Welcome to the Saturday FanDuel NBA edition of Picks and Pivots, a fantasy basketball column focused on helping you find the best core lineup for tonight’s six game slate which kicks off at 7:00PM EST!
As a reminder, the concept behind FanDuel NBA Picks and Pivots is to first identify key building blocks that can be used for any roster construction and then identify pivot points to help differentiate your lineup in hopes of a big payday!
Friday Night’s winning GPP lineup scored 372.2 FanDuel points on the back of a monster 73 FD point outing from James Harden. Over the first 119 slates, the average winning GPP score has been 378.2 which would mean we need 6.3x value from our roster in order to win big!
Over the first 119 slates, the average winning GPP score has been 378.2 which would mean we need 6.3x value from our roster in order to win big!
Friday Night’s Picks and Pivots lineup finished below the cash line with 280.7 FD points. The late lineup news that DeMarcus Cousins was out made us pivot to an Anthony Davis centered lineup but ultimately the lack of James Harden and Solomon Hill, who dropped 50 FD points out of nowhere, led us below the cash line.
Saturday gives us a split slate but the main slate which starts at 7PM EST gives us a solid six games to choose from including one game with a monster combined team total!
FanDuel NBA – Top Point Guard Picks
Jamal Murray ($4,400) Looking over this slate, there is one game that stands head and shoulders above the rest – as the Nuggets/Rockets game has a massive 238 combined team total which is 20 points higher than the next highest game on the slate. With only a two point Vegas spread this is the best DFS game to target and will be the core stack within my lineup build tonight.
Murray continues to play major minutes for the Nuggets and I expect that to continue tonight as Denver will be shorthanded again without Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler. Murray has played well for Denver with his expanded minutes with 20 or more FanDuel points in four of his last five outings and at this price point has an extremely safe cash game floor with massive GPP upside.
The Nuggets see the second largest pace boost on this slate and are projected to score nearly seven points higher than their season average. With the second highest team total on the slate I think you need to start your roster build with the Nuggets tonight and Murray is a great salary saving way to do so.
George Hill ($6,000) The one under the radar team stack I am looking at tonight is the Utah Jazz as they take on the Chicago Bulls. George Hill sits at a fantastic price point as his match-up against the Bulls and their 27th DvP against opposing PG’s could not be better!
Hill has scuffled in his last two games with less than 23 FanDuel points in each contest so I expect the game log watchers to steer clear of him tonight. Hill has double-digit shot attempts in three straight games and I would expect his ownership to be significantly lower tonight which makes him an intriguing GPP option.
FanDuel NBA – Top Shooting Guard Picks
James Harden ($11,800) Heading back to the Houston/Denver game I intend to start every lineup tonight with The Beard who is coming off a monster 73.3 FD point performance last night on the back of 41 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. Tonight the Rockets have the highest team total on the slate and are projected to score 4.5 points more than their already high season average.
With 66+ FD points in two of his last three games, fading Harden is a dangerous proposition on this slate as the price point is semi-reasonable and the upside in this spot against a Nuggets team that is 23rd in DvP to opposing SG’s is simply too good to pass on!
Will Barton ($6,600) On the other side of this match-up I am going back to the well with Barton who is simply a plug and play for me any time the Nuggets are short-handed. Barton showed off his upside last game against the Clippers with 45.5 FanDuel points on 12 for 18 shooting including 7 for 10 from three-point range.
Barton should step into the starting lineup again tonight with Chandler and Gallinari out and in an up tempo game against James Harden defense, stacking Barton with The Beard will be my core SG roster alignment tonight.
FanDuel NBA – Top Small Forward Picks
Joe Johnson ($3,900) and Joe Ingles ($4,100) One of the reasons I love the Jazz tonight is that we can stack them with a variety of cost-effective pieces which allows us to spend up for the Nuggets/Rockets stars.
With news that Rodney Hood is OUT for tonight’s game, Ingles should join Joe Johnson in the starting lineup and at these price points we can get significant usage and high upside profit potential.
Ingles played 36 minutes last game against the Cavs and put up 20.8 FanDuel points which is his third straight game above 20 FD points. Johnson has played 28+ minutes in three straight games and has averaged 22.4 FD points per game during that time period. With both of these players at $4k, we only need 20 FD points for 5x floor which I think is relatively safe considering the minutes they will play tonight and the upside for 6-7x is clearly in sight as well which makes stacking these two Jazz players at SF my preferred option tonight!
FanDuel NBA – Top Power Forward and Center Picks
Nikola Jokic ($10,700) If James Harden is the first player you click into your lineups tonight than Nikola Jokic should be the very next name as I intend to stack this duo across all formats tonight!
Jokic walks into this spot tonight coming off a 50 FanDuel point triple-double against the Clippers and with the expected high scoring/pace in this game I think Harden/Jokic becomes the de-facto stack to build your lineup around!
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Ryan Anderson ($4,700) Finding a secondary piece to stack from the Rockets is not always the easiest decision but with the Rockets on the road tonight, where Anderson typically performs best, I am fine throwing in Anderson at sub $5k for my second PF tonight. Anderson continues to be hit or miss from a DFS perspective as he has two 26 FD point performances which would get him 5.5x value at this price point but he followed that up with two straight duds so the risk is there. With this game on the road, in a huge pace up spot, I think Anderson has massive GPP upside and is worth the risk in all formats tonight.
Rudy Gobert ($7,900) The last member of my Jazz stack – I am locking in Gobert tonight against the Bulls as he has been playing fantastic basketball in recent contests. Gobert is coming off a beast 50 FD point outing with 20 points and 19 rebounds and was able to put up 37 FD points the last time these two teams met. Gobert is a safe cash game play with GPP upside and I will be deploying him as my top center tonight!
Best of luck tonight in your FanDuel NBA contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all the late breaking lineup news and roster updates.