NBA

FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Wednesday 11/30/22

Since it's much simpler to predict than baseball or football, daily fantasy basketball would get plenty of votes as the best sport to play on FanDuel. Players usually stick to the same minutes and produce at roughly the same rate. Sounds easy, right?

As a result, NBA daily fantasy is highly reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to ensure 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.

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.

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
AtlantaOrlando227.5116.8110.8819
PhiladelphiaCleveland210.5103.5107.02729
WashingtonBrooklyn227.5111.3116.32222
MiamiBoston224.5107.5117.02518
MilwaukeeNew York228117.0111.0169
TorontoNew Orleans222.5111.8110.82616
MemphisMinnesota231116.8114.3113
San AntonioOklahoma City232113.5118.556
HoustonDenver231.5110.0121.5920
ChicagoPhoenix228.5111.5117.01422
LA ClippersUtah225109.0116.02012
IndianaSacramento243119.3123.837
PortlandLA Lakers224.5109.5115.0282


With 13 games on the slate, you know the injury report is overflowing with news.

The biggest name in question tonight plays in Oklahoma City. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (hip) is uncertain to play, and the visiting Spurs will be without Jakob Poeltl (knee) and Jeremy Sochan (quad).

It's not a surprise Karl-Anthony Towns (calf) is out for Minnesota after a scary-looking injury on Monday. Jaden McDaniels (illness) is also questionable. They're hosting Memphis, who aren't sure if Dillon Brooks (thigh) will suit up tonight.

Jaylen Brown (neck) is questionable to miss a second straight for Boston, and it's a good thing he's their only listing. Miami is taking up all the room in that game's box given they have Tyler Herro (ankle), Max Strus (shoulder), Caleb Martin (illness), Gabe Vincent (knee), Nikola Jovic (foot), Duncan Robinson (ankle), and Dewayne Dedmon (foot) all listed as questionable. Good grief.

The Pelicans have C.J. McCollum (conditioning) and Larry Nance Jr. (shoulder) listed as questionable on Wednesday. Brandon Ingram (toe) remains out Wednesday as they battle a surprisingly healthy Toronto squad.

Ben Simmons (knee) joined Yuta Watanabe (hamstring) on Brooklyn's report. They'll both sit tonight against the Wizards, who will be without Rui Hachimura (ankle).

Orlando has already ruled out Wendell Carter Jr. (foot), Jalen Suggs (ankle), and Chuma Okeke (knee) before tonight's game against Atlanta. Mohamed Bamba (back) is questionable.

Jarrett Allen (back) will sit for Cleveland again. Lamar Stevens (illness) is questionable as they host the 76ers.

Finally, the Nuggets have ruled out Michael Porter Jr. (heel) again, and Nah'Shon Hyland (illness) is questionable after missing Monday's game.

Guards

Given his supreme floor, Ja Morant ($10,000) is hard to ignore in today's contest with a 231.5-point total.

Morant has scored at least 44 FanDuel points in his last seven games with at least 30 minutes played. If this game stays tight, Morant should be a contributor. Plus, he's spiked for over 55 FanDuel points four times in that same stretch.

Morant and Tyrese Haliburton ($9,600) are the clear top guys at guard. Haliburton makes his first appearance against the Kings team that traded him, and he's in the midst of a wild stretch with at least 14 assists in five of his last six games. Tack on a reduced salary of Buddy Hield ($6,200) to that revenge narrative, and De'Aaron Fox ($9,100) works in stacks given the gaudy 243-point total on deck.

Our projections once again love Kyrie Irving ($7,800) out of the mid-range, and so do I. He's actually scored at least 20 points in five straight, so his ceiling could be pretty hefty if he could return to his per-36-minute marks from last season in assists (5.55) or steals (1.37).

Considering the SGA news, Josh Giddey ($6,800) could be an instrumental value piece on this slate. He's got the best usage rate (29.0%) on the team with Gilgeous-Alexander off the floor this year. Jalen Williams ($4,900) and Tre Mann ($4,400) would be in line for boosts, as well.

