FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Tuesday 2/5 – Raptors Re-SERGE-nce

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Tuesday, 2/5

Welcome back to the Tuesday edition of the FanDuel NBA Breakdown! I’m “Thunder Dan” and I love playing and writing about FanDuel NBA DFS. I’m ready, as always, to help you get your research started for tonight’s NBA DFS slate on FanDuel.

Last night was a profitable one for me as I won most of my cash games and finished in the money in some small single entry GPPs. I always feel good when my lineups hit because I play the guys I write up every day and I think to myself, “some of my readers probably won, too.” Winning is definitely more fun than losing that’s for sure, so let’s see if we can keep the hot streak going.

Tonight we have a solid 8-game slate on tap that locks at 7:00 and only one late game (Miami-Portland) which means hopefully we have starting lineups and all the injury info we need before the slate tips off.

"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.

In order to win in NBA DFS, you have to be flexible with your roster construction and sometimes take things down to the wire before lock with late-breaking injury information. At the same time, I always warn against totally scrapping your original first look build, as sometimes the plays that you were on the night before or that morning end up still being the best plays on the slate.

As always, let’s take a quick look at our injury situation and Vegas information to give us a place to start our research.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: First Look

INJURY REPORT

OUT: Kyrie Irving, Lonzo Ball, Emmanuel Mudiay, Derrick Rose, Frank Nkilitina, Tyus Jones, Danilo Gallinari, Cedi Osman, Kyle Anderson, Omri Casspi, Wilson Chandler, Tristan Thompson, Mo Bamba, Aaron Baynes,

DOUBTFUL: Kyle Lowry, Jeff Teague, Garrett Temple, Jonas Valanciunas

QUESTIONABLE: Robert Covington, Jonathan Simmons, JaMychal Green, Jusuf Nurkic, Joakim Noah, Robert Williams

PROBABLE: LeBron James, J.J. Redick, Kyle Kuzma, Cody Zeller, Ivica Zubac, Mitchell Robinson

It’s a Kyrie rest day, so we are going to have a lot of Boston players in play on tonight’s slate even with them still being a heavy 10 point favorite against the Cavs.

VEGAS INFO

The Pacers and Pistons are on the second half of back-to-backs. Charlotte is the front half of a back to back.

The highest total game is the Toronto-Philadelphia game with a total of 228.

The lowest total game is the Minnesota-Memphis game with a total of only 203, but it also has the tightest spread with Memphis being one-point home favorites.

Two other games have totals over 220 with OKC-Orlando coming in at 224.5 and Charlotte-L.A. Clippers sitting at 226.

The Magic and the Pacers are the two teams that are being paced up the most in their matchups.

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 help build that bankroll.

Paul George (11500)

Paul George is more expensive than LeBron James and is a better cash target tonight. Yes, I said it. In DFS, we always have to separate real life from fantasy, so while LeBron is still the best player in the league, he’s simply not been as good as Paul George in DFS and PG13 is in a better spot tonight. George is on an incredible tear right now, playing some of the best basketball of his career and I’m locking him into lineups tonight with the expectation of a 50 FD point floor.

Terry Rozier (7000)

I will try not to waste your precious time so here’s my shortest blurb of the season. Kyrie is out and Rozier has the best matchup on the slate for point guards. Lock him in, go to the next roster spot.

Jerryd Bayless (5900)

Bayless is an absolute lock for me tonight with the news that Rose and Jones are out and Jeff Teague is doubtful. He’s been playing heavy minutes for the T-Wolves and producing nicely, even flashing a ceiling game against the Grizzlies last time out with a 51-spot.  Rozier and Bayless are likely the chalk pairing in cash games but I wouldn’t try to get cute and fade either of them.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Top GPP Plays

For tournament plays, I’m looking for more than just 5x. I’m looking for 6-7x or more and we really want to chase those players with high ceilings, not just floors. We also want to take some risks on players that we think we can get at lower ownership than the chalkier cash game plays.

Myles Turner (7300)

Big Myles was solid last night against the Pelicans going for 15-9 with 5 steals/blocks. Those defensive stats have been there for Turner all season and that’s the kind of upside I’m chasing on FanDuel with defensive stats being worth 3 FD points a pop. His minutes have been on the rise lately, he’s played 31 or more in three straight games and he has a solid matchup against a Lakers interior that has been handled by opposing centers.

Darren Collison (6400)

I was on the Pacers last night against New Orleans and they came through for me, so I’m going right back to them in another nice pace-up spot here against the Lakers. Collison has really come on strong since Oladipo went down and now has 30+ FD points in 7 of his last 9 games. He gets Rajon Rondo defense (which isn’t really defense) and should have plenty of opportunities for assists and steals in addition to his increased scoring making him an elite target for me in GPPs.

Serge Ibaka (7200)

Finally, we get to our cover boy (and I apologize for the bad wordplay in the title). Ibaka has been playing really well at the center spot for the Raptors and he should remain there tonight as Jonas Valanciunas isn’t quite ready to return. Kyle Lowry is also not likely to play in this big game against Philly tonight, so we’re likely to see Kawhi, Siakam and Ibaka have to carry the load offensively. A matchup with Embiid might scare some off, but Ibaka has performed well in this spot before and his perimeter-based game should be a challenge for “the Process” to handle.

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.

Daniel Theis (3700)

Theis is a solid fantasy producer when he gets minutes, and he should be in the rotation tonight with Aaron Baynes out, Robert Williams questionable, and the potential for a blowout against the Cavs.

Malik Monk (4600)

Monk is trending up, playing 20-25 minutes in each of his last four games and topping 25 FD points in his last three. I like him a lot in this pace-up spot against the Clippers.

Jaylen Brown (5100)

Ok so he’s 100 dollars above our value cutoff, but I had to get Brown in here. He’s averaging 18 actual points per game in the 8 games that Kyrie has missed this season and is a solid GPP option as the Celtics bench unit should get plenty of time against a bad Cleveland defense.

Boban Marjanovic (4100)

Boban is back in our lives, huzzah! He’s cracked the rotation in three straight games now, so let’s hope his coach continues to realize he has an unguardable giant on his bench that can dominate the paint. With 25 and 27 FD points in back to back games, Boban is worth a shot here at this price.

Bruno Caboclo (4000)

This is a GPP option only, as Bruno has shown us he doesn’t have much of a floor (mainly because he can’t shoot). But his length and athleticism means he has serious potential for steals/blocks and he had 7 of them in the Grizzlies first matchup with Minnesota. Keep an eye on if he starts or comes off the bench, I prefer him with the second unit.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Sample Lineup and Overview

If you’re not familiar with how I wrap up the Breakdown, this is where I give you my thoughts on roster construction and briefly discuss my strategy for how I want to attack the slate.

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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 CASH lineup. I like playing cash on nights when there is obvious chalk like Rozier because some people still won’t play it and believe it or not, there’s still an edge in cash games. I plugged in our cash core here and then filled out my roster will some solid mid-range plays and Theis as my drop score punt.

Remember, the sample lineup is for illustrative purposes and is not necessarily a “plug-and-play” lineup. This time of year so much can change in the course of 10-12 hours from when you begin to research a slate to when it actually locks.

PG: Terry Rozier (7000)
PG: Jerryd Bayless (5900)
SG: Dennis Schroder (5300)
SG: Alec Burks (5600)
SF: Paul George (11500)
SF: Jonathan Isaac (5800)
PF: Serge Ibaka (7200)
PF: Daniel Theis (3700)
C: Al Horford (8000)

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!