NBA

FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Friday 1/21/22

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 and Key Injuries

Away Home Game
Total
Away
Implied
Total
Home
Implied
Total
Away
Pace
Home
Pace
Oklahoma City Charlotte 223 107 116 16 2
LA Lakers Orlando 219 112 107 3 13
LA Clippers Philadelphia 213 102.25 110.75 14 26
Miami Atlanta 219 108.75 110.25 27 19
Portland Boston 212.5 102 110.5 17 23
Toronto Washington 218.5 108.75 109.75 24 20
Chicago Milwaukee 227.5 108.5 119 14 9
Brooklyn San Antonio 233.5 117.25 116.25 8 5
Detroit Utah 219 102.5 116.5 11 12
Memphis Denver 222.5 109.5 113 6 24
Houston Golden State 228 109 119 1 18


COVID-19 Protocol Update
Due to the advanced number of players in COVID-19 protocols, I want to provide just a manual list of those players moving forward and then discuss the other injury news separately. Only players that significantly impact the slate are listed:

Player Team Status
Tyler HerroMiamiOut
Desmond BaneMemphisOut
Marcus SmartBostonQuestionable
Hassan WhitesideUtahOut
Nicolas BatumLA ClippersQuestionable
Kyle AndersonMemphisUnknown
Tyus JonesMemphisOut
Frank JacksonDetroitOut


Donovan Mitchell remains out inside of concussion protocol for the Jazz on Friday. That absence headlines Friday's injury report.

After a six-game absence, Clint Capela could return to the Hawks, per their report; he's officially listed as questionable. On the other side of that contest, Kyle Lowry will be out for Miami with a personal issue.

The Blazers will still be missing Norman Powell due to a personal issue. Nassir Little is also questionable for Portland after exiting Wednesday's contest early with a knee injury.

On the second half of a back-to-back, the Warriors will once again rest Klay Thompson.

PJ Washington is questionable for Charlotte with a hip strain.

Marcus Morris missed Wednesday's game with a personal issue, and he's listed as questionable for Friday.

The Toronto Raptors are awaiting word of whether or not they'll get back Gary Trent Jr. from his ankle injury. He's missed six straight for "The North."

Finally, both DeAndre Bembry (back) and Nicolas Claxton (hamstring) are questionable for the Nets as they travel to San Antonio.

Guards

Ja Morant ($9,100): Memphis will still be missing Desmond Bane in COVID-19 protocols, and that should mean Morant holds a good chunk of the role that propelled him to 62.6 FanDuel points on Wednesday. That came with a career-high 14 assists, but he could have an avenue to score more on Friday given that a similar multi-level scorer, Reggie Jackson, just posted 28 real-world points on the Denver defense two nights ago. The Nuggets allow the sixth-most paint points in the NBA.

Cole Anthony ($6,500): A frosty 33.6% shooting from the field in January has dropped Cole Anthony to this salary, but his role hasn't really changed. He still has had a 26.4% usage rate in January (best among Orlando starters), and he's taken 14.5 shots per game. Nothing breathes life into a shooting slump quite like the Lakers' defense at present. L.A. has the third-worst defensive rating (117.2) in the month of January, and they play at the third-fastest pace in the league.

Mike Conley ($5,700): Conley was overwhelming chalk on Wednesday with Mitchell out, and the tilted tweets came out en masse after a slow first half against Houston. That slow first half allowed the game to stay close, though, and he found his way to value in a January-high 33 minutes. It will be paramount for him to get out of the box quickly against Detroit; the Jazz are 14.0-point favorites at home, but the veteran could do plenty of damage in three quarters with the elevated usage.

Others to Consider:
Kyrie Irving ($8,900): His usage rate Wednesday (30.6%) was higher than I expected. Hot from the field to start his year.
Josh Giddey ($6,100): He's a stat-stuffer in a pace-up spot against the Hornets. Has 30-plus FanDuel points six times this month. Weird salary.
Cade Cunningham ($5,200): Foul trouble, not a blowout, limited his playing time Wednesday. Still projects well if he gets his minutes.
Jordan Poole ($5,100): No Klay, so Poole is the play. The Dubs are only 10.0-point favorites, so he's got multiple paths to court time.

