FanDuel NBA Daily Fantasy Basketball GPP Breakdown: Tuesday, November 13

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown

Hello again and welcome back to the Tuesday edition of the FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown. I’m “Thunder Dan” and I love FanDuel NBA DFS so much that it hurts (especially when it doesn’t love me back).

All kidding aside, my goal every day is to give you my top targets every night for GPP contests for FanDuel NBA.  When making these picks I always take into account salary, ownership, and match-up and I always do my best to give you a clear rationale for why I believe each player makes an elite GPP target.

We have only 3 games on tonight’s slate, the first true “small slate” we’ve had in a while. The NBA schedule was perfect last week, but this week we are looking at 3 games tonight and then again on Thursday night. There’s no need to fear though, as there’s still leverage to be gained in GPPs even on small slates.

Today I’ll use a game-by-game approach since we only have so many options per position. I always try to recommend some players in each pricing tier.  Finally, I always include my “Game Stack of Night” which is my favorite game to target with multiple players from both teams and I try to break down the different ways to build that stack.

Remember, this is a first look article that is intended to get you pointed in the right direction with your research. We’re still waiting for some Vegas totals to come in and there’s always a possibility of injury news throughout the day. Always make sure you monitoring Twitter for player updates or getting those push notifications to your phone.

Without any further ado, let’s get into the picks!

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: Charlotte @Cleveland

The Hornets come into Cleveland tonight as 6.5 point road favorites and this game has a mediocre 219 total (that sounded weird when I just read it back, but we are seeing totals in the 220-240 range with regularity this season).

Cleveland is banged up but has been playing better lately. Since getting blown out by Charlotte 4 games ago, the Cavs have lost their last 3 games by a combined 12 points.  I think you have to throw that first game out and approach tonight’s game expecting it to stay close.

Let’s start with the Cavs, who will be without Sam Dekker, George Hill, Cedi Osman, and Kevin Love.  You could make a case for 5 different Cavs players today and all of them are reasonably priced, too. My favorites would be Larry Nance (5900) and Jordan Clarkson (5700).

Nance is a strong per-minute fantasy scorer and finally got 30 minutes in Saturday’s game as Cleveland had few other options to run out there. He shot poorly, but grabbed 14 points and blocked 4 shots. He’s an elite play if he gets a similar allotment of minutes tonight.  Clarkson put up 16 shots in only 24 minutes and is being counted on to score off the bench. His 28% usage is solid for a player with his price tag and he flirted with a triple-double just two games ago against OKC.

Other Cavs to consider are Rodney Hood (5400), who’s SF eligible tonight, Collin Sexton (5700), and Tristan Thompson (6100).  Hood or Sexton could both get hot shooting the ball and Thompson is coming three straight double-doubles. Getting the right 2-3 Cavs tonight in your builds is going to be really important.

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: Charlotte @Cleveland

For Charlotte, it all starts with, you guessed it, Kemba Walker (9000).  Kemba disappointed many DFS players in this same spot in their first matchup with only 27 FD points, but you can’t fall victim to game-log watching here. The first thing to note is that George Hill played in that first matchup and guarded Kemba, causing him to defer to his teammates early in the game.  He also only played 29 minutes as the game turned into a blowout so he never had a chance to close out the game and the 4th quarter is usually prime Kemba time.

There will be those who say “fade Kemba on the road,” but I’ll point out that his stats are nearly identical in all categories this year except he’s actually scoring 3 more points per game on the road.  I think it would be unwise to fade Kemba in this spot and he’s likely one of the top GPP options on the entire slate.

The other Hornets I’m focusing on will be Jeremy Lamb (5100), Nicolas Batum (5900) and Miles Bridges (5200).  Lamb had a nice game in their first meeting, going for 19-8-2 in only 24 minutes and his rebounding/steals upside is too nice to pass up at this price. Batum also played well in that game with a 9-8-8 line and is able to pile up stats without needing to score the basketball.

The real sleeper here is the rookie Bridges, who got priced up into the 5k range after Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was ruled out last night. Bridges has played 28 and 23 minutes in the last two games and should have a chance to get plenty of run tonight as well. He showed a solid ceiling this preseason and has excellent per-minute upside with his ability to contribute in all areas.

If you are going to fade Kemba, then you’re going to want to get some exposure to the cheaper Hornets players, and if you think the game does get ugly then Malik Monk (4300) is a solid option as he has got a lot of run in the fourth quarters of game in which the Hornets have won big.

