DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Wednesday 10/30/19
A full-slate of basketball leaves your DraftKings lineup with hundreds of possibilities. We'll take a look at how to narrow down all those possibilities. Here are some of the top plays for tonight and sleepers on DraftKings. As always, good luck.
Point Guard
Stephen Curry ($9,500) and D'Angelo Russell ($7,900) -- The newest version of the splash brothers lit up the New Orleans Pelicans to earn their first win of the season on Monday, scoring a combined 50 points. The Golden State Warriors play the Phoenix Suns, who they beat by double-digits in three of their four matchups last season. Golden State has scored at least 111 points in 10-straight games versus the Suns. According to our model's projections, both are due for 20-point outings again tonight. Curry's projections are 26.6 points, 5.6 assists, and 5.6 rebounds, while Russell's is 21.9 points, 7.4 assists, and 4.6 rebounds.
De'Aaron Fox ($7,800) and Terry Rozier ($6,200) -- Fox and Rozier will guard each other tonight in a fun point guard matchup between two younger scorers. Fox has been on and off through four games, while Rozier has remained steady over the previous three games. Our model gives Fox the edge tonight, with 19.8 points and 7.2 assists as his projection. Fox averaged 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists last season versus the Charlotte Hornets.
Shooting Guard
James Harden ($10,100) -- Harden is averaging a hair under 50 fantasy points a game (49.8), while teammate Russell Westbrook is fourth among DraftKings fantasy leaders at 59.2 per game. Both have strong draws tonight against a visiting Washington Wizards team that's surrendered 34 points to Luka Doncic, 28 to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($6,900), and 26 to DeMar DeRozan. Pick one or both, as Washington doesn't play well defensively on the perimeter.
Zach LaVine ($7,700) -- LaVine and the Chicago Bulls travel to Ohio to face Cleveland Cavaliers in an Eastern Conference-bottom feeder matchup. The best player on the floor in this game is LaVine, and he's the best scorer as well. LaVine averaged 22 points and 7.3 rebounds versus the Cavs last season and topped 20 points in two of three games. Drawing Collin Sexton ($5,600) and Darius Garland ($4,800) tonight is a similar matchup to last week when the Memphis Grizzlies' had Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks guard LaVine. He had 37 points in that game and was a nightmare in the second half.
Small Forward
Giannis Antetokounmpo ($10,800) -- Kawhi Leonard ($8,800) is $2,000 cheaper than Giannis, and they have almost a 10-point differential in average fantasy points. On most nights, Kawhi is worth the take over Giannis in hopes of landing a sleeper pick with the extra money, but Kawhi draws the defensively-stout Utah Jazz tonight. Leonard is still projected to have a successful night, but Giannis draws the Boston Celtics, who we know can't stop him. Giannis averaged 31.0 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in three regular-season games last season.
Robert Covington ($5,700) -- Covington gets a revenge game tonight versus his former team in the Philadelphia 76ers. Covington was included in the Jimmy Butler trade last year that ultimately became a rental for the season. Covington stuck around Minnesota after suffering an injury and has played well as the power forward for the Wolves, totaling 11.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 10 shot attempts a night. This matchup is similar to what Bobby Portis had against the Bulls in the New York Knicks' first win of the year. Covington is averaging a mediocre 25.4 DraftKings fantasy points a night but is coming off his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Covington's projections are 11.8 points and 5.3 rebounds, but the model doesn't account for personal gain narratives.
Power Forward
Draymond Green ($7,500) -- Green had a triple-double (16 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists) Monday versus the New Orleans Pelicans, and pushed the tempo for the Golden State Warriors -- giving him a monster 58.8-point fantasy outing. The Warriors welcome the Phoenix Suns to town, and Green has another opportunity at a triple-double performance. Our model projects a stat line of 11.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 8.3 assists. Green had a combined 5 assists in the first two games and 10 in the last, as the Warriors found what works for their offense.
Domantas Sabonis ($7,900) -- Sabonis has seen his salary rise in every game this season from $6,900 to start the season to almost $8,000 now. Sabonis erupted for 21 points and 14 rebounds in a loss to the Detroit Pistons. His matchup with the Brooklyn Nets gives Sabonis a double-double projection of 18 points and 11.2 rebounds tonight. He's already put up two 40-plus fantasy point nights. Teammate Myles Turner ($7,000) is a strong play at center with his three-point shooting ability versus Brooklyn.
Center
Karl-Anthony Towns ($9,400) and Joel Embiid ($10,000) -- Two of the best young centers in the NBA -- on two of the hottest and remaining undefeated teams -- meet in Philadelphia tonight. It's the Minnesota Timberwolves versus the Philadelphia 76ers and Embiid versus Towns. Embiid is fresh off a 36-point, 13-rebound, 5-assist performance in a two-point win over the Atlanta Hawks. KAT is coming off an outing where he posted 23 points and 11 rebounds. Our model projects both players to top 26 points and 12 rebounds in tonight's game. Towns is averaging a career-high 9.7 three-point attempts a game -- yes, you read that right. What's even crazier is that he's hitting 51-percent of his attempts. On the other hand, Embiid is averaging a career-high 5 attempts but is only making 1.5 per game for a career-low 30 percent.
Nikola Vucevic ($8,000) has recorded at least 10 rebounds in three straight games but is coming off his worst offensive shooting performance of the season (1/13 FG). Vucevic faces a Knicks team that's allowed starting centers to average nearly a double-double, with 12.5 points and 9 rebounds per game. Vucevic averages 33.2 fantasy points per game, and our model projects him to score 20.9 points and 11.3 rebounds.
Clint Capela ($7,200) is the best value center facing a Washington Wizards team that's starting rookie Rui Hachimura and Thomas Bryant down low. The Rockets are eight-point favorites, while the over/under is 231.5 -- so expect a lot of points for a team that attempted 40 three-pointers against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Our model projects Capela to score 18.2 points and grab 8.4 rebounds tonight.
Vaughn Dalzell is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice Vaughn Dalzell also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username vdalzell. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
