NBA DFS picks December 29: Never fold the Joker

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – OCTOBER 11: A detail view of official Spalding NBA logo basketball on the floor during a preseason game between the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on October 11, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Pacers defeated the Bulls 105-87. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

NBA DFS picks December 29: Never fold a Joker

We have a large ten game NBA DFS slate on tap for tonight. Detroit, Denver, and Oklahoma City are all on the second game of back-to-back sets. Detroit rested Blake and Rose last night and the team played fairly well. Now all the value is gone for the Pistons, but we still have some elsewhere. Let’s see which injuries open up some more.

Out: Karl-Anthony Towns (wrist), Jimmy Butler (ankle), Draymond Green (foot), Kemba Walker (knee), Kevin Love (calf), Marcus Morris (knee), Kevin Porter (personal), Rui Hachimura (eye), Isaac Okoro (foot), Trevor Ariza (personal), Obi Toppin (calf), Austin Rivers (groin), Josh Okogie (hamstring), Marquese Chriss (ankle), Jeremy Lamb (knee), Matthew Dellavedova (concussion), James Ennis (hamstring), Furkan Korkmaz (adductor), Immanuel Quickley (hip), Dylan Windler (hand), Dennis Smith (quad), Klay Thompson (Achilles), Goga Bitadze (ankle), Tacko Fall (eye), Brian Bowen (groin), Romeo Langford (wrist), Jaylen Nowell (calf), Torrey Craig (nose), Al-Farouq Aminu (knee), Jonathan Isaac (knee), Patrick McCaw (knee), Wenyen Gabriel (knee), Jalen Smith (ankle), Abdel Nader (concussion).

Questionable: Kawhi Leonard (mouth), Lauri Markkanen (calf), Alec Burks (ankle), Jahlil Okafor (ankle), JaMychal Green (calf), Omari Spellman (knee), Ty Jerome (ankle).

Rose and Griffin should return tonight. Embiid is expected to play as well. We’ll have to watch the statuses of Markkanen and Kawhi. both are in decent spots tonight. The same can be said for Okafor, but we don’t really know what to expect from him yet.

The Nets have been mum about the status of both KD and Kyrie. The two are playing very well together, but the Nets don’t want to peak in December. They want to peak in April. They could take it easy with one or both of their stars.

Like the Rockets, the Pistons are barely fielding a team. Unlike the Rockets, Detroit is doing it mostly by choice.

I started doing the trifecta last year where at the request of a reader I tried to predict the top three scorers of the night. I got all three right twice, but they were never in the right order. I’m not one to give up that easily, so I’ll do it again.

Last night Jokic finished at the top. I picked him second. LeVert was second and Harden third. I picked Kyrie who was out. I had two of top three but none in the right order. Still, that’s not horrible. Tonight I’ll go with Jokic, Giannis, and Drummond.