NBA

NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 3/22/22

Austin Swaim  —  @ASwaim3 Mar 22nd, 2022
With Khris Middleton out, Giannis should see a slight bump in work in Tuesday's highest-totaled contest. Who else stands out at the top?

Basketball is the most consistent sport for daily fantasy purposes.

A top slugger in baseball will have his fair share of 0-for-4 days, and an elite fantasy football player is at risk of having games where his team's offense as a whole is shut down. A high-salaried NBA stud is generally going to get his, though. With so many possessions in a game providing opportunities to produce, top fantasy basketball options will be posting high scores just about every night.

While this consistency puts us in a good position to identify top plays, it also means you can't afford to miss when you're paying up for someone. Even with strong value plays in your lineup, paying up and getting a dud is likely going to leave your lineup drawing pretty close to dead.

Which top players should be the focal points of your lineups today?

Nikola Jokic, C, Denver Nuggets ($11,500)

Tuesday's four-game slate features a critical decision between perhaps the two top studs in fantasy basketball.

In the red corner is Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets are hosting the LA Clippers on Tuesday, and Jokic should be in a decent position to rebound from a disastrous outing against the sturdy Boston Celtics defense.

Jokic has tattered the Clips for 72.4 and 82.8 FanDuel points in their last two meetings. L.A. doesn't have a ton of size, so they are fifth from the bottom in defensive rebounding percentage (70.8%).

Denver (20th in pace) is also seeing a slight uptick in possessions with the Clippers (14th) in town.

He is a bit tough to prioritize with Nikola Vucevic another great option at the pivot, but considering the damage he's done in this matchup before, it feels like a lock that Jokic exceeds value on Tuesday.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, SF/PF, Milwaukee Bucks ($11,200)

Now, in the blue corner is Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Giannis also has a path to a stellar game on Tuesday. He'll get a slight uptick in usage with Khris Middleton out of the Bucks' lineup due to a wrist injury.

Antetokoumpo's increases in usage rate (0.5 percentage points) and production (0.02 FanDuel points per minute) without Middleton on the floor this season are actually pretty negligible, but he's in a great spot at this salary even if Middleton was suiting up.

In March, "The Greek Freak" has posted 1.77 FanDuel points per minute -- second among qualifiers to Jokic. However, the total in Milwaukee (235.0) is notably higher than the one in Denver (225.0) tonight. Both games have matching seven-point spreads.

In a tough decision, Giannis is appealing since he doesn't clog center from other value options. Plus, he stacks well with top mid-range options like DeMar DeRozan or value options like Alex Caruso.

Choose your fighter wisely.