FanDuel daily picks: Fantasy basketball lineup-December 9

Nine NBA games are ready to roll this Friday, so start your weekend with some DFS fantasy basketball success with these FanDuel daily picks.

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) and Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) go head to head in tonight’s FanDuel daily picks. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA starts the weekend with a star-filled Friday night slate of nine games. The 18 teams in action definitely provide some good matchups to take advantage of if your playing DFS fantasy basketball, so check out our FanDuel daily picks on the following slides to see who you should try to get in your lineup tonight.

More from FanDuel

The action starts tonight at 7:00 PM ET when lineups lock in as the Hornets and Magic tip off in Charlotte. At 7:30, the Heat visit LeBron and the Cavs in Cleveland while the Celtics host the Raptors. The ESPN coverage starts at 8:00 PM ET when the Rockets and Thunder meet for the second time this season as James Harden returns to OKC again. In two other solid 8:00 starts, the Bucks host the Hawks and the Pistons visit Minnesota to face the Wolves. At 8:30, one more game gets underway as the Mavs welcome in the Pacers. The last two games of the night get underway at 10:30 and are stocked up with value as the Suns visit he Lakers in the second game of ESPN’s double-header and the Kings take on the Knicks. As you put your lineups together, make sure you remember that the Wolves and Raptors are playing for the second night in a row while the Hornets, Cavs, Mavs, Rockets, Pacers, Heat, Bucks, Magic, and Kings have to keep in mind that they have another game on the schedule for tomorrow.

With that nice batch of games tonight, there are lots of ways you can assemble your DFS fantasy basketball team. I have collected my top options for you to check out on the next few slides in today’s FanDuel daily picks. My goal each day is to give you the information you need to build your own customized lineup to get you a win however you participate in DFS contests. In order to help you find what you need, I’ve separated my picks by position and price. You’ll find two slides per position–the first slide will feature the best high-salary options followed by some high-value options which cost less but still offer solid returns. Each slide contains at least two options with extras thrown in where possible.

I rank my picks for each contest using stars after each explanation to show the relative strength of the pick. For a full explanation of the rating system, check out the last slide of this post, but in short, more stars means more confidence (on a point-per-dollar basis). Also on the final slide of the post, you can see how I’m putting together the best of my picks into my personal lineup for today’s competition. I suggest you build your own customized team with the players you like the most, but you’re welcome to check out my lineups and use them as a place to get started.

Just a reminder that each day in my FanDuel daily picks, all salary references and references to “fantasy points” refer to FanDuel pricing and scoring. If you are looking for similar coverage specifically for DraftKings, check the box above for related posts or find the latest on the fantasy basketball hub. If you have any questions or are looking for any updates as the games get closer, follow @FansidedFantasy on Twitter. I’ll also use that account to tweet out links when we add new stories to the fantasy basketball hub.

Let’s tip off our Friday night FanDuel daily picks starting with a look at the costly but worth it PG plays.