FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Friday, 1/18 – Boogie’s Back!

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Friday 1/18

Welcome back to the Friday edition of the FanDuel NBA Breakdown! I’m “Thunder Dan” and I love playing and writing about FanDuel NBA DFS. I had to take yesterday off as the grind of writing DFS articles seven days a week was wearing me down. But I’m back today and ready to help you get your process started for tonight’s 7-game slate on FanDuel.

"The FanDuel NBA Breakdown is a first look article that is intended to be a starting point for your cash game or GPP research for FanDuel NBA DFS."

My goal when I revamped the Breakdown was to create an all-inclusive article that gives you a place to start your research for FanDuel NBA cash games and GPPs.  When making my cash and GPP picks I always take into account salary, Vegas trends, ownership, and match-up and I always do my best to give you a clear rationale for why I believe each player makes a great GPP or cash target.

I’m trying to take a big picture look at the slate and give you a place to start your research, whether you’re a cash game player, GPP player (or maybe you play both – like me).  The smaller the slate, the less “cash-game friendly” it usually is, but that certainly doesn’t mean you can’t play cash games on small slates.

Tonight we have what a would call a “medium-sized” seven-game slate on FanDuel.  I really love how the schedule worked out this week as we had six or more games on every day. Seven games is the fewest we’ve had a Friday night in a while, but I’ll take it if that means we get bigger slates on Tuesday and Thursday more often.

There will be information that comes out during the day that will likely push us onto certain plays or off others.  Sometimes there are players mentioned in this first look article who get ruled out during the day, or other players emerge as good plays when surprise injury news emerges.

My best advice is to never settle on a lineup too early in the day and be willing to be flexible enough to incorporate the new information that becomes available throughout the day. At the same time, don’t abandon your core plays unless the slate absolutely demands it!

Let’s take a closer look at what tonight’s NBA slate has to offer!

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Seven Game Slate

Injury Report

OUT: Ricky Rubio, Raul Neto, Dante Exum, Allen Crabbe, Thabo Sefolosha, Goran Dragic, Kyle Anderson, Tyus Jones, Robert Covington, Larry Nance Jr., Tristan Thompson

Doubtful: NONE

Questionable: Tyler Johnson, Maurice Harkless, Mohammed Bamba

Probable: Ish Smith

Not too many surprises on the list of players who are out with most of them have been out for an extended period of time. Tristan Thompson is a new addition to the walking wounded and his absence, in addition to Nane, will leave the Cavs with very few healthy bodies in their frontcourt.

I don’t want to jinx anything, but that’s the fewest number of questionable tags I’ve seen in a long time and perhaps we can make it through the day without any major stars popping up with injury designations tonight.

Vegas Info

Tonight we have two really high totals in Pelicans-Blazers (233.5) and Clippers-Warriors (241).

Meanwhile, we have two really low total in the Grizzlies-Celtics (205.5) and Pistons-Heat (207.5).

Our two blowout concerns come from Boston, where the Celtics are favored by 10 over the Grizz and Utah, where the Jazz are 15 point favorites over the depleted and defenseless Cavs.

There are two tight spreads tonight with both the Brooklyn-Orlando and Minnesota-San Antonio games both being only one point spreads. The Spurs-Wolves game also features the third highest total at 225.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Cash Game Core

Welcome to the cash game core plays section of the Breakdown!  I’ve been giving you a GPP core in the past, so instead, I wanted to provide you with a solid trio of players to start building your cash game lineups with tonight. I highly recommend playing cash games on a nightly basis to keep your bankroll up, otherwise, a cold week in tournaments may have you running out of funds quickly!

Steph Curry (10400)

I have no problem paying over 10k for Steph tonight and locking in some raw points at the point guard position where there is a pretty steep drop off after Steph, Dame, and Kyrie. Curry is playing incredibly efficient basketball this season and getting to 50 FD points regularly. The Warriors have the highest total on the board, are getting paced up, and Curry has an excellent matchup here from a defense vs. position standpoint, too. All signs point towards locking in Chef Curry and moving on.

