DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Tuesday 1/19/21

With two games to choose from on Tuesday's slate -- which locks at 9:00 p.m. EST -- let's look at the top options across all five positions for NBA DFS.

Be sure to check out our projections, which are updated throughout the day as news breaks, and our other DFS tools such as advanced stats and a matchup heat map.

Here are some of the top plays on today's DraftKings slate. As always, good luck.

Point Guard

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($8,700) -- SGA is having a great second season in Oklahoma City. He's averaging a career-best 21.6 points on much improved shooting efficiency, hitting 50.8% of all field goals and 37.3% from deep -- an improvement of nearly three percentage points from a year ago. He's also been enjoying some big fantasy games of late. Dating back to January 6th, the young point guard has posted four games of 50 or more DraftKings points, with his latest coming Friday against the Chicago Bulls. Now, he draws a Denver Nuggets team that ranks fourth-worst against opposing point guards, allowing 27.7 points, 9.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game, according to FantasyPros.

Monte Morris ($4,200) -- Given a short two-game slate, finding value won't be an easy task. But there are a few options, and Morris is one of them, as he comes off the bench to play consistent minutes on a nightly basis. In averaging 26.2 minutes a game, he's logged 22-plus minutes in each of the last 10 games. In that span, he's tallied fewer than 20 fantasy points on only three occasions. He lacks a high ceiling, but value is hard to come by on this slate.

Shooting Guard

Jordan Clarkson ($6,500) -- Passing on a guy like Donovan Mitchell is tough, but there are a ton of better options at or above his salary range at other positions. And Clarkson, his teammate and backcourt mate, should provide the better bang for your buck. After all, he has been asked to step in and do more in the absence of fellow bench staple Joe Ingles, who is questionable with an Achilles injury. With the way things have gone sans Ingles, it would be surprising for Utah to roll him out there this evening. And again, NBA Wowy shows us that Clarkson gets a boost of three percentage points in usage and 0.38 DK points per minute without Ingles.

P.J. Dozier ($3,900) -- Just like Morris, Dozier is a reliable value option. He's been earning minutes with his defense and all-around contributions off the bench, outplaying Gary Harris for long periods. The result of his play has been 17.0 DK points a game -- yet over the last five, he's increased that to 21.1 in 22.8 minutes of work. He's played at least 23 minutes in three straight, including 28 last game, when he posted 27.5 DK points.

Small Forward

Brandon Ingram ($9,100) -- When it comes to Tuesday's forward plays, the New Orleans Pelicans are home to a few solid options. The primary reason for that is the injury to Lonzo Ball, which has caused backcourt players to play down a spot and others to slide from the three to the two for periods of time. A Ball return could diminish the appeal of players like Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Josh Hart, but Ingram is about as foolproof as they come. His average DK output of 42.1 points is unmatched at the small forward slot, and he has no fewer than 30 DK points in any of his last 10.

Josh Hart ($4,900) -- As we alluded to, so long as Ball is out, Hart makes for a solid play in this salary range. He matches up well with a Jazz team that deploys a number of smaller hybrid forwards -- Royce O'Neale and Bojan Bogdanovic -- alongside their primary backcourt, and he's garnered solid minutes throughout the season. He's a lock for 25 minutes with upwards of 30 in any spot. While Hart can have his games of fewer than 20 DK points, he's only three games removed from a 35.5-point outing in which he scored 19 points on only 8 shots. If he's getting looks, he could be a key figure on this short slate.

Power Forward

Zion Williamson ($7,900) -- Williamson has remained undervalued given some low-scoring games early on. But you wouldn't know that by looking at recent games, like his average of 41.9 DK points over the last five. That alone is enough to return 5.3 points for every $1,000 of salary at this salary, but what's better is Utah doesn't have someone to match up with the combination of power and athleticism that Zion possesses off the bounce. O'Neale is likely to get the assignment, but he doesn't have the frame to combat Williamson around the hoop and on the boards. It could be a double-double night for Zion against a Utah team that's given up a surprisingly high 10.6 offensive boards per game.

Isaiah Roby ($4,100) -- Al Horford missed Sunday's game for personal reasons, and there has been no real update since. If Horford remains out, it would be Roby starting at center, something that has happened on three other occasions already this season. In his three starts, Roby has averaged 14.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists across 26.0 minutes. According to Basketball Reference, he's also turned a 20.9% usage rate into a total of 28.4 DK points per night. He's produced as many as 33.75 DK points, although a clash with the Nuggets is far from the best matchup.

Center

Nikola Jokic ($11,000) -- Nikola Jokic is the unquestioned number-one fantasy option on the slate. His 60.1 DK points per game are 18.7 above the next-closest player and 23.5 above the second-highest center, Rudy Gobert. Jokic should benefit from Horford sitting this one out, because he'll get the inexperienced Roby, who has yet to see a one-on-one matchup like this. The game favors a big Denver outing, as well, given a 115.0-point implied total with the Nuggets listed as 9.5-point favorites at Online Sportsbook.

Steven Adams ($6,100) -- The aforementioned Gobert is in a scary spot, because New Orleans is the top team against fantasy centers. Zion and Adams do well to mitigate opposing big men, though you would think it would be the inverse against a two-time Defensive Player of the Year. However, Gobert raises the floor of opposing centers through activity and the need for a true big to compete with him inside and on the glass. The Pels will need Adams to be that guy in a game in which they are 6.0-point underdogs. Locking in Jokic is key, but if you are looking to differentiate yourself, Adams could be the guy.

Brett Oswalt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Brett Oswalt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username BRO14THEKID. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.