NBA
DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Friday 11/1/19
D'Angelo Russell should shoulder a big workload tonight for the Warriors. Who else is in play on his full slate?

Friday gives us a full-slate of basketball tonight with some highly anticipated games between the Brooklyn Nets and Houston Rockets plus the Dallas Mavericks host the Los Angeles Lakers, both on ESPN. Let's take a look at how to narrow down all those possibilities tonight.

Here are some of the top plays and sleepers on DraftKings. As always, good luck.

Point Guard

Kyrie Irving ($9,000) -- Of course, Kyrie gets Russell Westbrook and James Harden on the draw tonight, but Irving has scored at least 26 points in every game this season. The over/under is set at 243.5, which implies Irving, Harden ($11,000) and Westbrook ($9,800) are all strong plays tonight. Our model projects Harden and Irving, respectively, to be the number one and two scorers across the league tonight, with Westbrook sixth. All are great plays in your lineups tonight, and picking just one or two isn't easy. Irving being the cheapest could really pay off with his scoring ability. Take Irving and get better players or pick one of the Houston Rockets' duo and roll with a sleeper or two, which we'll mention later.

D'Angelo Russell ($8,900) -- Russell has been a non-factor in fantasy from the start this season, but now that Stephen Curry is down, Russell is the Golden State Warriors' main scoring option. Throw all his stats out the window, his trends, and the Warriors season; it's time for D-Lo to take over like he did in Brooklyn. His points prop on FanDuel Sportsbook for the night is set at 27.5, a number he hasn't reached once this season. If he isn't scoring or finding open teammates, then it'll likely mean Draymond Green ($7,700) is doing it. The Warriors are in trouble, but Russell's and Green's numbers should either balloon or pop over the next few weeks.

Shooting Guard

Derrick Rose ($5,700) -- My favorite player of all-time is back where it all started. Rose will play the Chicago Bulls tonight, and it couldn't come at a better time. Yesterday was the one-year celebration of Rose scoring 50 points against the Utah Jazz, and he's averaging 20.4 points and 6.2 assists per game off the bench. I'm all over Rose tonight as he is a much better player than Tomas Satoransky ($4,200) and Kris Dunn ($3,600), his opposition on Chicago. Our model projects Rose at 16.3 points, 6.4 assists and 2.6 rebounds in his return to the Windy City, with ear-ringing applause and maybe even some MVP chants along the way to give him some confidence.

RJ Barrett ($6,600) -- Barrett was having an impressive three-game stretch to open the season before scoring nine points and four combined rebounds and assists in the loss to the Orlando Magic. Barrett was averaging 20.3 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game before the Magic game. Expect Barrett to have a solid outing against the Boston Celtics with Jaylen Brown likely out of the lineup. Our model projects Barrett at 15.2 points and 6.3 rebounds tonight with Brown doubtful.

Small Forward

Jayson Tatum ($7,000) -- With the aforementioned Brown likely out due to an illness, Tatum and Gordon Hayward ($6,100) should take over his scoring duties. Tatum has averaged 21.5 points and 8.0 rebounds thus far, and he's coming off a season-high 25-point performance against the Milwaukee Bucks. Tatum averages 41.3 fantasy points per game, compared to Hayward's 33.3-point average. Hayward erupted for 50 fantasy points against the Bucks, scoring 21 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out an impressive 7 assists. Both of these guys are strong plays tonight, with Tatum probably being the primary scoring option. Consider Kemba Walker ($8,400), too.

LaMarcus Aldridge ($7,100) -- Aldridge had a disastrous game in the first of a back-to-back last night versus the Los Angeles Clippers. The San Antonio Spurs' big man produced only five points and five rebounds in 36 minutes. Tonight should not be the same against a team that doesn't have a rested Montrezl Harrell and Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs draw the struggling Golden State Warriors, and Aldridge will battle with Willie Cauley-Stein ($4,500) and Draymond Green. Expect Aldridge to get back to his usual level as our model projects him for 19.9 points and 8.4 rebounds on a night when a lot of people may be scared off by Thursday's dud.

Power Forward

Draymond Green ($7,700) -- Green's numbers or D-Lo's numbers have to rise with the Curry injury. Green is the main force defensively for the Warriors and is one of the most vital pick-and-roll threats in the league. Green will be a triple-double threat every game until Curry comes back. Our model projects Green at 10.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.6 assists versus the Spurs tonight. Green is averaging 10.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists with Curry, so our projections may be too conservative.

Kevin Love ($9,300) -- Love leads the NBA in defensive rebounding with 16.4 per game, but he doesn't manage even one offensive rebound per game -- truly a strange stat. Love has had a stellar season for a team that's typically overlooked in DFS most nights. The Cleveland Cavaliers only remaining All-Star player is averaging 47.2 fantasy points a night on 16.0 points and 16.8 rebounds. He's had four-straight double-doubles, and our model predicts that streak reaches five tonight. Love's projections are 18.9 points and 10.5 rebounds against the Indiana Pacers.

Center

Domantas Sabonis ($8,700) -- Sabonis may draw the start with Myles Turner spraining his right ankle. Sabonis is a Sixth Man of the Year contender this season, and last year he proved his worth in this league. To start this campaign, he's scored 21 points in three of four games and is averaging 22.8 points and 10.0 rebounds through four games. The Pacers host the Cavaliers, who surprisingly dominated the Bulls' frontcourt last game. Sabonis will have his hands full, but with Malcolm Brogdon running the show, Sabonis should have plenty of good looks. We project Sabonis for 19.7 points and 12.0 rebounds in this one.

Andre Drummond ($9,500) -- Drummond can feast tonight, and our model projects him for 17.2 rebounds (11.7 defensive) and 17.4 points. That may wind up being too conservative as tonight is a possible 20-20 night for him if we see the same Chicago squad that struggled with Cleveland's frontcourt. Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson combined for 40 points and 30 rebounds on the Bulls Wednesday, and with Blake Griffin still out the lineup, it's Andre the Giant time.


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.

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