3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 1/18/19

Damian Lillard, PG, Portland Trail Blazers

DraftKings Price: $8,600

Portland Trail Blazers All-Star point guard Damian Lillard struggled mightily when the team faced the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2017-18 NBA Playoffs. He averaged just 18.5 points and scored no more than 20 as the number three seed Blazers got swept. Fortunately for fantasy players, he's been much better against the Pelicans in the regular season.

Lillard has faced the Pelicans 21 times during the regular season in his seven-year career. He's failed to score at least 20 in just three of those games. He's averaged 24.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in those contests.

He's scored a minimum of 43.5 DraftKings points in his past four meetings against them, including a 70.75 spot when the two teams played each other last March. The Pelicans are giving up the sixth-most DraftKings points per game to opposing point guards over the past month, according to FantasyPros. Coupled with tonight's total of 233.5, there's little reason to think that Lillard won't be in for another heavy workload and high fantasy potential.

We currently have him projected for 44.3 DraftKings points tonight. The equivalent projected value of 5.15 DraftKings points per $1,000 is tied for the highest on the slate for any player priced over $8,000.