (ankle) Questionable
- Tim Hardaway Jr. (ankle) Questionable
- Dorian Finney-Smith (hip) OUT
- Maxi Kleber (hamstring) OUT
- Justise Winslow (ankle) OUT
- Nassir Little (hip) OUT
- Josh Green (elbow) OUT
- LeBron James (ankle) Probable
- Anthony Davis (foot) OUT
- Tobias Harris (knee) Probable
- Patrick Beverley (illness) Questionable
- Lonnie Walker IV (knee) OUT
- Austin Reaves (hamstring) OUT
Core Plays
Joel Embiid (C-PHI): $11,200 DraftKings, $11,400 FanDuel
I love paying up for JoJo in this spot against a Lakers squad with a bottom 7 OPRK against centers. While Thomas Bryant has admirably stepped up in Anthony Davis’ (foot) absence and given fantastic production offensively, his defense certainly lacks. Therefore, Embiid should have his way down low tonight, especially when Bryant is off the floor. When these two teams met in early December, Embiid dropped 38 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists. I expect we’ll get a similar effort on Sunday night, making The Process one of my top plays of this five-game slate.
Domantas Sabonis (PF/C-SAC): $10,700 DraftKings, $10,300 FanDuel
I don’t know how you get away from Sabonis right now. The big man is thriving in Sacramento, putting up career-high numbers in field goal percentage, rebounds, and assists. He has scored less than forty fantasy points only once since December 13th, and he just put together his best performance of the season against the Rockets on Friday. Now he’ll draw another cake matchup against a rebuilding San Antonio Spurs squad who not only have a bottom 7 OPRK against big men but are effectively the worst defense in the NBA with a 119.2 defensive rating. They’re also dead last in points allowed in the paint, giving up 55.5 per game. We would be here all day if I continued highlighting how bad the Spurs are on defense. The bottom line is Sabonis is a walking triple-double going up against the NBA’s worst defense. Don’t overthink it. Just get exposure to Domantas Sabonis tonight.
GPP Targets
Josh Giddey (PG/SG-OKC): $7,200 DraftKings, $7,700 FanDuel
Josh Giddey has turned up the heat of late. The Aussie has scored 15 or more points and tallied four or more rebounds in eight of his last nine games. I primarily like targeting the second-year guard on DraftKings because of the $500 discount. But the fact that he’s dropped over 50 DKFP in two of the last three games doesn’t hurt, either. He does draw a tough defensive matchup against a Nets team who has turned it around on that side of the ball. However, with how well Giddey has played over the last week, I’m willing to continue to plug him into my lineups.
Jusuf Nurkic (C-POR): $7,000 DraftKings, $7,900 FanDuel
The Mavericks have taken a hit with multiple injuries to key players in their rotation. They’re already down two of their best defenders in Maxi Kleber (hamstring) and Dorian Finney-Smith (hip), who is by far their best wing defender. Now Christian Wood is dealing with an ankle injury that may hold him out against the Blazers on Sunday. While Wood isn’t a huge loss defensively, he does give the Mavericks much-needed size down low to fill the lane and alter shot attempts in the paint and at the rim. With that said, Jusuf Nurkic should be able to feast against the Mavs. I don’t see them being able to defend him with or without Christian Wood, and he should pay off his salary on either site, especially on DK. The big man had a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double on Saturday, resulting in 43.8 DKFP in only 23 minutes on the floor. Look for Nurkic to have a similar outing again on Sunday and easily render five to seven times the return on investment.
Value Plays
Jalen Williams (PG/SF-OKC): $5,100 DraftKings, $6,200 FanDuel
We already have a lot of value on Sunday’s slate, and more will likely be available. From a first-look standpoint, however, Jalen Williams is too cheap on DraftKings. The rookie out of Santa Clara has produced 20 or more DKFP in 13 consecutive games. In ten of those games, he’s returned 5X his value or better. He continues to produce, and until DraftKings adjust his salary accordingly, I’ll keep looking his way for salary relief.
Michael Porter Jr. (SF,PF-DEN): $5,400 DraftKings, $6,200 FanDuel
DraftKings is blessing us with some favorable salaries. MPJ is another player that’s miss priced. The veteran blew his $5,200 price tag out of the water last game against the Clippers by dropping 36 DKFP. He’s a good rebounding forward who can get hot from behind the arc on any given night. With the Magic giving up the fifth most three-pointers made in the league this season, MPJ should have plenty of open looks from range. At $5,400, we need 27 fantasy points from Porter Jr. to deliver five times the return on investment, something he’s done in three of his last four games.
Thank you for reading another edition of the NBA DFS Primer. If you enjoy the content, please follow me on Twitter@ev_ritt3 and continue turning to FantasyPros for all your fantasy sports content.
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