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NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Saturday 1/19/19

James Harden is on an incredible run and has a mouth-watering matchup with the Lakers. Who else should you look into on Saturday night?

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 main slate, which starts at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Best of the Best

James Harden ($14,300): As uncomfortable as it feels to plug in someone who is so expensive, Harden is flying so high, it's terrifying to fade him. He has scored 81.0, 74.8, 74.8, and 81.0 FanDuel points in the last four games with a usage rate of at least 43.9% in five straight. He has scored 42, 43, 38, 57, and 58 real-world points in those five games. It did not matter that Eric Gordon returned last game against the Brooklyn Nets as Harden still took 34 shots (19 of them from three-point range) and finished 21-of-23 from the free throw line. You'll need to find some value plays to make Harden fit, but pairing him with a good value option gives you a higher scoring ceiling than pairing two guys who are, say, $9,000 each. On top of all that, the matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers is a great one.

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