NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 2/9/16
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
Stephen Curry (FD: 10,900, DK: $11,000) - Curry has been nearly unstoppable this season, leading the league in scoring at 29.8 points per game while adding 6.5 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game. He also currently sits number one in our player power rankings with a 25.1 nERD. Tonight, Curry draws an excellent matchup against a Rockets' defense that ranks 24th in the league in Defensive Rating (108.4), has allowed the third most points per game (106.3) and plays at the seventh fastest pace in the NBA. He is our top overall projected player on the board.
James Harden (FD: 10,800, DK: $10,600) - Harden has been as hot as anyone in the league over the past month, averaging 26.6 points, 7.3 assists and 6.8 rebounds per game since the calendar flipped to 2016. He should see a huge workload tonight against the defending champions in a game that Vegas expects to be one of the highest scoring affairs of the season with a massive 230 over/under.
Carmelo Anthony (FD: 8,900, DK: $8,400) - The Wizards are not a great defensive team, ranking 21st in the NBA is Defensive Efficiency according to our metrics, while allowing the fifth most points per game. They have also allowed the fourth most fantasy points per game to opposing small forwards, which bodes incredibly well for Anthony who leads the Knicks in playing time (34.7 minutes per game), Usage Rate (29.5%), scoring (21.1 points per game), rebounding (7.8 per game) and, surprisingly, assists (4.2 per game).
Top Mid-Range Values
Greg Monroe (FD: $7,900, DK: $6,700) - The Celtics have struggled to slow down opposing big men all season long, giving up the sixth most fantasy points per game to opposing power forwards and the 10th most to opposing centers on the year. Monroe, who is averaging 16.5 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game this season, should have his way with the porous Boston front court on route to a big fantasy outing tonight.
Rudy Gobert (FD: $7,500, DK: $6,600) - Now healthy, Gobert is finally starting to see his full compliment of minutes and it has really shown up on the stat sheet, averaging 14 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals and 1.5 assists in 36.5 minutes per game over his last four games. He should see another massive workload tonight in a plus matchup against the Mavericks.
Derrick Favors (FD: $7,300, DK: $7,000) - Similarly to the aforementioned Gobert, Favors is just now starting to see his full workload after returning to the Jazz lineup, posting 14.2 points, 10 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in 34 minutes per game over his last five outings. He gets the pleasure of facing off against a Mavericks' defense that has given up the fourth most fantasy points per game to opposing power forwards on the year and should be in store for another huge performance.
Basement Ballers
Arron Afflalo (FD: $5,200, DK: $5,300) - Afflalo has seen a ton of court time as of late, playing at least 40 minutes in each of his last four games and averaging 17.8 points, 4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game over that span. He should once again see all the minutes he can handle tonight against a Wizards' backcourt that has given up the fifth most fantasy points per game to opposing shooting guards this season.
Harrison Barnes (FD: $4,400, DK: $4,700) - Every Warriors' starter is in play tonight, but at less than $5,000 on both FanDuel and DraftKings, Barnes is the best value of the bunch. Barnes has seen at least 31 minutes in each of his last four games and is coming off of a 19-point, 4-rebound performance in 36 minutes against the Thunder on Saturday. He should continue to see more than enough playing time to reach value against a Rockets' defense that has given up the third most fantasy points per game to opposing small forwards this season.
Raul Neto (FD: $3,800, DK: $3,600) - With Trey Burke sidelined, Neto played a career-high 37 minutes against the Suns on Saturday, scoring 13 points to go along with 4 assists, 2 rebounds and a steal. Burke has already been ruled out for tonight, which means Neto will likely see minutes in the mid-to-upper-30s for the second consecutive game and should reach value easily at his minuscule price across the industry.