Justise Winslow (7000)

Winslow was in my cash core on Wednesday and was able to hit 5x value even in a game that saw the Heat get blown out by the Bucks. Tonight’s game with Detroit projects to be much closer, so hopefully, we get 35 minutes of action for Winslow. Anytime I can play a starting point guard at small forward or shooting guard, I’m going to try to do it and Winslow continues to function as the de-facto point guard for the Heat. He feels super safe tonight even at this price.

Ante Zizic (4200)

If you don’t know who this dude is I don’t blame you. He’s the young backup center for the Cleveland Cavs and he’s going to get all the minutes he can handle tonight with both Larry Nance Jr. and Tristan Thompson out. He can play, as he’s shown the ability the score fantasy points when he’s given enough minutes. He’s got two 33 FD point outings in his last three games and even in a tough matchup against the Jazz he should be able to make value just on sheer volume alone.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Top GPP Plays

Lou Willams (6800)

Sweet Lou has been in solid form lately and provides a solid floor and ceiling tonight. He’s my favorite Clipper in this massive total game against the Warriors. They will need his offense in order to keep up with the high-powered Warrior attack and Lou has fared well in two games against Golden State this season, averaging 25-2-7 in 28 minutes. I love his chances of going for 40+ tonight and giving us a 7x or better return on our investment.

Nikola Mirotic (6200)

Mirotic finally reminded of us how good he was earlier this season before getting hurt as he dropped 45 FanDuel points on Golden State Wednesday in only 28 minutes. He’s such a talented shooter and skilled player. His new role looks to be the sixth-man for the Pelicans and that will likely mean a nice usage bump for him and we saw him get up 14 shots including 10 three-point attempts in that game Wednesday. Jump on him at this price tonight, he will be 7k+ very soon.

Jarrett Allen (7200)

This might feel like point-chasing to some after Allen dropped a 60-burger on Wednesday, but more than anything it’s just chasing the upside of a player who may have finally been unleashed by his coach. Allen played 43 minutes in the Nets overtime win against the Rockets and was dominant in the paint, racking up 20 points and 24 rebounds.  He played 33 minutes against Boston the game before and piled up 48 FD points with a big double-double.

His shot-blocking is elite and if he continues to get these type of minutes he’s going to be a fantasy force on a nightly basis. The Nets are winning games and hopefully, their coach realizes it has a lot to do with the impact of their young center. Oh, and the matchup is great here too against Vooch and Orlando in what should be a tight game.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Value Plays

For our purposes here at the Breakdown, we classify players priced at 5000 or less as “value plays.” Identifying value has been crucial this year on FanDuel as the new “drop score” rule has forced us into playing a lot of “stars and scrubs” rosters in both cash and GPP formats.

DeMarcus Cousins (4600)

Talk about burying the lede, I put Boogie in the title of the article and then don’t get to him until the fifth slide! Some people might take a wait and see approach to using Cousins today, but not me. He’s not my optimal cash play only because of the uncertainty surrounding his minutes, but if we get 20 minutes of the Boogie Monster tonight, he could easily go for 30+ and put on a show.

Rodions Kurucs (4400)

This talented European rookie looks to have kept his starting spot for the Nets with his strong play despite the return of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. His ability to knock down outside shots gives this Brooklyn offense an element that they can’t get from any of their other 4-men and I really like this kid’s game after being able to watch him more often lately.

Omri Casspi (4300)

Casspi didn’t start last game, but played 35 minutes and had another strong outing going for 26 FD points. He’s helping to fill the void left by Kyle Anderson and he’s always had a pretty fantasy-friendly game. I’d much rather use him again tonight than Justin Holiday, who started at SF last game.

Bryn Forbes (4400)

Point guard is pretty ugly tonight and I’m likely looking to punt one of those positions in most of my builds. Forbes isn’t flashy but has been over 19 FD points in six straight games and has the best minutes floor of the cheap Spurs guards. He’s also been solid against Minnesota this season, averaging 13-3-3 in three games against them.

