3 NBA FanDuel Tournament Plays to Target on 1/12/21

"One cannot be betrayed if one has no people."

How many times have we been burned by the chalk in NBA DFS?

When it's time to start building GPP lineups, especially for NBA tournaments, the fundamental choice to make is whether or not to buy into the chalk plays of the slate. More than any other sport, the popular plays in the NBA are popular for a reason. Where we often get into trouble in tournaments, however, is when we begin to blindly trust a slate's chalk.

This regular piece will focus on tournaments looking through the lens of the projected chalk plays -- the usual suspects -- of that night's games. In an attempt to understand the context of the slate, this column will look at lower-owned plays that help you gain ownership leverage against the competition.

Tuesday's slate is a reasonable six games (FanDuel excludes the Miami/Philadelphia game), so it should offer plenty of opportunities to differentiate off of the chalk plays of the night. Let's dig in to see where we can pivot.

Guard

Caris LeVert ($7,900) - I expect there to be heavy movement toward Kevin Durant tonight with Kyrie Irving still sitting and Durant putting up 54 FanDuel points on an eye-popping 21 shots and 15 free throws on Sunday. But Irving being out still means plenty of opportunity for LeVert to complement Durant and also lead the second unit in usage and assist rate.

It might not have been the 35% to 44% usage he was putting up with both Durant and Irving out, but Levert still saw 25% usage on Sunday, leading to 33 FanDuel points. His salary has hiked up from the mid-$6,000s to $7,900 after three dominant performances, but hopefully the salary spike keeps his roster percentage down in a competitive game against the Denver Nuggets.

Levert typically plays the point guard position when he is on the floor, directing the offense. That is a position against which the Nuggets have really struggled this season, allowing the third-most fantasy points per game (53.56), including 27 points and nine assists per contest.

Forward

Domantas Sabonis ($9,200) - Similar to the Nets, the San Antonio Spurs are also missing a high-usage player tonight in DeMar DeRozan, so I expect to see a lot of rosters with LaMarcus Aldridge on this slate. This provides a great opportunity to pivot up to Sabonis' $9,200 salary when many DFS managers will look to jam in Aldridge's salary at $2,000 less.

There are plenty of low-salary options to pair with Sabonis -- such as Aldridge's teammate, Trey Lyles -- so the high salary shouldn't scare us off, particularly when we are getting great production out of the All-Star power forward this season. Sabonis has now scored at least 40 FanDuel points in seven of his past eight games, including a 51-point and a 61-point game.

The Indiana Pacers rank right in the middle of the league in pace this year (100.95), but they see a huge pace bump with their opponent tonight, the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors rank second in the league, so this game should turn into a fun track meet, supported by the early implied total of about 227 points.

Center

Rudy Gobert ($8,000) - Centers like Nikola Jokic and Andre Drummond may be getting more of the publicity, but Gobert has been as consistent as they come this year, with only one game of fewer than 34 FanDuel points all season.

Gobert is averaging 13.4 rebounds in his last seven games and 4.2 blocks over his last five, which perfectly aligns with the defensive shortcoming of his opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers rank just 21st in the league in rebound rate and allow their opponents to block almost five shots per night.

The prospect of watching Gobert and Drummond bang around all night has me very intrigued for this game, a matchup which should go overlooked with its ultra-low 205.0-point implied total. Gobert doesn't need this to be an offensive onslaught to rack up FanDuel points, and he should be plenty involved defensively in this game with the backcourt from the Cavaliers looking like the walking wounded right now.