Welcome to Sleeper Picks. Sleeper’s newest offering promised plenty of entertainment and action, and they delivered. We will break down our top three picks for tonight’s NBA action. Sleeper is quickly becoming one of the most popular season-long fantasy platforms, and they are expanding into other areas based on demand. Each week in this space, we’ll talk about some strategy for the new platform while providing our favorite NBA more/less picks.
NBA Sleeper Picks Player Predictions (12/4)
Zion Williamson (F – NO): 24.5 points
Zion has been hot when on the court, scoring 25 or more points in seven of his last eight games, including twice against Sacramento. Ok, nuff said, analysis done. In all seriousness, Zion has already exceeded this total twice against this team this season, but both of those games came at home. Zion is averaging just 23.5 points per game on the season. With that being said, Zion’s splits are actually better on the road at 22.7 per game at home and 24.6 on the road. Tonight, he faces a Pelicans team that has surrendered the seventh most points per game to the power forward position at 26.34 per contest. The cards are all aligned for Zion to score at least 25 points tonight, which, of course, means he will have his worst game of the season. All kidding aside, this is a total to include on at least one of your tickets for Monday night.
Pick: More
Domantas Sabonis (C – SAC): 0.5 double doubles
Sabonis has been exceptional this season and should be a shoo-in for another All-Star appearance. He gets overlooked due to playing first for the Indiana Pacers and now for the Sacramento Kings, but he is one of the top talents at the position. He is averaging 18.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game on .571 shooting. He has recorded a double double in 14 of 18 games this season, but two of those games without one have come in his last three. He bounced back from the consecutive double double-less nights with 17 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists the last time out, so we will assume that Sabonis is over whatever was ailing him against Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers. Tonight, he faces off against a New Orleans Pelicans team that he has already faced twice this season. He recorded a double double in one of those two games. On the season, the Pelicans have surrendered the eighth most rebounds per game to the center position at 15.59. Slap the More on Sabonis for tonight’s In-Season Tournament quarterfinal action.
Pick: More
De’Aaron Fox (G – SAC): 33.5 points + assists
Fox has been on fire for the Sacramento Kings, averaging 30.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game on .486 shooting from the field. He has poured in 26 or more points in all but two games this season, scoring 30 or more six times. His average spikes to 33.2 points and 7.3 assists per game at home, which works well for this total. He has recorded 34 or more points and assists in nine of his 13 games played this season. Tonight, he will face off against a New Orleans Pelicans team allowing 24.64 points and 8.44 assists per game to the point guard position. The points against is actually one of the better numbers in the NBA. Complicating matters further, Fox has played the Pelicans twice this season already, recording 14 points and zero assists in the first game and 26 points and five assists in the most recent one. Yes, two of the four times he failed to hit 34 points and assists came against the Pelicans. With that said, both of those games came on the road, where his home/road splits (33.3/27.3 points and 7.3/6.0 assists) are noticeably less stellar. Fox could easily score enough points to hit the More on this total, so we will trust split and form and ignore the head-to-head data since both of those games came on the road. Fire up the More on Fox for Monday night.
Pick: More
Writers note: The lines are constantly changing on Sleeper (and sometimes expiring), so there is a high probability that one or all of the numbers may no longer be the same when you open your app. There are excellent values when they are first posted, with the only catch being that they are not all released at the same time. Vigilance could provide a solid return on investment this season, literally.
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Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his profile and follow him @FantasyContext.