RADIO
We have a big ol' 12-game Friday night slate on tap in the NBA and I find myself pinch-hitting (to steal a baseball term and hooray baseball is back soon!) for my colleague Max Kulish today. I have played NBA DFS every day this season and I'm not about to stop now!
If you are reading this today, you're likely one of the die-hard NBA DFS grinders who will keep at it with me all the way through the playoffs. This is a huge slate so people are going to gravitate towards the top studs and values, but I am going to try to focus on some great plays from the mid-tier of pricing today here, too.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 3/18/22. Remember to monitor the NBA injury report as the slate can completely change before lineups lock. Good luck, RotoBallers!
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DraftKings and FanDuel Guards - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Dejounte Murray - PG/SG, SAS ($10,600 DK; $10,800 FD)
A little over a month ago, DJM dropped 31-7-12 on the Pelicans in a Spurs win and he's been lights out pretty much all season. There haven't been too many slates that I wasn't in on Murray with what he's been doing on the court this season and his ability to contribute across the board in nearly every category has made him an elite DFS play on a nightly basis.
This game between the Spurs and Pelicans has one of the higher totals on the board and should be an elite game environment for DFS. It's also projected to stay close, and I hope it does because if that happens then we get a full 35-36 minutes of Murray who has been an outstanding 1.5 FPPM player this season (that's Luka Doncic territory, people).
Marcus Smart - PG/SG, BOS ($6,100 DK; $6,100 FD)
Smart is a guy who is usually too cheap for his upside given his ability to rack up steals (worth 3 points each on Fanduel). These are the types of opponents I like to unleash Smart on - sloppy teams that play fast like the Kings. Smart has had three straight really good games and if he's going to score the ball well and post some big assist numbers, then I love his upside here at this price when you add in the potential steals. The Kings give up production across the board but have been beat up by ball-handlers a lot this season. I love Smart at this price and I think he gets overlooked as much of the mid-tier tends to be on big slates like tonight.
ALSO CONSIDER: Luka Doncic, Fred VanVleet, Jordan Clarkson
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DraftKings and FanDuel Forwards - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Kevin Durant - PF, BKN ($10,500 DK, $11,000 FD)
KD is likely a chalky play tonight, but it's hard not to love him here for a few reasons. For one, the Nets are without Kyrie Irving, who has been on fire lately and has limited KD's ceiling a bit in the process. Kyrie still can't play home games so KD will be the main focus of this offense and the Nets should have their way at home against a Blazers team that is rolling out Josh Hart and a bunch of G-league players on a nightly basis.
I'd anchor my cash game lineups around KD tonight and I think he has a solid ceiling, too, as the Nets have been known to let bad teams hang around fairly often this year.
Deni Avdija- SF/PF, WAS ($3,300 DK; $4,100 FD)
Don't look now but the young Washington swingman has been playing well again and is getting the minutes he needs to be fantasy-relevant. He's played 28 minutes off the bench in consecutive games and has been super productive with those minutes. I love his game and I think Washington is realizing they need to get him as much experience down the stretch as possible as he could be a key piece of their rotation going forward. He's simply way too cheap for his recent production.
Also consider: Jaylen Brown, Lauri Markkanen
DraftKings and FanDuel Centers - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Rudy Gobert - C, UTA ($7,400 DK; $7,800 FD)
Gobert is often underpriced it seems lately and stands out to me as an excellent play in the 7k range here. Take advantage of his mispricing by rostering him in a good matchup against the Clippers in a game that should be a competitive one since the Jazz are without Donovan Mitchell. Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson are going to be chalk city, but I like Gobert the most in terms of both his floor and ceiling.
You simply don't see players under 8k who average more than 40 fantasy points per game, but that's exactly what we have here with the "Stifle Tower." He's coming off a great outing against the Bulls in which he grabbed 20 boards and blocked four shots and I like his chances of a similar type of outing against Ivica Zubac and the Clippers tonight. In his only game against the Clippers this season he went 20-17-3 in only 27 minutes. Fire him with confidence in all formats!
Andre Drummond - C, BKN ($5,400 DK; $5,600 FD)
I don't love playing roulette with Drummond's minutes, but it's hard to ignore him at this price and in this matchup. We saw him go for 14 points and 17 boards against Dallas in only 21 minutes in his last game and 18-10 against the Knicks last week. Even with his minutes hovering in the mid-to-low '20s, Drummond is a DFS asset based on his 1.3 FPPM production. He should be able to feast on the weak interior of Portland and I won't be surprised if he posts another massive double-double without breaking much of a sweat.
Also consider: Nicolas Claxton, Goga Bitadze
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