FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Sunday 1/31/21

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

Daily fantasy NBA is very reliant on opportunity, so you'll need to make sure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's break down today's main slate on FanDuel:

The Slate

This four-game slate has a ton of injury news packed into it. Joel Embiid is once again questionable with his back injury but has played through it in consecutive games for the Philadelphia 76ers. The Brooklyn Nets will get back Kevin Durant but could be losing James Harden, who is questionable for Sunday's contest against the Washington Wizards. Harden's absence would likely increase the competitiveness of that game between two squads on opposite sides of the East.

D'Angelo Russell played for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, but it was just 25 minutes in his first game back from a quad injury. He is questionable for Sunday. The Toronto Raptors have the largest confirmed missing name on the slate thus far, as OG Anunoby will sit with a calf injury, but Toronto could also be without Norman Powell, who is doubtful with a quadriceps injury.

Point Guard

Kyrie Irving ($9,300): The Nets-Wiz affair is the fantasy game of the evening between two teams that are in the top six in pace -- and there is very little defense on both sides. The total is all the way up at 244.0 points. The Nets have been kind of a headache for cash and single-entry tournaments as far as predictability and role, but games where one of their top stars -- between Irving, Harden and Durant -- has sat have been much easier. If Harden is out, that would free up plenty of usage for Irving and KD, but Irving has the highest floor if all three do play. Kyrie has at least 44 FanDuel points in four of the five games since he returned from his "pause."

Darius Garland ($5,200): Given that Garland eclipsed 37 FanDuel points in three of the six games he played before getting hurt, his upside is enormous at this salary now that he has recovered to the point of averaging 30.0 minutes per game in his last two contests back in the starting lineup. It also helps that Garland is taking on a Minnesota squad that has allowed the second-most FanDuel points per game to opposing point guards. numberFire's early projections like Garland to surpass value Sunday, with 30.0 projected FanDuel points.

Other Notable Plays: Malcolm Brogdon ($8,400), Kyle Lowry ($6,600)

Shooting Guard

Fred VanVleet ($8,700): While many will flock to the $3,800 Terence Davis II, who drew the start but played just 18 minutes without Anunoby and Powell on Friday, it is VanVleet who picks up most of the offensive slack from the shooting guard position without them. Without those two on the floor, VanVleet is second in usage rate increase (+2.0 percentage points) and first in FanDuel points per minute increase (+0.15) among Raptors current rotation players. With Toronto battling injuries to many contributors the last three games, VanVleet has been the one staple, averaging 49.9 FanDuel points per game and 36.0 minutes per game -- leading the Raptors in both categories.

Jeremy Lamb ($5,400): Lamb's role is far from set in stone, but on a four-game slate, beggars can't be choosers. There still is a path to a ceiling for Lamb at this salary, as he has eclipsed 29.5 FanDuel points in three of his last five outings. Those same three contests are also the only ones in which Lamb has received at least 28 minutes, making for a clear dichotomy in his outcome tree -- he either sees his minutes and eclipses value, or is benched for T.J. McConnell on the Indiana Pacers' closing unit and falls short. Given that Lamb is projected to start once again, the former seems more likely than the latter.

Other Notable Plays: Anthony Edwards ($4,900), Bruce Brown Jr. ($4,200; if Harden sits)

Small Forward

Pascal Siakam ($7,500): Like his teammate VanVleet, Siakam is also a primary beneficiary to Toronto's current injuries. Without Anunoby and Powell on the floor, Siakam leads the team in usage increase at a whopping 5.0 percentage point bump -- although, unlike VanVleet, he has not seen a production increase in that period of time. Siakam led the Raptors in points (32) and shots (20) on Friday with this same rotational setup, and he gets a great matchup today against the Orlando Magic, who have given up the fifth-most FanDuel points per game to opposing small forwards.

Rui Hachimura ($5,100): Hachimura is the lower-salary tournament option to pair with Siakam, and Justin Holiday is the lower-ceiling, higher-floor pick for cash games. However, Hachimura exceeded 24 FanDuel points in four of the seven games prior to the Wizards' COVID issues and is seeing an average of 27.2 minutes per game. Hachimura was not far off that in his first contest back, logging 24 minutes on Friday, but he was clearly rusty as he shot just 33%. There is barely any ball left to go around after Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal do their thing, but Hachimura is the next highest Wizards starter in terms of usage (18.6%).

Other Notable Plays: Tobias Harris ($7,100), Justin Holiday ($4,700)

Power Forward

Domantas Sabonis ($9,100): There were concerns about Sabonis after he left last Monday's game early with a knee injury, but he squashed much of that with 44.2 FanDuel points per game in two 37-minute outings against the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday and Friday. He led the Pacers this week in FanDuel points per minute (1.23) despite the injury -- thanks in large part to a package of 23.6% usage and 12.59 rebounds per 36 minutes. Power forward is by far the weakest spot on this slate, so Sabonis' high floor is a tough fade. He'll likely be astronomically popular.

Aaron Gordon ($5,500): Two West Coast blowouts to the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers have made Gordon's salary tumble, but his role has essentially remained unchanged. Gordon's 23.1% usage rate this past week would the be highest of his entire career if it stabilized over a long-term sample, and given he sat more than usual due to the blowouts, the true figure is likely even higher. Gordon has put up more than 30 FanDuel points in each of the last five games in which he got 30 minutes, and today's 5.5-point spread implies he is likely to see those minutes. Gordon is one of the best values on the slate at a position that desperately needs one.

Other Notable Plays: Jeff Green ($4,500)

Center

Myles Turner ($7,700): One thing I particularly dislike doing is playing Turner and Sabonis together, as the two eat into each other's upside in terms of both rebounds and blocks, but if Joel Embiid sits, it may be necessary to roster both of the Pacers' bigs due to the state of their center and power forward. Turner is one of the few high-salary centers with upside, as he has eclipsed 40 points in four of his last seven games. Turner's matchup versus the Philadelphia 76ers is also better if Embiid sits, as Embiid has the sixth-highest defensive win shares rating of any center in the NBA. Indiana, as a team, also has a nice game environment given they will meet the fifth-fastest team in terms of pace.

Other Notable Plays: Joel Embiid ($9,900; if he plays), DeAndre Jordan ($4,900)

Austin Swaim is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Austin Swaim also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username ASwaim3. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his 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.