The NBA thrills on Friday night with eight games on the docket, and we can help you get your DFS line-ups set up to win.
The NBA has eight games on tap on Friday night, and several of them look like they will be fantasy friendly. The action tips off with the Mavericks at the 76ers and the Bulls at the Wizards at 7:00 p.m. ET. Two more games go live 30 minutes later: the Celtics at the Nets and the Raptors at the Pistons. At 8:00 the Timberwolves are at the Heat and the Rockets are at the Pelicans. Later on, at 10:00, the Magic tip at the Suns, followed by the nightcap at 10:30 that has the Bucks at the Lakers.
Many of the storylines that catch my attention today revolve around injuries and shifting team philosophies as we approach the end of the season. What will the Suns look like tonight and moving forward, now that Eric Bledsoe is out for the season and they are fully committed to youth? What will the Bulls look like, now that Dwyane Wade is out for the season and veterans like Rajon Rondo and Nikola Mirotic seem to be ascending in the rotation. Isaiah Thomas is out for the next two games, so who will be the Celtics to step up in his place? The Lakers had already committed to a youth movement, so will players like Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac get over the hump and become true DFS impact players?
Then, in the other direction, we’ve got the interesting star match-ups. James Harden and the Rockets dominated the new-look Pelicans in the first game that Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins played together … will the rematch be any different three weeks later? Karl-Anthony Towns lock horns with Hassan Whiteside in a battle of dominant young centers. Giannis Antetokounmpo has struggled a bit of late, while his Friday opponent the Lakers are playing some of the worst defense in recent memory … which trend gives? All told, just a lot of storylines and a lot of action to track on this eight-game night in the NBA.
My favorite plays of the day can be found on the following slides in FanSided’s DraftKings 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 DraftKings as well as one specifically designed for usage on FanDuel. In this post, all salary and “fantasy points” references are to DraftKings 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.