NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 1/15/16
If you've never played daily fantasy basketball before, it's time to start. Unlike traditional leagues, you're able to select the players you want on that specific day only, giving you a different squad to root for each and every NBA night.
Today's lineups can be found here. The information below is to help you understand why particular players are being picked, because we don't want you going into the night completely blind. We want to help you. Keep in mind, however, that things often change up until tip-off, so make sure you're refreshing the optimal lineups as close to the start of games as possible.
Oh, and if you're interested, check out our daily fantasy basketball heat chart for today's slate. It's full of information like tonight's Vegas lines, team offensive and defensive efficiency ratings, pace, fantasy points against and so much more.
As for today's picks -- let's get to it.
The Best of the Best
Anthony Davis (FD: $10,400, DK: $10,300) - Many people will be hesitant to play Davis due to his recent injury history, but The Brow makes a strong daily fantasy play any time he takes the floor, as he proved Wednesday night with 24 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. He draws a tremendous matchup against a Hornets' front court that has given up the fourth most fantasy points per game to opposing power forwards on the year and should be in line for a huge fantasy outing, especially with Tyreke Evans questionable to suit up.
Paul George (FD: $8,800, DK: $8,800) - George has put together a career-year following his gruesome knee injury a year ago, posting career highs in points (24.1 per game), rebounds (7.6 per game) and steals (1.9 per game) while accumulating a massive 31.1% Usage Rate. PG13 gets the pleasure of facing off against a Wizards' defense that has allowed the second most fantasy points per game to opposing small forwards and will be without Otto Porter tonight.
Kevin Durant (FD: $10,000, DK: $9,800) - Durant comes into tonight having scored at least 20 points in a ridiculous 25 straight games. He has been scorching hot as of late, averaging 27.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3 assists per game over his last six outings and now finds himself ranked third in our player power rankings with an impressive 19.7 nERD. He should have little trouble reaching value tonight in what Vegas expects to be one of the highest scoring games on tonight's slate.
Top Mid-Range Values
Jrue Holiday (FD: $6,200, DK: $6,100) - Holiday is finally off of his minutes limit and has seen a significant bump in playing time as of late, averaging 30.8 minutes per game during the month of January. He gets a solid matchup against a Hornets' defense that ranks 19th in the league in Defensive Efficiency according to our metrics, and will see a major boost in both minutes and usage if Evans is unable to play tonight.
Kemba Walker (FD: $8,300, DK: $8,200) - The Pelicans have been one of the worst defensive teams in all of basketball this season, ranking inside the bottom five in both Defensive Rating (108.4) and opposing points per game (105.4) while playing at the 10th fastest pace in the league. Walker will more than likely see a massive workload for the short-handed Hornets and should excel in what Vegas expects to be a very fast-paced, high-scoring game.
Brandon Knight (FD: $6,800, DK: $7,200) - Knight continues to be the focal point of the Suns' offense with Eric Bledsoe out for the remainder of the season, averaging 23 points, 6.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds with a 27.8% Usage Rate in a whopping 38.2 minutes per game since the calendar flipped to 2016. With tonight's matchup with Boston featuring a massive 209 over/under, Knight makes a solid play in all formats in a showdown with the undersized Isaiah Thomas.
Basement Ballers
Avery Bradley (FD: $4,900, DK: $5,200) - Bradley has played at least 38 minutes in each of the three games since his return to the Celtics' lineup. He should continue to see minutes in the upper-30s tonight in an outstanding matchup against a Suns' backcourt that has given up the third most fantasy points per game to opposing shooting guards on the season in what should be one of the highest scoring games on the docket.
Gerald Green (FD: $4,200, DK: $4,600) - With the Heat dealing with a plethora of injuries, Green has averaged 17 points, 3.5 rebounds 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals in 33.8 minutes per game over his last four games. Goran Dragic has already been ruled out for tonight, which means the veteran Heat guard should continue to see minutes in the mid-30s against a Nuggets team which ranks dead last in the league in fantasy points per game to opposing shooting guards.
Tyler Johnson (FD: $4,200, DK: $4,200) - Much like Green, Johnson has also seen an uptick in playing time for the banged-up Heat as of late. He's scored 10.5 points to go along with 4.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 28.5 minutes of action over his last two outings and should see a similar workload tonight in a dream matchup against the porous Nuggets' defense.