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: Houston @ Denver

Denver is coming off a disappointing loss to Milwaukee on Sunday, but still put up 114 points in defeat. We’re starting to see the return of a great fantasy player as Paul Millsap (6200) broke out for a massive 25-8-6 line and is showing signs of being more aggressive on offense. With Will Barton on the shelf and Gary Harris and Jamal Murray (who I’m likely avoiding) shooting poorly lately, Millsap has felt the need to look for his own shot and help carry the scoring burden.

This is a good thing for Nuggets and for our fantasy lineups and I don’t care how chalky he is, Millsap is the first guy I’m locking in all my lineups. He hasn’t faced Houston as a member of the Nuggets yet, but in his last three games against them over the last 2+ years, he’s averaged a solid 16-8-4.

The real question is are you willing to spend 9700 in cap room on Nikola Jokic?  This is definitely the kind of game in which he could thrive, but will his coach play him 30 minutes? He’s an elite per-minute fantasy scorer, but his game log looks like roller coaster ride. I think he’s worth a shot at this price if you’re stacking this game up, but there are a few cheaper centers that I do like better on a point-per-dollar basis.

Trey Lyles (5100) has some appeal here but has to be very productive while he’s on the floor because he rarely gets more than 22-24 minutes.  The other bench player I’m looking at is Monte Morris (4400), who has been productive in his last two games, averaging 27.6 FD points in 24.5 minutes.

A solid punt option could be Juancho Hernangomez (3800), who played 29 minutes in his first start of the season. He’s certainly capable of filling up the stat sheet and getting hot from downtown.

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: Houston @ Denver

The Houston Rockets finally looked like the team we were expecting to see at the beginning of the season in their 115-103 win over the Pacers on Sunday.  James Harden (11500) went for 40 real-life points but also turned the ball over 9 times in 37 minutes. While the scoring was good to see, I’m still not sold on spending my salary cap on him and I’ll be quick to point out that 58.9 FD points were still just barely 5x on his salary.

Chris Paul (8800) is still the best point-per-dollar option on the Rockets for me. While he lacks the scoring output of Harden, he has the ability to rack up counting stats with boards, assists, and steals (of which he has a crazy 2.6 per game this season). I would expect Denver to put Gary Harris on Harden, leaving CP3 with Jamal Murray‘s lackluster defense.

Clint Capela is too expensive for me at 8000, but there are few cheap Rockets options that I think we should consider.  Since Carmelo Anthony left the rotation, the Rockets have consolidated the remaining minutes among Eric Gordon (5100), P.J. Tucker (4500), and Gary Clark (5100).  Eric Gordon is too good of a scorer to be priced so cheaply and he’s a strong tourney play here.

Gerald Green is already ruled out and P.J. Tucker is questionable with an illness. If Tucker misses then Clark stands a chance to play 35+ minutes and we’d likely see James Ennis (3500) pick up some of those minutes as well.  There’s just a ton of minutes to go around and very few healthy bodies on the wings, one of these guys is likely to be a tremendous value.

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: Atlanta @ Golden State

Will this be the “late night hammer” that or the “fade cuz the Hawks will get hammered?” Ok, it’s pretty late at night or early in the morning when I come up with these jokes and they always seem to sound funnier at the time then when I read them later on in the day.

I made the mistake of fading the Hawks on Sunday as I expected the Lakers to destroy them, only to see them lose in the final seconds.  Similarly to that scenario, we have Atlanta coming into Golden State as massive underdogs tonight but against a Golden State team that is playing the second half of a back-to-back. I think crossing this game off completely is a mistake and there’s some fantasy value to be had here for sure.

Let’s start with Atlanta, which has been a frustrating team to try to target in DFS due to the fact that they’re clearly tanking and have been playing a bunch of young players and spreading the minutes around.

We know that Dewayne Dedmon is out again tonight and that Alex Len (5000) got 26 minutes on Sunday in the same situation. Len put up 17-11 and is one of the better values on the slate at this price. If you really want to get crazy, then consider his backup Miles Plumlee (not to be confused with his brother Mason, who’s Jokic’s backup in Denver) is only 3600 and was productive in 15 minutes on Sunday scoring 19 FD points.

Omari Spellman (4400) is the other big man who deserves consideration. He’s played 28, 26, and 27 minutes in the last three games and had two really nice double-doubles in that stretch.

