3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 12/29/17

Giannis Antetokounmpo, SF, Milwaukee Bucks

Price: $11,300

If you're looking for big fantasy numbers or you just want to watch unbelievable talent and athleticism, look no further than a showdown between Westbrook and the Greek Freak. The two won't go at one another directly, but expect both to rise to the occasion as they lead their respective squads in to battle. After all, they've done it before.

This isn't the first time the two human highlight reels have met. They've played one another seven times since the 2013-14 season. Westbrook has the win-loss advantage with a 6-1 record, but Giannis has been the more productive fantasy player when he's gotten the chance to show his stuff. When we set aside games in which he played fewer than 28 minutes, we see that Antetokounmpo has averaged 54.6 FanDuel points (in today's scoring) with two double-doubles and a triple-double in 41.3 minutes a game.

Some people will be scared off by his playing the second half of a back-to-back, but the numbers show that Giannis has actually been really good without a day between games. Through four such games this season, he's played 38.6 minutes, racking up 31.2 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game. In his most recent back-to-back set, he logged over 42 minutes the second night and went for 28 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals (55.3 FanDuel points with turnovers). And that's without the recent changes that Jason Kidd has made to Milwaukee's rotations.

The rotation switch up should help Antetokounmpo to handle the high workload. Until we get more of a sample size, though, the Freak's probably best kept to tournament games. For Friday's slate, he would make for a good pivot from Harden, who will be a popular play despite shooting just 37.8% on back-to-backs this season.

Brett Oswalt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Brett also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username BRO14THEKID. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.