Shelvin Mack (4100)

Return of the Mack! Sorry, if you’re old enough to get that reference then maybe I made you chuckle, but I can’t help but think of that song every time I see Mack’s name. Young Shelvin (oh man, two pop culture references in one blurb) has been solid in his bench role since returning from injury, scoring 20+ in 3 of 4 games.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Game Stack(s) of the Night

New Orleans (+3) @ Portland (233.5 total)

So I couldn’t pick just one game tonight as I really like both of these late night hammers.  This game between Portland and New Orleans could be loaded with fantasy goodness and I really have only touched on one player (Mirotic) from it so far.

The obvious play from the Pelicans side is Anthony Davis (13800), who like James Harden, is looking pretty unfadable lately. He missed the first game between these two teams earlier this year with an injury and there’s always a risk of an in-game trip to the locker room (or two) but you can’t argue the upside here in this spot as Davis has been topping 70 FD points with regularity and Portland will no have answer for him.

The other Pelican I’m also considering is Jrue Holiday (8800), who has been producing at a really high level even with the return of Elfrid Payton to the lineup. He’s gone for 45, 51, and 48 FD points in his last three games and could have another big outing tonight.

For the Blazers, my interest lies mainly in Damian Lillard (9800) and Jusuf Nurkic (9000).  Mo Harkless could return tonight and muddy things for Evan Turner and Aminu, and CJ McCollum is mired in an offensive slump. Meanwhile, Lillard always the potential pop off for a massive game and Nurkic has shown a solid ceiling himself this year.

Nurk had a triple-double with 5 blocks in only 28 minutes against the Cavs on Wednesday and has two 50+ outings in his last four and that crazy 88-burger back on New Year’s Day.

Golden State (-6) @ L.A. Clippers (241 total)

What if I told you this total might be low? Well, these teams have played twice this season and combined for 237 and 256 points in those games for an average of 246.5 points per contest. Stacking up Golden State is expensive, but it could be worth it tonight and all of the big 5 (oh my gosh they literally have 5 All-Stars starting tonight) are in play. My favorites are Curry and DMC, but there’s obviously a case to be made for Kevin Durant (10600), Klay Thompson (7200) and Draymond Green (7600). Having at least two Warriors in your lineups tonight is probably a good idea.

So who do we run it back with besides Lou Williams? Well if I have to choose between Tobias Harris (7800) and Montrezl Harrell (8000) it’s the latter. Harrell simply has more upside due to his offensive efficiency, rebounding and shot blocking and while this price is not ideal, he definitely has 50+ potential in this game environment. Danilo Gallinari (7200) certainly is viable in this spot tonight and did have 40 against GSW in their last matchup.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Sample Lineup and Overview

If you’re new to the Breakdown, this is where I try to explain my roster construction for the slate and give a sample lineup based on how I am looking to approach it.

More from FanSided

• Caesars and PointsBet Promo Codes: $1,750 Bonus For ANY World Cup or MLB Game!
• Thunder projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
• NWSL Challenge Cup news: Courage ruthless against Washington, Racing remain perfect
• 2023 Women’s World Cup: Ary Borges and Brazil showed the entire world what they are about
• Trea Turner’s rough season goes from bad to worse

I usually like punting one or two spots on FanDuel with this year’s new “drop score” rule. Playing a lineup of all 5-7k players just makes zero sense to me and you’ll find that the guys winning consistently on FanDuel are going “stars and scrubs” pretty frequently.

Today’s sample lineup is a GPP lineup. I want exposure to the two late games with the high totals. I have a mini-stack from the Warriors-Clippers with Curry-Williams-Cousins and then Mirotic and Davis (who can absolutely be played together) from the Pelicans game.  Kurucs and Ross are sold values from that Brooklyn-Orlando game and then Mack and Casspi correlate well together as bench players for the Grizzlies.

Remember, the sample lineup is for illustrative purposes and is not necessarily a “plug-and-play” lineup. There’s still a lot of injury information we need before 7:00 PM when lineups lock.

PG: Shelvin Mack (4100)
PG: Steph Curry (10400)
SG: Lou Williams (6800)
SG: Terrance Ross (5200)
SF: Omri Casspi (4300)
SF: Nikola Mirotic (6200)
PF: Anthony Davis (13800)
PF: Rodions Kurucs (4400)
C: DeMarcus Cousins (4600)

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.  And keep coming back to FantasyCPR for the best free content in the industry! Good luck in your contests!