I’m less inclined to roster the wing players here as they are in a no man’s land of pricing in the 6k range. Kent Bazemore (6900) feels overpriced and Taurean Prince (6600) played his most minutes (34) in any game since October 27th. One of these guys could certainly go for 40+, but good luck figuring out which one.

I may have buried the lede here, but Trae Young (7500) is the Hawk that should draw the most interest. He’s been erratic this season but has already shown the type of ceiling he has with two 50+ FD point games this season. He had a great night against the Lakers, going for 20-2-12 and he certainly could thrive in this fast-paced environment against the Warriors.  He’s below Kemba and CP3 on my list but is certainly worthy of consideration.

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: Atlanta @ Golden State

One more night of Kevin Durant (11800) without Steph Curry? Sign me up. Atlanta will have no answer for KD and he has the potential to score 10-15 more raw points than any player on the slate if the Hawks keep it close. He went for 57.5 FD points in only 30 minutes against the Nets this weekend and the Clippers couldn’t slow him down last night either.  I’m locking KD into my lineups and finding value elsewhere, there’s no way to fade him on this slate.

The other Warriors to strongly consider are Klay Thompson (7100) and Quinn Cook (5800).  Cook was slowed last night by Patrick Beverley‘s defense but showed his ability to fill it up on Saturday with 41 FD points against Brooklyn.  Cook’s price is getting steep for the third option on offense but we’ve seen point guards have big games against the Hawks so you can’t totally ignore him either.

I’m not usually a Klay Thompson guy, but tonight feels like one of those nights where he could go absolutely nuts and drop 50+ again. He’s got a solid floor for cash games, but his lack of peripheral stats means he has to score 30+ real-life points to get to that 6x value and he’s only done that once this season (his massive 52-point game against Chicago).

I’m staying away from Draymond Green (8200) who feels overpriced and the rest of the Golden State big men who all end up playing 15-18 minutes.  You can get exposure to the vast majority of GSW offense by rostering Durant, Thompson and/or Cook.

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: Game Stack of the Night

Houston @ Denver

This is my favorite game of the night and I think it stands to be the most competitive. What I really like, though, is that we have the potential for short rotations from both teams giving us a chance to roster several players from each team with confidence that they will get a lot of minutes.

My primary targets here are Chris Paul and Paul Millsap. I like starting with my favorite player from each team and working my way out while building these game stacks. While James Harden is the next logical piece for the Rockets, I’m more inclined to grab a value play like Gary Clark and/or Eric Gordon to fill out my Houston exposure as I think they have more point-per-dollar upside.

On the Nuggets side, I think Hernangomez is the perfect value piece to use in this spot. Houston just gave up a 20-6-6 line on Sunday to a comparable player in Bojan Bogdanovic and I think their defense will be very vulnerable on the perimeter if P.J. Tucker ends up missing this one. I will have to have at least some exposure to Nikola Jokic in a few lineups and I think he is very playable alongside Millsap in any lineup.

Remember, you can stack anywhere from 2 to 6 players in a game stack. One larger slates I usually caution against overexposure to one game but on a 3 game slate a full game stack is firmly in play as this game could be the one with the most fantasy points and they could be tightly concentrated on fewer players.

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: Sample Lineup and Slate Overview

This is a tough build to make and I think there’s very little room for error tonight. My top priority spend is Kevin Durant, and then my next favorite expensive plays are Kemba Walker and Chris Paul.

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There are a ton of solid 5-6k options at each position and two of those that I’m locking in off the bat are Paul Millsap and Alex Len. Shooting guard is a position that offers some flexibility and I’ll likely mix and match some pairings there and try to find some correlations to other players in game stacks.

Here’s what I’m looking at tonight. I have exposure to 5 of the 6 teams on the slate in this lineup and I’m using Hernangomez are my punt play (since you can drop your lowest score on FanDuel) . Remember, this is a sample lineup that is intended for illustrative purposes and is not a plug-and-play lineup.

PG: Chris Paul (8800) 

PG: Kemba Walker (9000)

SG: Eric Gordon (5100)

SG: Jeremy Lamb (5100)

SF: Kevin Durant (11800)

SF: Juancho Hernangomez (3800)

PF: Paul Millsap (6200)

PF: Gary Clark (5100)

C: Alex Len (5000)

That’s all I got today, folks! I hope you enjoyed my slate breakdown and I appreciate you taking the time to read my article. Be sure to share it with friends and fellow DFS players, leave comments or hit me with other feedback or questions on Twitter.  Good luck in your contests!