NBA

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Thursday 8/13/20

Damian Lillard leads Thursday's slate of must-haves on the DFS slate

With seven games to choose from on today's NBA slate, let's look at how to utilize the DFS possibilities.

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

Point Guard

Damian Lillard ($11,200) -- If Lillard hasn't been in your lineups, I don't need to tell you that you've been missing out. Three of his last four games he's scored at least 45 points, and he's added at least 8 total rebounds and assists to his stat line. Lillard's on fire in the bubble, and he's willed the Blazers to the eighth seed against all odds. In six of seven games so far, Lillard has attempted at least 20 shots from the field, and at this rate, we all know he's going to continue to fire.

numberFire's model has Lillard as the second-highest scorer (29.6) behind Luka Doncic (31.1). I can almost guarantee he will go over that total because, in his only meeting with the Brooklyn Nets this season, he scored 60 points. There's no better team for the Portland Trail Blazers to finish their regular-season off with before putting it all on the line for the play-in games. He should be in your lineup every night.

Ja Morant ($9,000) -- Morant has been the only consistent player on the Memphis Grizzlies throughout the bubble, and that's why they find themselves on the outside looking in. Morant's averaged 20.0 points, 9.8 assists, and 5.4 rebounds in seven games while recording at least 8 assists in all seven. He's arguably been a top-five guard in the bubble, and if Jaren Jackson Jr. was still around, he might not have been as productive in DFS standards.

Morant has double-doubled in his last two games, and he's played 41 and 42 minutes as Memphis tries to hold onto their season. The Milwaukee Bucks could rest their starters versus the Grizzlies, giving Morant the go-ahead for his third-straight double-double in points and assists. numberFire's model predicts Morant to finish fourth in assists. (8.0) on Thursday's slate and 19.6 points and 4.5 rebounds to go along with that.

Shooting Guard

Devin Booker ($9,800) -- Booker like Lillard, is a must-play in DFS if you haven't been already. The two have competed for who is having the better bubble, and they'll likely face off this weekend's play-in tournament to determine the eighth seed in the West, and it's going to every bit of exciting as you can imagine. Until then, Booker has to have another dominant bubble game performance against the Dallas Mavericks.

Booker met the Mavericks in the second game of the bubble, and he went off for 35 points along with 8 assists and 4 rebounds. Since then, Booker has scored 35 points three times and 20 in another. He's connected on 50% or better of his field-goal attempts in five of seven games, and he's 25-of-26 from the free-throw line in his past two games. He met Dallas twice earlier in the season and averaged 25.0 points, 8.5 assists, and 5.5 rebounds in those meetings, he could undoubtedly surpass that in a chance for the Suns to go 8-0 in the bubble.

Dejounte Murray ($6,500) -- Murray and the San Antonio Spurs are also in a do-or-die situation needing to win out to make the playoffs, and Murray has been more than a helping hand along the way. In his last game, he posted 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists in just 29 minutes, and when he's surpassed 30 minutes in the bubble games, he's averaged 16.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.6 assists over three games.

Derrick White ($5,900) -- Returned from injury and had seven points and six assists in 26 minutes, and with Bryn Forbes being ruled out of this game, it's likely White takes a more significant role in the offense going forward. DeMar DeRozan ($8,100) is still the star of the show in San Antonio, but Murray is an excellent stream versus a Mavericks defense that ranks last with 126.6 points per game in the bubble.

Small Forward

Gary Trent Jr. ($5,100) -- Trent Jr. has played as one of the best sixth-man in the bubble and has taken advantage of his chances amid the Lillard scoring streak. Trent recorded five-straight games of 16 or more points before posting five and 11 in his last two games. He's cooled off slightly, but his 19 shot attempts are the smallest two-game sample size of his performances in the bubble, and Lillard's had 28 and 32 field goal attempts in his last two.

