NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 2/11/16
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
Russell Westbrook (FanDuel Price: $11,000) - Westbrook has been spectacular as of late, averaging a triple-double over his last eight games with 25.5 points, 11.4 assists and 10 rebounds per game. Westbrook should have little trouble taking advantage of an outstanding matchup against the Pelicans, who rank 25th in the league in Defensive Efficiency according to our metrics, and is our highest projected player on the board.
Kevin Durant ($10,700) - On top of scoring at least 20 points in each of his last 38 games, Durant is playing some of his best ball of the season right now, averaging 30.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists over his last eight outings. He now sits third in our player power rankings with a 19.9 nERD and should be in store for another monster outing against the porous New Orleans defense.
Anthony Davis ($10,200) - Davis has been filling up the stat sheet in February, averaging 28.2 points, 9.8 boards, 1.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.6 blocks per game so far this month. Although he draws a tough matchup against Serge Ibaka, The Brow will see a heavy workload in a game that features an over/under of 220 and should have plenty of opportunities to rack up fantasy points.
Top Mid-Range Values
Greg Monroe ($8,200) - Monroe played his best game of the season on Tuesday despite coming off of the bench, scoring 29 points to go along with 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and a steal in 30 minutes of action. He has seen at least 30 minutes in each of his last five games, averaging 21.6 points, 9.2 boards and 2 dimes per game over that span, and should have his way with a Wizards team that ranks 29th in the NBA in rebounding differential at -4.2.
Jrue Holiday ($7,400) - In the eight games that both Tyreke Evans and Eric Gordon have missed this season, Holiday has posted 19.3 points, 6.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds with a 34.5% Usage Rate. We should see another heavy dose of Holiday tonight in what should be a very fast-paced, high-scoring affair with the Thunder.
Giannis Antetokounmpo ($7,300) - The Greek Freak is in the midst of a breakout season, posting career-highs in points (15.8 per game), rebounds (7 per game), assists (2.8 per game), blocks (1.2 per game) and steals (1.1 per game). He draws a tremendous matchup against a Wizards defense that has allowed the sixth most fantasy points per game to opposing small forwards in what should be the much more competitive game of the two on tonight's slate.
Basement Ballers
Otto Porter ($5,300) - Porter finally seems to be healthy following his hip injury, averaging 16.5 points, 5 rebounds and 2.5 steals in 33.5 minutes per game over his last two outings. He should see a full workload tonight in a matchup with a Milwaukee squad that has allowed the third most fantasy points per game to opposing small forwards in what should be a very high-scoring game.
Norris Cole ($5,100) - Much like the aforementioned Holiday, Cole has also seen a major boost in production with Evans and Gordon sidelined, scoring 14.4 points with 5.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 30.3 minutes per game in the eight games both guards have missed. He should see 30-plus minutes once again tonight and can still be had for a very reasonable price.
Steven Adams ($4,300) - Adams has been seeing a lot more playing time over the past few games, averaging 31.2 minute per game in four February outings. He gets the pleasure of facing off against a Pelicans defense that has given up the second most fantasy points per game to opposing centers..
