The NBA has seven games on Sunday, but two are early, leaving five games for the main DFS fantasy basketball contests. Get your team in the game with FanSided’s FanDuel daily picks.
The NBA has a split schedule on Sunday, with two early games: Pacers at Hawks, 1:00 PM ET and Warriors at Knicks, 3:30 PM. While FanDuel does have some “early” game options featuring these two games, the majority of the games begin at 5:00 PM and thus will be the main focus of this article. A quick look at the early games, though, takes my thoughts to the Warriors. They’ve spent the season learning how to let Kevin Durant be the main guy, now they have to re-learn how to do it without him, which a) adds to the probability that this game is more competitive than it might usually be and b) means that the Warriors players, as priced, have solid upside.
Line-ups lock for the “Main” game schedule at 5:00 PM ET, with the Magic at the Wizards and the Celtics at the Suns. The Jazz at the Kings tips an hour later. Later in the evening, the Thunder are at the Mavericks at 8:30 PM, followed by the nightcap game of the Pelicans at the Lakers.
The game that draws my eye the most is the Pelicans, still looking for their first win featuring both Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, getting a very winnable opportunity against a Lakers team that tends to be a fantasy feast for their opponents. The Celtics at the Suns is also fun, with Isaiah Thomas getting a crack at his former team, who also happen to be pretty bad at defending opposing point guards. Finally, the Thunder are playing and, frankly, I don’t care who they play, every Russell Westbrook game is must-see TV.
My favorite plays of the day can be found on the following slides in FanSided’s FanDuel daily picks. Each day in order to offer a variety of price points at each position, you can find two slides for each position–one for high-salary options and one for high-value options. Each pick is ranked on a scale of 1-5 stars to indicate the confidence in the pick. The final slide of this post has more detail on what each level means, but in short, more stars means more confidence in the selection on a points-per-dollar basis.
Important note, every day the goal of this post is not to give you a copy-and-paste lineup. Instead, each selection is given while highlighting the factors you need to consider when building a customized lineup for yourself. If you want to see an example lineup, you can find it on the final slide of the post, but I suggest you adjust your lineup to fit your personal taste.
To keep up with all of FanSided’s DFS NBA coverage head over to the fantasy basketball hub where each day you can find a post like this tailored for FanDuel as well as one specifically designed for usage on DraftKings. In this post, all salary and “fantasy points” references are to FanDuel scoring system and salaries. If you have any additional questions or thoughts or are looking for updates as we approach tipoff, follow @FanSidedFantasy on Twitter or you can follow my account @ProfessorDrz or find me on my home turf of The Hoops Lab.
Let’s take a look at your best options for both studs and value players at each position.