FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Saturday 12/25/21
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 basketball is very reliant on a player's 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
| Team | Opp | Over/ Under |
Spread | Implied Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BKN | LAL | 226.0 | -1.0 | 113.50 |
| UTAH | DAL | 214.0 | -12.5 | 113.25 |
| LAL | BKN | 226.0 | +1.0 | 112.50 |
| PHX | GS | 217.5 | -6.0 | 111.75 |
| MIL | BOS | 219.0 | -3.0 | 111.00 |
| NY | ATL | 210.5 | -6.0 | 108.25 |
| BOS | MIL | 219.0 | +3.0 | 108.00 |
| GS | PHX | 217.5 | +6.0 | 105.75 |
| ATL | NY | 210.5 | +6.0 | 102.25 |
| DAL | UTAH | 214.0 | +12.5 | 100.75 |
Range-of-Outcome Projections
I calculated each player's projected floor (Low) and ceiling (High) (i.e.one standard deviation above and below his fantasy projection) for the slate, based on numberFire's median projections. The position groups are guard (G), forward (F), and big (B) in the table.
| Player | Pos | Pos |
$ | Min | FDP | Low | High | FDP Pos Rk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Curry | PG | G | $10.2K | 38.2 | 52.9 | 39.8 | 66.0 | 1 |
| LeBron James | SF/ PF | F | $10.9K | 38.6 | 49.1 | 36.5 | 61.7 | 1 |
| James Harden | SG/ PG | G | $10K | 35.1 | 48.1 | 35.6 | 60.6 | 2 |
| Jrue Holiday | PG/ SG | G | $9.8K | 36.5 | 45.8 | 33.6 | 58.1 | 3 |
| Russell Westbrook | PG | F | $9.5K | 35.9 | 43.6 | 31.6 | 55.6 | 2 |
| Julius Randle | PF/ C | B | $8.7K | 33.4 | 43.5 | 31.6 | 55.5 | 1 |
| John Collins | PF/ C | B | $8.7K | 36.7 | 42.1 | 30.3 | 53.9 | 2 |
| Gorgui Dieng | C | B | $9.2K | 33.1 | 41.1 | 29.4 | 52.7 | 3 |
| Khris Middleton | SF/ SG | F | $8.1K | 35.2 | 40.7 | 29.1 | 52.3 | 3 |
| Devin Booker | SG | G | $9.5K | 32.6 | 38.7 | 27.4 | 50.1 | 4 |
| Jayson Tatum | SF/ PF | G | $8.4K | 34.1 | 38.4 | 27.0 | 49.7 | 5 |
| Donovan Mitchell | SG/ PG | B | $8.5K | 34.0 | 38.2 | 26.9 | 49.5 | 4 |
| Blake Griffin | PF/ C | G | $8.2K | 31.9 | 37.3 | 26.1 | 48.5 | 6 |
| Rudy Gobert | C | F | $7.8K | 33.6 | 37.0 | 25.8 | 48.2 | 4 |
| Kristaps Porzingis | PF/ C | G | $7.6K | 34.9 | 36.6 | 25.4 | 47.7 | 7 |
| Chris Paul | PG | G | $7.4K | 34.9 | 35.7 | 24.7 | 46.7 | 8 |
| Dennis Schroder | PG/ SG | B | $5.6K | 29.8 | 35.2 | 24.2 | 46.1 | 5 |
| Marcus Smart | SG/ PG | B | $8.1K | 31.9 | 33.8 | 23.0 | 44.6 | 6 |
| JaVale McGee | C | B | $7.6K | 32.1 | 33.4 | 22.6 | 44.1 | 7 |
| Dorian Finney- Smith | SF/ SG | G | $5.1K | 33.4 | 33.3 | 22.6 | 44.0 | 9 |
| Jaylen Brown | SF/ SG | G | $6.6K | 33.1 | 33.1 | 22.4 | 43.8 | 10 |
| Deandre Ayton | C | F | $5.6K | 36.1 | 31.5 | 20.9 | 42.0 | 5 |
| Mike Conley | PG | B | $6.3K | 32.4 | 30.7 | 20.3 | 41.1 | 8 |
