NBA

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Friday 9/18/20

With one game 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.

Captain Considerations

LeBron James ($17,400) -- LeBron averaged a triple-double in the first round versus Portland with 27.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 10.2 assists. He scaled down his dominance some in the semifinals, averaging a double-double of 25.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 7.4 assists against Houston. In the regular-season versus Denver, James put up averages of 28.7 points, 11.7 assists, and 6.3 rebounds in three meetings. There's no player on the Nuggets roster who can stop him, and he's bound to double-double or triple-double in a few games. He's recorded four double-doubles and two triple-doubles in 10 games in this postseason, and numberFire's model predicts James to total 25.8 points, 10.6 assists, and 8.2 rebounds in 38 minutes.

Anthony Davis ($16,200) -- Davis has met the Nuggets four times this season, and he's averaged 29.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game in 37.5 minutes. He's a mismatch for Denver, and watching him battle down low with Nikola Jokic all night will be a fun matchup. Davis has shot 58.8% or better from the field in both postseason series this season. He's double-doubled in five straight games and in eight of his 10 postseason games. Flip a coin between Davis or James if you're backing a Laker as your captain.

Nikola Jokic ($16,500) -- Jokic has been a beast for the Nuggets, double-doubling in six-straight games and in nine of 14 in the postseason. Jokic averaged 24.4 points, 13.4 rebounds, and 6.6 assists in the semifinals. He triple-doubled in Game 7 with 16 points, 22 rebounds, and 13 assists in 40 minutes of action. Jokic has played 40 minutes in each of his last three games and shot 50.6% from the field in the seven-game series against the Clippers. He's hit 50% or better in eight of 14 playoff games and will look to continue that into the Western Conference Finals versus the Lakers. Jokic played against the Lakers four times this season, averaging 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists with one double-double versus them.

Jamal Murray ($15,000) -- Murray had another classic performance in Game 7, dropping 40 on the Clippers. Murray hadn't scored more than 27 points since his Game 6 outburst of 50 points versus the Utah Jazz in the first round. Murray averaged 31.6 points per game in the first round but just 22.6 points in the semifinals versus the Clippers. He posted four games of 21 or more points in the semifinals, and he averaged 6.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds over the seven games. The Lakers should get Rajon Rondo back, giving them another defensive stopper, so I'd rather have Jokic at captain if I'm selecting between either Murray or Jokic.

Utility Considerations

Gary Harris ($11,400) -- Harris may have averaged only 10.7 points against the Clips in his first full series since returning from injury, but his 31.0 minutes per game is more impressive. Over his last two games, he played 37 and 42 minutes, tallying 14 and 16 points along with six rebounds in one game and four assists in another. Harris shot 40% or better in all seven games versus the Clippers and attempted 11 field-goal attempts in each of his last two games, the most of his 2020 postseason. Harris has knocked down 50% or more of his three-pointers in four-of-seven games versus the Clippers, and if he can exploit the Lakers' guards, he could be a nice low-salary play for most of the series. numberFire's model projects Harris to record 10.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 32.4 minutes.

Rajon Rondo ($8,100) -- Rondo averaged 10.6 points, 7.0 assists, and 4.6 rebounds in his first five games back from a hand injury. He played between 21 and 30 minutes in all five games and double-doubled in Game 4 -- nearly triple-doubling with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in 29 minutes. Rondo has come off the bench since returning, but he's received quality minutes among a cluster of LA guards. He played just 21 minutes in Game 5 last round, but throughout the first four games, Rondo averaged 12.5 points, 7.5 assists, and 4.5 rebounds.

Michael Porter Jr. ($12,600) -- MPJ has played his best basketball for Denver when he gets good minutes. When he's surpassed 20 minutes in the postseason, MPJ's averaged 12.5 points and 6.9 rebounds across 10 games. In the four in which he's played fewer than 20 minutes, he's averaged 7.5 points and 7.0 rebounds. He shot 42% or better in nine of 14 postseason games for the Nuggets, and he's grabbed at least six rebounds in 10 of 14. He's only double-doubled once, so don't expect a massive game from him, but Porter could lead the role players in scoring outside the big four -- LeBron, AD, Jokic and Murray -- in this series.

Kyle Kuzma ($10,500) -- Kuzma averaged 24 minutes per game in both rounds of the postseason so far and has stayed consistent, averaging 10.8 and 11.2 points in the two series. Kuzma scored 13, 14, and 17 in three of the Lakers four wins versus the Rockets in the semifinals, but he averaged just 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists. Kuzma's projected to total 9.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in Game 1, per our model.



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