FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Thursday 3/10/22

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

A wise man once said, "Balance is not something you find; it's something you create." The NBA schedule-makers didn't exactly create their own with just two games on Thursday.

As a result, the official NBA injury report is fairly quiet.

There is one lone status we're watching keenly -- Will Barton of the Nuggets. Barton was questionable on Wednesday with his ankle injury and didn't suit up. He'll likely keep that status entering Thursday's game.

Though it's not fresh, it's also worth noting the Warriors still won't have Otto Porter (illness) or Gary Payton II (knee).

For all intents and purposes, the Nets and 76ers enter at full strength with Ben Simmons -- somehow after all these months -- still nowhere close playing on the court at Wells Fargo Arena.

Guards

Klay Thompson ($5,700): Even on a two-game slate, I just have a hard time trusting Stephen Curry when Klay is an alternative nearly $4,000 lower in salary. When they have shared the court together this season, Thompson (28.3%) has blown past Curry (22.3%) in usage rate, and Klay produces 1.01 FanDuel points per minute to Steph's 1.11. Curry is still better in a vacuum, but the salary goes way, way too far in cash and single-entry formats for a decently similar range of outcomes.

Seth Curry ($4,600): Curry was the listed starting point guard and saw 31 minutes on Tuesday, but a cold shot undid any FanDuel potential once more. At 38.1% from the field in March, that's been a theme for him, but a revenge spot against Philadelphia would be a good spot for the younger Curry to regress favorably. His lightning-in-a-bottle upside is an absolutely fantastic spot to target two-game slates in tournaments considering his minutes are solid and his box scores aren't.

Others to Consider:
Kyrie Irving ($9,700): Kyrie and Kevin Durant are a risky proposition in single-entry formats. One usually dismantles the other. Kyrie is the top guard of the day overall, though.
Monte Morris ($5,400): 30-plus minutes will put you on the map on a two-gamer. Austin Rivers should also see decent run if Barton is out.

Wings

James Harden ($10,200): The higher total of the day is in Philly, but guessing which star players prevail is a roulette wheel. Harden has posted at least 43 FanDuel points in each game with the Sixers, so his floor is just organically higher than either Brooklyn guy. Plus, he's Philadelphia access that doesn't plug center like Joel Embiid. If you script a narrative that he's more aggressive against his former team, that only helps the argument to roster him.

Andrew Wiggins ($6,600): Small forward is an abject disaster that takes steam off the two-game slate. Wiggins needed 11 boards and 3 blocks to hit a valuable score at this salary in his last game against the Clippers, but at least we've seen it within his range of outcomes. Unless you go all-in at the position with Durant and Harden, and both miraculously hit, it's totally fine to expect less than normal "value" from the value option at the position.

Others to Consider:
Kevin Durant ($10,400): Totally deferred to Kyrie in Charlotte. Hasn't exactly blown this mark away without him, either. Prefer Harden.
Tobias Harris ($6,400): Just 0.72 FanDuel points per minute since Harden arrived. You're banking on talent in tournaments to even consider him.

Bigs

Nikola Jokic ($11,400): Jokic is, just in a vacuum, the top play on this slate by a country mile if the name of the game was scoring fantasy points. However, limited value and options at other positions make him a much harder choice. He's posted at least 65 FanDuel points in both 2022 meetings with Golden State, and if Barton is out once more, he really has the only significant role on the Nuggets at large. I still would prioritize him over a part-time role for Andre Drummond.

Kevon Looney ($4,700): A two-game slate lets me feature "Ol' Reliable." Heck yeah. Looney's eclipsed 20 FanDuel points in 15 of his last 16 contests, but his salary doesn't budge due to a limited ceiling. With so many stars and two high totals on tap for Thursday, taking the floor from your value plays isn't a terrible option. He's played more (at least 27 minutes) in games against Denver as their only true size to stop Jokic.

Others to Consider:
Andre Drummond ($5,600): Part-time role, a brutal matchup against Embiid, and likely to be 50-60% rostered due to his salary opening up other avenues. Tread carefully.
Aaron Gordon ($5,000): numberFire's top-projected value play of the day. I concur. Limited ceiling next to Jokic, but the two can work together on just this small slate.