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FanDuel NBA: Best Picks, Lineup For Dec. 5

By Michael Yaffe

Oct 28, 2015; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) dunks the ball against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 28, 2015; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) dunks the ball against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Miami Heat
D-Wade and company have the luxury of hosting LeBron’s Cavs on the heels of a deflating OT loss. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

Read on for the top four picks at each position and a sample lineup for Saturday’s FanDuel NBA action (night games only).

With college football down to its conference championship games, the NBA has escalated its weekend offerings to a season-high 10-game slate (by Saturday standards), eight of which are relevant for the lion’s share of the DFS tournament offerings.

NBA-TV gets the pick of the litter, with LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers testing their mettle against the Miami Heat at the AmericanAirlines Arena.

Miami is coming off an impressive home win on Thursday against the Oklahoma City Thunder in which they held OKC’s dynamic duo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant to 36.5 and 38.3 points on FanDuel NBA, respectively.

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The Heat now have a 9-3 record in the cozy confines, and Saturday night they get the Cavs on the back end of a two-game set after LBJ and company lost in overtime in the Crescent City on Friday; a tightly played contest that started late to accommodate ESPN’s scheduling.

The only down side for the home team is the potentially continued absence of Luol Deng (hamstring), although it didn’t seem to affect their ability to keep KD under control when Gerald Green and rookie Justise Winslow split his minutes.

Despite the fact that the Cavs have the best record in the Eastern Conference, coach David Blatt has mentioned that lineup changes could be implemented for the New Orleans game, which makes some of the matchups difficult to diagnose since there will be some uncertainty regarding who the Heat’s first five will be juxtaposed against, in addition to who will get the starter’s minutes for the visiting team.

While LeBron James is almost assuredly going to get his, former teammate Dwyane Wade has turned back the clock lately with a combined 58 (actual) points in his last two games.

The fact that he accomplished this feat against a couple of playoff caliber teams in Boston and OKC is a nice story, but the Cavs should be a worthier adversary as they are second-stingiest overall against opposing 2 guards in their last 10 games (through Thursday), despite the alleged inconsistency of their own backcourt.

Watching LeBron and Wade face off as adversaries makes for a nice story, but given the uncertainty among both teams’ lineups and their combined defensive prowess (192 over/under is tied for lowest on the board), this game is probably better off left to the fans to enjoy and the DFS community to eschew, with more palatable options available elsewhere given the litany of choices.

The other game with the opening Vegas total of 192 is the match-up between the Milwaukee Bucks and the New York Knicks, both of whom will be on their second consecutive game and their third in four nights. No thank you.

 

Next: Top Four Point Guards