It's unclear whether Lillard will attempt 30 shots versus the Nets, because the game could be over by halftime, but if so, Trent could see some extended minutes if Lillard or McCollum sit. Trent Jr. has five games with four or more three-pointers in the bubble, and the Nets rank outside the top 10 in just about every shooting category against field goals or three-pointers. Trent Jr. could have another stellar performance and get back on the right track before the competition ramps up.

Kyle Kuzma ($6,700) -- Kuzma nailed the game-winner versus the Nuggets to cap off his bubble-high 25-point performance on 11-16 (68.8%) from the field. Kuzma added six rebounds and three assists to his totals, and in two of the past three games, he's surpassed 20 points and recorded 8 combined assists and rebounds. The Lakers take on the Sacramento Kings in a meaningless game, and the chances Kuzma could have more control of the offense are likely with the looks of both team's injury reports.

The Kings allow the eighth-most three-pointers (2.67) and 11th-most rebounds to small forwards (8.19). They're sitting quite a few players, and if the Lakers choose to do the same with Anthony Davis ($10,600) or LeBron James ($11,000), Kuzma could benefit for a short period. Kuzma's projected to record 12.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 24 minutes.

Power Forward

Carmelo Anthony ($6,300) -- Melo has taken his old form with three-straight 20-point games under his belt. He may not play 35-plus minutes in this one, but his 53/50/93 shooting percentages with 7.3 rebounds makes him worth a selection. The veteran forward has scored at least 15 points and 7 rebounds in five of seven bubble games and quietly been highly-productive on offense with Trevor Ariza out and Jusuf Nurkic ($9,200).

Melo has attempted double-digit shot attempts in six out of seven games and recorded 32 or more minutes in everyone. The Nets have an injury report a mile long and their deep into their bench and free-agent signees, so Melo will likely be playing against a younger player who won't show any mercy. It feels like ten years since we've seen playoff Melo and we're so close, and with the Nets less-than-effective defense allowing 117.9 points per game in the bubble (17th), he could be on his way to four-straight 20-point games with 7 boards or more.

Rui Hachimura ($6,300) -- The Celtics are resting most of their rotation versus the Wizards, so that means a few Washington players could have success day, including the rookie Hachimura. In his lone meeting with Boston, he scored 21 points and had 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Over his last three games on fewer minutes (31.0) compared to his first four in the bubble (33.75), he's averaged more points (18.0) and a smidge under his 6.5 mark in rebounds (6.3).

This will be the last game of the season for the Wizards, so there's no telling how much he could see the floor, but with his production over the previous three games, he's worth a stab against the Celtics young bigs. The model projects Hachimura to record 14.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 32.9 minutes versus Boston.

Center

Robert Williams ($3,400) -- Give me all the Robert Williams' shares over Enes Kanter ($3,300). Williams has shown out in his last four games with 19 or fewer minutes in all of them. He's averaged 11.5 points and 4.7 rebounds, and his opponent, the Wizards, allows the third-most fantasy points per game to centers (57.40). With Daniel Theis ($5,700) being on the injury report so often and the Celtics resting him this final game, expect a guy like Williams to go for a double-double or maybe even set a new season-high like he did Wednesday, August 7th with 18 versus the Nets.

Jusuf Nurkic ($9,200) -- Nurkic's first action all season came in the bubble, and honestly, the saying "better late than never" fits perfectly here. He's averaging 17.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists in 31.4 minutes per game. He's started seven games for Portland, and they've trimmed his minutes slightly to 29 minutes apiece the last two games. Luckily for him, Brooklyn is one of the worst defensive units towards centers, so if he's out there for fewer than 30 minutes, he should have his opportunities to be productive enough for a selection.

The Nets allow the second-most fantasy points per game to centers (57.51), and like the Celtics' Williams did last week versus them, Nurkic could do the same this week. numberFire's model has Nurkic down for 21.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in 34.4 minutes.


Vaughn Dalzell is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Vaughn also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his 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.com