DraftKings NBA picks January 18: Drummond beats on the Hawks

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DraftKings NBA Point Guards:

Best Bets:

Russell Westbrook ($9,300): Can you believe that the Rockets and Lakers haven’t played yet this year? I choose Russ here because the Blazers provided a blueprint on what to do with Harden and the Lakers have the personnel to pull it off. Russ gets top billing at the point because Trae only has 42.5 DraftKings points in the seven second games of back to back sets so far this year. With the Lakers locking down Harden and Caruso and Rondo likely out, this looks like a Russ game for the Rockets.

Damian Lillard ($8,200): This is a very reasonable price for Lillard, especially when we consider that he has averaged 48.3 DraftKings points per game in the three prior meetings with the Thunder this year. If you’re not sold on Russ, Dame is a perfect plan B. He’s reasonably priced and has enough upside to use in any format. Just keep an eye on the illness that was bugging him before last night’s game. If CJ is out, Lillard is a lock.

De’Aaron Fox ($8,100): The only reason that I’m a little apprehensive about this is that Conley is supposed to return. On top of that, Fox was well below average against the Jazz earlier this year. Now to the reason why he’s on here: Fox has at least 56 DraftKings points in three straight games. Those games aren’t against terrible teams either. They were against Milwaukee, Orlando, and Dallas. All three teams are good defending the point. That gives me enough reason to ride Fox tonight.

Honorable Mention:

Kyle Lowry ($7,800): I expected the same precipitous drop in Lowry’s production as Young’s in the second night of a back to back, but that wasn’t the case. Lowry is right around his season average of 41.4 DraftKings points per game in the five night two’s he’s played in this year. Add in a plus matchup against Minnesota, and Lowry looks like a strong play tonight.

Kemba Walker ($7,400): Don’t get me wrong. Not much of me trusts Kemba, but after what he just did to the Bucks, I think we have to take notice. Some of that has to do with Smart and Brown being out. Smart is on track to play, but if Brown can’t play, look for Kemba to clear 6x value tonight. If Brown plays, I’ll look elsewhere.

Chris Paul ($7,000): I’m tempted to run all of the OKC guards. Portland hasn’t done a good job on one defensively until Harden. Was that a fluke? Even if it wasn’t, it may not matter. CJ may miss tonight’s game after exiting last night’s in the first half. I’ll run CP3 and SGA all night against Dame and Simons. Even if CJ plays, I’m going to call it a fluke anyway. I’ll have plenty of exposure to the Oklahoma City backcourt.

Dark Horses:

Darius Garland ($5,200): Garland’s 23 against Memphis last night was the lowest mark he’s had in two weeks. Garland is playing big minutes and has the ball in his hands a lot. The Bulls aren’t as good as Memphis at defending the point, so I expect Garland up near 30 again tonight.

Mike Conley ($4,400): It’s hard to predict what kind of limit Conley will be on, but let’s just say that he plays half the game. Conley only needs 22 DraftKings points for 5x value. That shouldn’t be an issue as long as Conley plays at least 20 minutes. I don’t imagine that he’ll start, but Conley could have a big role on the second unit.