FanDuel NBA: Best Picks And Lineup For Jan. 4
Read on for the top four picks at each position and a sample lineup for Monday’s FanDuel NBA games:
With 10 games on tap, both the Toronto Raptors and the Miami Heat will be playing their second consecutive game and their third in four nights.
As discussed in Saturday’s post, we won’t be completely avoiding players from teams in this scenario, but there could be minor downgrades made to the rankings of players from those two squads, and conversely their opponents (the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Indiana Pacers) might be worthy of a slight uptick.
With those factors in mind, here are tonight’s building blocks for your consideration:
Russell Westbrook ($10,700) and Kevin Durant ($9,900), Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Sacramento Kings: This is a dream matchup for one of the league’s most dynamic duos against the worst defensive team in the league in terms of points allowed (the Phoenix Suns are second after the Kings dropped 142 on them this past Saturday).
More from NBA
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
- Constructing the NBA’s perfect all-under-25 starting five
- Grading every NBA team’s highest draft pick in the last five years
If that’s not enough, Sacramento is third-worst overall vs. opposing point guards and second-worst overall against 3s on FanDuel NBA, so not only are the visitors porous in general, they are particularly weak against the positions that OKC’s two studs happen to play.
The likelihood that this will be a high scoring game (assuming it’s not too lopsided) is the icing on the cake, as the Kings lead the league in pace factor (100.0), and to that effect the game has a ridiculous over/under of 221.5.
With the recent price adjustments it could be a tall order to field a competitive lineup with both Durant and Westbrook, so the more prudent option would be to eschew one of them in favor of better depth.
Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors ($9,700) vs. Charlotte Hornets: While the availability of Stephen Curry for tonight’s game is still up in the air at the time of this writing, Green’s 65.3 FPPG average over his last two contests has served notice that he isn’t as dependent upon Curry as he appeared to be when the entire team seemed to crumble in the Chef’s absence during their loss to Dallas.
Aiding Green’s cause is the fact that the Hornets haven’t been 100 percent either, as starting center Al Jefferson suffered a knee injury after a mere two-game return following his last extended absence (While Jefferson will never be confused with Steph Curry, he did provide value to the Hornets’ starting five as a veteran presence).
Cody Zeller has done an admirable job in Jefferson’s stead, but he is a weaker defender; starting power forward Marvin Williams is good for rebounding but not much else; and reserve center Spencer Hawes is dinged up. As a result, the Hornets have slipped to the bottom third vs. opposing PFs over their past five games, and their regression should continue against Green tonight.
Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies ($8,100) vs. Portland Trail Blazers: Gasol can be an afterthought when discussing the league’s elite centers as his production tends to vary dramatically from game to game; however when matched up against teams that struggle to defend his position (e.g., Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers) he has shown a tendency to exceed the 40-point threshold on FanDuel NBA.
The Portland Trail Blazers could provide an opportunity for that trend to continue, as they are fifth-worst versus pivots on FanDuel NBA so far. To that effect, Gasol has averaged 23.0 PPG in two meetings with them this season, which is well above his 16.5 PPG overall, so it’s feasible that if he can stuff the stat sheet in the other categories another big night against a team with a mediocre frontcourt could be on the horizon.
Next: Top Four Point Guards