D'Angelo Russell ($6,600) should see a usage boost without Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jaylen Nowell ($4,200) played 25 minutes in Towns' stead last game. Those two circle the top of numberFire's projections at guard, but the position is predictably loaded on this slate with Jordan Clarkson ($6,200), De'Anthony Melton ($6,200), Cameron Payne ($6,000), and Collin Sexton ($5,100) all grading out well.

Wings

Jayson Tatum ($10,200) had 52.5 FanDuel points in just three quarters without Brown on Monday, so he's obviously a focal point if J.B. sits again.

However, if Brown plays, I am wanting to build around Giannis Antetokounmpo ($12,000) on this slate despite the salary. Quietly, he's scored over 30 real-life points in four straight, but he hasn't shifted to nuclear status on FanDuel behind it with multiple blocks and steals in a game. He'll be contrarian given some disappointing box scores and the other stars in higher-total games.

Anthony Edwards ($8,000) scored 25 of his 29 points on Monday in the second half after Towns' injury. He's been vocal about not having room to score with two centers, so if his hypothesis is right, he could be a buy-low candidate in this spot.

Speaking of buying low, Paolo Banchero ($7,700) seems to be knocking the rust off. His 29.9% usage rate for this salary is awesome, and he should see an uptick in boards without Wendell Carter.

Keldon Johnson ($6,700) finally put together his best performance of the year with 26 points and 10 boards against the Lakers. His salary is low enough to buy the hot streak, and if SGA misses tonight's contest, Luguentz Dort ($5,500) works, too. Dort's seen a 6.8 percentage-point uptick in usage with OKC's star off the floor.

Dort would be a welcome addition to a value bin that's not quite as deep as guard, but Justise Winslow ($5,200), Trey Murphy III ($4,900), De'Andre Hunter ($4,900), Kyle Anderson ($4,600), and Amir Coffey ($3,900) are strong pieces.

Bigs

Nikola Jokic ($11,200) and Jamal Murray ($7,100) destroyed the Rockets on Monday, so they're hard to ignore on this slate.

Jokic posted 55.2 FanDuel points in just 27 minutes, and Murray outshined him (at salary) with 44.1 in just 25 minutes. It's really hard to see a path to failure given Houston's 115.1 defensive rating (third-worst in the NBA), and the blowout outcome already showed to be a non-issue.

However, I lept into the player pool to find Domantas Sabonis ($8,800) in his first matchup with Indiana since being traded. Beyond the narrative, the Pacers just ceded 31 points and 29 boards to Ivica Zubac ($6,900), and they've got the 10th-worst defensive rebounding rate (71.1%) in the league.

Zion Williamson ($8,500) dished eight assists behind a strong 26.2% usage rate for the shorthanded Pels on Monday. He's less of a priority today at a higher salary -- especially if McCollum ends up playing. But, he's still worth keeping in mind.

Now without competition from Towns for boards, Rudy Gobert ($7,500) is well below his median salary from last year. I'd expect him to routinely sniff his season average in rebounds from a year ago (14.7) for as long as KAT is on the shelf.

Our projections love Jusuf Nurkic ($6,800), and it's hard to argue after a perfect lineup appearance last night. Plus, the Lakers are bottom 10 in paint points and second-chance points, and he got that done against a stingy Clippers defense on Tuesday.

With Poeltl out, Zach Collins ($4,600) should absorb quite a bit of work in San Antonio's frontcourt. OKC, though, doesn't really love playing with a big man either. That could shift more minutes to Doug McDermott ($3,600), who logged 26 on Saturday.

Nurkic and Collins are two of numberFire's top-projected bigs today, and they're surrounded by Nicolas Claxton ($6,100), John Collins ($5,800), Kelly Olynyk ($5,600), and Al Horford ($5,400), so we have plenty of options today.