Wings

LeBron James ($11,000): My lone concern for LBJ in this spot is his energy level. James has had a tremendous January (1.47 FanDuel points per minute) with a 33.3% usage rate that's getting better as Russell Westbrook is glued to the bench more often. His efficiency and assist totals have dropped slightly recently, but he's still got stellar upside as a slight road favorite over the Magic. He can take advantage of Orlando's awful 112.1 defensive rating (sixth-worst in the NBA).

Bojan Bogdanovic ($5,500): Bogdanovic was the surprise leader of the Jazz offense on Wednesday. He held a team-best 31.6% usage rate against the Rockets, but like Conley, his minutes could be in jeopardy Friday as a heavy favorite against the Pistons. The salaries on Utah pieces not named Rudy Gobert are low enough to be worth the risk; they'll smash value in a full workload just as Bojan did with 35.5 FanDuel points in their first game without "Spida."

Joe Ingles ($3,700): Ingles comes with the least risk of any Jazz piece. He started and played 31 minutes at a near-minimum salary on Wednesday, and he demolished salary-based value despite shooting just two-for-seven from three-point land. He's numberFire's top projected value of day (as of Friday morning) since his salary hasn't changed, and although unmentioned to this point, Detroit stinks at defense. They're allowing the sixth-most FanDuel points per game to opposing players despite blowouts galore.

Others to Consider:
James Harden ($10,500): A loaded top-end of wing. Harden should be better than he was Wednesday if he can improve from 33.3% shooting.
Gordon Hayward ($6,200): The salary has dipped far enough to take swipes at him emerging out of the muddy Charlotte usage tree.
Scottie Barnes ($5,500): Foul trouble Wednesday against Dallas. A much easier matchup Friday against Washington.
Ziaire Williams ($3,500): Played 33 minutes at minimum salary last game. Shot just one-for-seven from three. Great upside with both him and John Konchar for the Grizz.

Bigs

Joel Embiid ($10,800): Wednesday, Nikola Jokic posted 89.9 FanDuel points against the Clippers for the best single-game fantasy outing of the season. Now, it's Embiid's turn in this matchup as the two battle for MVP. Embiid's 50-point outing against the Magic was overshadowed as a result of "The Joker" running wild, but JoJo could definitely add more boards to that scoring total against the Clips. The Clippers are dead-last in the NBA in estimated rebounding percentage (73.9%).

Bam Adebayo ($7,700): Many will look to Jimmy Butler at a lower salary today, but I'd rather use Adebayo at his lower salary. In their 45 minutes of court time together, Adebayo (25.9%) has a higher usage rate than Butler (25.6%), and with his 10.55 rebounds per 36 minutes this season in that same floor condition, Bam has a higher floor of fantasy value. Lowry and Tyler Herro's continued absences should lift both, though.

Ivica Zubac ($4,200): "Big Zu" went toe-to-toe with Jokic to the best of his abilities Wednesday. He dropped in 32 points and 10 boards across 37 minutes of work. That's not required at this salary, but his role should stay fairly close to the same with a similar defensive matchup against Embiid. Serge Ibaka played great early but was limited to just 14 minutes as the Clippers continue to heavily monitor his workload. That should open the door to a full-time role for Zubac again.

Others to Consider:
Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,300): He's not really a big, but realistically, my center spots will be mostly JoJo. Plenty of value to get to him.
Bobby Portis ($6,300): All Portis does is post 34 FanDuel points in 32 minutes. A wounded Chicago squad isn't the worst matchup for him to do it again.
LaMarcus Aldridge ($6,000): As expected, he played 32 minutes in front of Day'Ron Sharpe Wednesday. Some risk at this salary, though. Don't go crazy.
Kevon Looney ($5,000): A rebounding machine in January with 14.38 boards per 36 minutes. His salary doesn't match that expectation.