| Nicolas Claxton | C/ PF | G | $5.8K | 34.6 | 30.5 | 20.1 | 40.9 | 11 |
| Frank Ntilikina | PG | B | $6K | 23.4 | 30.2 | 19.9 | 40.6 | 9 |
| Jalen Brunson | PG/ SG | F | $6K | 30.3 | 30.1 | 19.8 | 40.5 | 6 |
| RJ Barrett | SF/ SG | G | $5.8K | 29.2 | 29.4 | 19.1 | 39.6 | 12 |
| Delon Wright | PG/ SG | F | $5.8K | 34.2 | 28.1 | 18.0 | 38.2 | 7 |
| Talen Horton- Tucker | SG/ SF | B | $3.5K | 25.1 | 28.0 | 17.9 | 38.1 | 10 |
| Dwight Howard | C | F | $5K | 34.9 | 27.3 | 17.3 | 37.3 | 8 |
| Joe Ingles | SG/ SF | B | $4.5K | 24.3 | 27.0 | 17.0 | 36.9 | 11 |
| Bojan Bogdanovic | SF/ PF | B | $5.9K | 25.4 | 27.0 | 17.0 | 36.9 | 12 |
| Draymond Green | PF/ C | F | $5.5K | 31.4 | 26.9 | 16.9 | 36.8 | 9 |
| Paul Millsap | PF/ C | F | $6.2K | 35.0 | 26.7 | 16.7 | 36.6 | 10 |
| Robert Williams | PF/ C | G | $6.5K | 35.4 | 26.5 | 16.6 | 36.4 | 13 |
| Patrick Mills | SG/ PG | G | $3.9K | 32.4 | 26.1 | 16.3 | 36.0 | 14 |
| Grayson Allen | SG | B | $3.6K | 24.4 | 26.1 | 16.2 | 36.0 | 13 |
| Bogdan Bogdanovic | SF/ SG | F | $5.3K | 30.0 | 25.6 | 15.7 | 35.4 | 11 |
| Gary Payton II | SG | F | $5K | 30.2 | 25.3 | 15.5 | 35.1 | 12 |
| Otto Porter | SF/ PF | F | $4.5K | 27.3 | 25.2 | 15.4 | 34.9 | 13 |
| DeMarcus Cousins | C | G | $4.4K | 30.1 | 24.9 | 15.2 | 34.6 | 15 |
| Jordan Clarkson | PG/ SG | F | $5.5K | 30.1 | 24.8 | 15.1 | 34.5 | 14 |
| Carmelo Anthony | SF/ PF | G | $5.7K | 27.6 | 24.8 | 15.0 | 34.5 | 16 |
| Cam Reddish | SG/ SF | G | $4.7K | 24.4 | 24.7 | 15.0 | 34.4 | 17 |
| Alec Burks | SG/ SF | G | $5K | 25.1 | 24.4 | 14.7 | 34.1 | 18 |
| Kemba Walker | PG | F | $5.4K | 30.1 | 23.1 | 13.6 | 32.6 | 15 |
| Jae Crowder | PF/ SF | F | $4.8K | 28.9 | 22.7 | 13.2 | 32.1 | 16 |
| Jonathan Kuminga | SF | B | $5.7K | 24.3 | 22.6 | 13.1 | 32.0 | 14 |
| Mikal Bridges | SF/ PF | F | $5.6K | 26.7 | 22.5 | 13.1 | 32.0 | 17 |
| George Hill | PG | F | $4.8K | 32.1 | 22.4 | 13.0 | 31.8 | 18 |
| Royce O'Neale | SF/ PF | B | $3.8K | 21.8 | 22.4 | 12.9 | 31.8 | 15 |
| Mitchell Robinson | C | G | $5.7K | 21.9 | 21.8 | 12.5 | 31.2 | 19 |
| Evan Fournier | SF/ SG | F | $4K | 21.1 | 20.1 | 11.0 | 29.3 | 19 |
| Cameron Johnson | SF | B | $4.7K | 15.9 | 19.8 | 10.7 | 28.9 | 16 |
| Rudy Gay | PF/ SF | F | $4.2K | 24.1 | 19.5 | 10.4 | 28.6 | 20 |
| Jordan Nwora | PF/ SF | B | $4.5K | 20.8 | 19.2 | 10.2 | 28.2 | 17 |
| Wayne Ellington | SG | G | $3.6K | 23.4 | 18.5 | 9.6 | 27.5 | 20 |
| Dwight Powell | C/ PF | B | $4K | 19.3 | 18.4 | 9.5 | 27.4 | 18 |
| Pat Connaughton | SG/ SF | G | $3.8K | 28.4 | 18.4 | 9.4 | 27.3 | 21 |
| Onyeka Okongwu | C | G | $4.3K | 22.5 | 18.1 | 9.2 | 27.0 | 22 |
| Cameron Payne | PG/ SG | F | $4.6K | 20.4 | 17.7 | 8.8 | 26.5 | 21 |
