NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 11/9/17

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes hugely on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a ton of other great resources to help give you an edge.

We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each price point.

Let's take a look at who you should target on today's slate.

Best of the Best

LeBron James ($11,800) - Okay, so this game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets has the highest over/under of the slate at 228.0, and the only other game above 214.5 is between the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Lakers (221.0), but the spread there is 10.5 points, and the Lakers just played last night.

So, this Cleveland/Houston game is easily the best fantasy script of the night, though it's important to point out that the Rockets aren't a pushover defensively. They rank 11th in defensive rating and 14th in pace. That's not great. However, the Cavs are 2nd in offensive rating and 30th in defensive rating, so points should be had for both sides here. With Derrick Rose ruled out, James will start at point guard. We project him for 54.7 FanDuel points.

James Harden ($11,200) - All of that points to Harden being in play on the opposite side of things against -- again -- the league's worst defense. Harden's FanDuel point totals are getting safer, now that he's had at least nine free throw attempts in each of his past four games. We project Harden for the same fantasy point total as James, making him a slightly better value, but jamming in both James and Harden is an appealing strategy in cash games tonight.