NBA

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Monday 1/27/20

Will Derrick Rose score his 13th-straight 20-point game versus his former Cavs team? Who else should you target on DraftKings tonight?

With six games to choose from on tonight's NBA slate, let's take a look at how to utilize the DFS possibilities.

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

Point Guard

Collin Sexton ($6,700) -- Sexton has played Detroit three times this season and averaged 20.3 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in those contests. The Pistons are one of 11 teams that Sexton averages 20 real-life points against this season. Sexton is averaging 26.3 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in his last three road games and 23.1 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in his last six road games of 2020. He's recorded eight 20-point games in January, the second-most of any month in his young career. The Pistons are scoring 116.6 points in their last three games of this current home-stand and currently rank 20th in defensive rating (111.3) -- so this could be a prime opportunity for the guard. Sexton is projected by numberFire to record 18.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists versus the Pistons.

Derrick Rose ($7,800) -- Rose has reached 20 points in 12-straight games, and in January alone (13 games), he's averaged 23 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists on 50.4% shooting during that stretch. The Pistons are currently on the final game of a four-game road trip, and Rose has led the team in assists all three games and scoring twice. He's averaged 23.6 points, 8.3 assists, and 4.3 assists in his last three home games. The Pistons host the Cavaliers, who have struggled on the defensive end, allowing 118 points over their last five road games, and have dropped to second-worst in defensive rating (114.9) -- behind only the Washington Wizards (116.1). Rose is projected to record 19.5 points, 6.2 assists, and 2.7 rebounds versus his former Cavs team.

Shooting Guard

Zach LaVine ($9,800) -- LaVine had three games of 25 points or less before exploding for 44 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists against the Cavaliers on Saturday. With teammate Lauri Markkanen out for at least a month, that leaves LaVine as the only healthy starter from the beginning of the year -- as Tomas Satoransky ($5,200) is day-to-day. LaVine has averaged 31.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in seven home games this month, including two games of 42 and 43 points at the United Center. Lean on LaVine all the way through the All-Star break, as he's going to have a full workload each night with his first All-Star nod likely on the way. numberFire pegs LaVine with 24.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4 assists for the Chicago Bulls tonight.

Donovan Mitchell ($7,900) -- Mitchell is averaging 27.6 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in his last six games, recording at least 22 points in all six. numberFire's model projects Mitchell to reach 20 points for his seventh-straight game -- 25.4 to be exact, to go with 4.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds against the Houston Rockets. Mitchell recorded 23.3 points, 5.8 assists, and 5 rebounds in three games versus Houston last season. The Rockets currently rank 15th in defensive rating (109.4), 27th in opponent three-point attempts (35.5), and 28th in opponent fast-break points (15.8). Mitchell should be able to take advantage of Houston's porous defense tonight.

Small Forward

Danilo Gallinari ($7,000) -- Gallinari is hitting three-pointers at a ridiculous rate in the month of January. Gallinari has hit three or more three-pointers in 10 of 11 games this month and is shooting the trey-ball at a 45.4% clip. He's also hit 57 of 61 free-throws (93.4%) over his last 10 games and is averaging 24.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 4.4 made three-pointers in five home games this month. He's listed as day-to-day, but given his home track record, he would be a steal if he plays. Oklahoma City has averaged 118.4 points in their last five home games, and the Dallas Mavericks are no stranger to scoring either. Expect quite a few points, and for Gallinari to earn his fair share. He's projected to record 19.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.2 made three-pointers.

Eric Gordon ($6,900) -- Gordon, along with Russell Westbrook, are benefiting the most from James Harden's slump. Gordon is averaging 23.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4.6 made three-pointers over his last three games. Gordon has nailed or more three three-pointers in 7 of his last 10 games, including four games of five or more makes. Gordon stepped into the lineup yesterday versus the Denver Nuggets and recorded 19 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist while going 7 of 7 from the charity stripe. With the possibility of both Harden and Westbrook sitting, Gordon should get an increased role. He's averaged 33.6 fantasy points and 33.3 minutes in his last three games, and he should surpass that tonight.

Power Forward

LaMarcus Aldridge ( $7,200) -- Aldridge is averaging 25.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks in his last two road games for the San Antonio Spurs. His rebounding rate has increased dramatically over the last three games as he's averaging 10 rebounds per game, compared to 6.2 boards in his 10 prior games. The Bulls are down both their starting bigs, which leaves Aldridge matched with two bench players now in starting roles -- Luke Kornet ($4,400) and Thaddeus Young ($4,900). Chicago ranks 23rd in rebounds per game (46.3) and 28th in opponent blocks per game, allowing 6.2 per night. Aldridge has recorded 9 total blocks in his last five games and had all-around success versus Chicago last season. In two games against the Bulls, Aldridge averaged 24.5 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.5 blocks, and shot 64.2% from the floor. If Zach LaVine can keep this competitive, then Aldridge should surpass his 37 fantasy point average tonight.

Christian Wood ($4,800) -- Wood's season totals of 10 points and 5.2 rebounds might not be able to persuade you to buy into his stock, but over past three games, Wood has averaged 17.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and shooting 66.6% from the field. This recent outburst has all happened at home, and the Pistons host the Cavaliers tonight. This will be the fourth meeting between the two teams, and while Wood didn't impressed with six points and four rebounds per game in 16 minutes versus Cleveland, his minutes have doubled from 12.1 to 24.6 over the last six games. Wood is projected by numberFire's model to record 9.7 points and 5.4 rebounds in 16 minutes, but I like his recent success and minutes increase to continue against a familiar opponent.

Center

Rudy Gobert ($9,000) -- Gobert has continued to dominate the glass with 13 straight games of 12 or more rebounds. Not only has he rebounded everything in sight, he's averaging 23.3 points over his last three home games, to go along with 15.3 rebounds and 3 blocks per game. The Rockets' weakness is defense, specifically allowing points in the paint. Houston ranks 24th with 51.1 allowed points in the paint and 23rd in total points per game (114.3). Houston also has a problem with rebounding, ranking 24th in total rebounds (46.4) and offensive rebounds (11) per game. If Gobert doesn't find himself in foul trouble early, he should be in line to record his fourth 15-and-15 game out of his last five. numberFire projects Gobert to come close with 15.9 points and 14.2 rebounds.

Andre Drummond ($9,600) -- Drummond has posted five-straight double-doubles since his ejection versus the Bulls on Jan. 10, and he's fresh off his third 20-20 game of the month and eighth on the season. He continues to lead the NBA with 15.8 rebounds per game, and the chances he records 15 or more tonight are pretty high. Drummond is projected to total 17.9 points and 14.7 rebounds, which wouldn't touch his three-game average against the Cavs of 22.7 points and 19 rebounds. In two of those three games, he recorded more than 20 points and 20 rebounds. The Pistons won the rebounding battle in two of those matchups, and Drummond led all three games in rebounds. Expect the dominance to continue tonight for Drummond.


Vaughn Dalzell is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Vaughn 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.