| Juan Toscano- Anderson | SF/ PF | B | $4.4K | 20.3 | 17.5 | 8.6 | 26.3 | 19 |
| Jevon Carter | PG/ SG | F | $5.4K | 21.9 | 16.4 | 7.7 | 25.1 | 22 |
| Nemanja Bjelica | PF | F | $6.5K | 16.8 | 16.4 | 7.7 | 25.1 | 23 |
| JaQuori McLaughlin | PG | B | $4K | 19.2 | 16.3 | 7.6 | 25.0 | 20 |
| Andre Iguodala | SF/ SG | G | $4.4K | 20.1 | 16.3 | 7.6 | 25.0 | 23 |
| Taj Gibson | C | G | $3.9K | 20.6 | 15.6 | 7.0 | 24.2 | 24 |
| Payton Pritchard | PG/ SG | F | $3.5K | 17.4 | 15.4 | 6.9 | 24.0 | 24 |
| Landry Shamet | SG | F | $3.9K | 20.3 | 15.3 | 6.8 | 23.9 | 25 |
| Lance Stephenson | SF | F | $4.1K | 16.4 | 15.1 | 6.6 | 23.7 | 26 |
| Bruno Fernando | PF | B | $4.1K | 15.3 | 15.0 | 6.5 | 23.5 | 21 |
| Kevon Looney | C/ PF | F | $3.9K | 17.3 | 14.9 | 6.4 | 23.4 | 27 |
| Theo Pinson | SG/ SF | G | $4.9K | 17.0 | 14.9 | 6.4 | 23.4 | 25 |
| DeAndre Jordan | C | B | $5K | 17.3 | 14.7 | 6.2 | 23.2 | 22 |
| Brandon Knight | PG | G | $3.9K | 22.8 | 14.4 | 5.9 | 22.9 | 26 |
| Sterling Brown | SG | G | $5K | 18.3 | 14.3 | 5.9 | 22.8 | 27 |
| Romeo Langford | SG | B | $4.4K | 15.3 | 13.8 | 5.4 | 22.2 | 23 |
| Shaquille Harrison | PG/ SG | F | $3.9K | 16.4 | 13.7 | 5.3 | 22.1 | 28 |
| Wenyen Gabriel | PF | G | $3.6K | 15.1 | 13.5 | 5.1 | 21.8 | 28 |
| James Ennis | SF | B | $5K | 11.1 | 13.2 | 4.9 | 21.5 | 24 |
| Jalen Johnson | SF | F | $3.7K | 16.3 | 12.4 | 4.1 | 20.6 | 29 |
| Isaiah Thomas | PG | F | $3.8K | 15.4 | 12.1 | 3.9 | 20.3 | 30 |
| Rajon Rondo | PG | F | $3.9K | 14.3 | 12.1 | 3.9 | 20.3 | 31 |
| Langston Galloway | SG/ SF | G | $3.8K | 15.3 | 11.9 | 3.7 | 20.1 | 29 |
| Obi Toppin | PF | G | $3.8K | 16.9 | 11.5 | 3.4 | 19.6 | 30 |
| Chris Chiozza | PG | F | $3.7K | 14.0 | 11.0 | 3.0 | 19.1 | 32 |
| Aaron Nesmith | SG | B | $3.5K | 13.1 | 10.6 | 2.6 | 18.6 | 25 |
| Charlie Brown Jr. | SF | G | $3.5K | 10.4 | 10.4 | 2.5 | 18.4 | 31 |
| Wesley Matthews | SG | G | $3.9K | 12.0 | 10.4 | 2.5 | 18.4 | 31 |
| Quentin Grimes | SG | G | $3.7K | 15.4 | 9.7 | 1.8 | 17.6 | 33 |
| Thanasis Antetokounmpo | SF/ PF | G | $3.8K | 12.3 | 9.6 | 1.7 | 17.5 | 34 |
| Hassan Whiteside | C | G | $5.6K | 12.3 | 9.6 | 1.7 | 17.5 | 35 |
| Wesley Iwundu | SG | F | $4K | 15.3 | 9.4 | 1.6 | 17.3 | 33 |
| Moses Moody | SG | G | $3.7K | 12.8 | 8.7 | 0.9 | 16.5 | 36 |
| Rodney Hood | SG/ SF | G | $3.5K | 13.3 | 8.2 | 0.5 | 15.9 | 37 |
| Joe Johnson | SG | G | $3.5K | 7.3 | 5.9 | 0.0 | 13.3 | 38 |
| Semi Ojeleye | SF | F | $3.7K | 8.3 | 5.6 | 0.0 | 13.0 | 34 |
| Jemerrio Jones | PF | B | $3.5K | 5.0 | 4.2 | 0.0 | 11.5 | 26 |
| Elfrid Payton | PG | G | $3.5K | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 7.4 | 39 |
| Boban Marjanovic | C | B | $3.5K | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 27 |
