FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Thursday 4/20/23

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. 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 come at you with this primer daily, 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

Fear not, NBA daily fantasy players. Today's injury report isn't set up for a star ruled out seven minutes before lock. Hello, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Golden State has the exclusive drama on this slate. As I'm sure you've heard, Draymond Green (suspension) won't suit up for Game 3, and Andrew Wiggins (shoulder), Jordan Poole (ankle), and Gary Payton II (illness) are all listed as questionable with some doubt to play.

In Brooklyn, Jalen McDaniels (illness) is the only listing between the 76ers and the Nets. He's expected to play off Philly's bench.

Then, in the nightcap, the Clippers are still missing Paul George (knee), and the Suns have played the first two games without Cameron Payne (back). Payne, per a questionable listing, has a chance to return on Thursday.

Guards

Though he's struggled through two games, the salary drop for Stephen Curry ($9,400) might have gone too far.

Curry averaged 48.1 FanDuel points per 36 minutes this year with Draymond off the floor, and he's seen a team-best usage rate increase of 3.4 percentage points in that scenario. He's projected as a large chunk of Golden State's 123.3-point implied team total, but Klay Thompson ($7,500) is a bounce-back candidate, too.

Chris Paul ($7,800) has posted at least 37 minutes and 37 FanDuel points in back-to-back games without Payne. His defensive issues aren't a benching risk if Payne remains out, so he's a high-floor plug.

Brooklyn is a curiously short favorite after getting housed in both road games to start the series, and Spencer Dinwiddie ($6,900) is one of three guys playing over 40 minutes. With a more respectable effort, Dinwiddie could cash in on more of the 15.5 potential assists he's posted in the series thus far.

In terms of value, Eric Gordon ($4,400) continues to coast past 30 minutes for the Clips at a salary that doesn't imply that. Gary Payton II ($4,900), De'Anthony Melton ($4,400), and Gordon's teammate Terance Mann ($3,800) are three other guards getting at least 20 minutes of court time thus far in their series.

Wings

Kawhi Leonard ($10,600) and Kevin Durant ($10,400) should continue to jockey for top wing whenever they're on the slate for different reasons.

In Game 2, Kawhi took eight more shots than anyone not named Russell Westbrook, and Westbrook's playing time could be scaled back as he continues to miss. As for K.D., he's now logged 44 minutes in consecutive games. That much time on the court for a guy that averaged 1.22 FanDuel points per minute with Phoenix is terrifying to fade.

Sticking with the theme of a Nets bounce-back effort, Mikal Bridges ($8,000) would be their top option and a threat to score 30 real-life points alone. Bridges' 28.2% usage rate in the series leads the team by a country mile.

I'll assume Andrew Wiggins ($6,400) plays tonight, so he'll obviously be a large chunk of the void Draymond leaves behind at forward. Jonathan Kuminga ($3,900) was their plug-and-play solution when Draymond sat in the regular season, but they seem hesitant to trust him in the playoffs. Donte DiVincenzo ($4,100) would benefit if that's the case.

On the other side, Sacramento's wing rotation is stable but changed from the regular season. It's now Malik Monk ($6,000) and Kevin Huerter ($5,400) with the primary spots behind Harrison Barnes ($5,900). Davion Mitchell ($4,900) also logged 28 minutes to lock-and-trail Steph in Game 2, which has left Keegan Murray as a starter in name only.

Cameron Johnson ($6,300), Royce O'Neale ($4,700), and Dorian Finney-Smith ($4,600) all saw at least 27 minutes in Game 2 for Brooklyn and have the upside to hit triples, too. Norman Powell ($5,700) also fits that description for the Clippers, but Torrey Craig's salary is a bit egregious off a game where he cashed five triples.

Bigs

Joel Embiid has struggled offensively in this series, but 19 rebounds in Game 2 bailed him out on FanDuel. I just don't feel the need to go here in an environment projected to be so ugly for fantasy.

The one in San Francisco isn't ugly, so Domantas Sabonis ($9,000) will continue to be a guy that I target. Including getting squashed in the chest, Sabonis' worrisome series won't continue forever. He shot 65.1% in the regular season versus 44.8% in the series thus far, and he's only dished five total assists after posting 7.58 per 36 minutes this season.

One of the reasons Embiid isn't that appealing is that Deandre Ayton ($6,800), Kevon Looney ($5,800), and Ivica Zubac ($5,800) are key value pieces that have encroached 30 minutes at center. Looney is particularly interesting; he averaged 37.7 FanDuel points per 36 with Draymond off the floor this season. He'll just need to avoid foul trouble.

Tobias Harris ($7,000) is the only other option up here that eclipsed 22 minutes of court time in Game 2, and I don't love his elevated salary. We'll use plenty of the power-forward-eligible wings at that spot tonight.