3 NBA Defenses to Exploit in Daily Fantasy Basketball

Los Angeles Lakers

You don't have to be a serious daily fantasy player to know that the Lakers aren't any good. Not only are the Lakers 0-4 but according to our power rankings, the Lakers are the third-worst team in the league.

When you look at the numbers, that has nothing to do with their offense (10th in Offensive Rating, 105.0) either. It's all on their lack of defensive effort, as the Lakers possess the second-worst Defensive Rating (114.8) in the league. The Bucks have the worst Defensive Rating (117.6), but they play at a much slower pace than the Lakers.

Milwaukee plays at a pace of 93.9 possessions per game while Los Angeles runs at a pace of 101.7 possessions per contest. That's where the sizable difference between the Lakers' 116.8 points allowed and Milwaukee's 110.5 allowed per game comes from. That's why you'll find that the Bucks do not make this list and the Lakers lead it.

There's even more to exploiting the Lakers because they: (1) allow their opponents to shoot a high percentage, (2) give up a lot of assists on a nightly basis, and (3) do not force turnovers

The Lakers' putrid defense is next to last in opponent field goal percentage (48.6%), which is of course helpful to anyone shooting a basketball against them. What's even more advantageous to opposing players is that Laker opponents have tallied 27 assists per game while turning the ball over just 12 times. To put daily fantasy numbers to that (based on FanDuel scoring), that means that the Lakers allow 40.5 FanDuel points on assists alone and take away a mere 12 over the course of a game. There are both actual points and peripheral fantasy points to be had against this weak Lakers defense.