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Welcome, RotoBallers. We have a small five-game slate on tap tonight, which is a huge helper since we (still) have an abundance of COVID and injury concerns to wade through on a nightly basis in the NBA. The hardest-hit team on Saturday's main slate is undoubtedly the Utah Jazz, who currently have their top eight players (in terms of DK salary) listed as out for tonight's contest. We really won't know the status of those players until we hear news come out as the day moves along, so stay tuned in for that. It's also the second night of a back-to-back for the Jazz as well as the Bucks, and we get a rematch of the Evan Fournier Revenge Tour after he put up a career-high in points (41) against his former squad just two nights ago.
As with last night, we could see a ton of value open up on the Utah Jazz - and it may just all happen at the very last second as we saw with Rudy Gay being scratched minutes before the slate locked. The prices didn't move on the value plays (Whiteside, Forrest, Butler, House Jr., Hughes), so be ready to pivot to them in the event that we get some combination of Mitchell, Conley, Bogdanovic, Clarkson, Gay, Ingles, and O'Neale inactive again.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 1/8/22. Remember to monitor injury news as the slate can completely change before lineups lock. As always, feel free to follow my Twitter (@RING_DFS) - I post about a variety of things but mainly NBA DFS with my K-Rate and Positional K-Rate model. Instead of meticulously trying to comb through the rest of the myriad of injury and "health and safety protocols" issues in play, just be sure to check out our NBA Injury Roundup as well as NBA Player News for updated information.
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DraftKings and FanDuel Guards - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
LaMelo Ball - PG/SG, CHA vs. MIL ($9,500 DK, $8,600 FD)
I want a lot of this matchup as it rates out as the best on the slate (by a mile) in my model thanks to a high implied total (235 points), fast projected pace, and defenses that haven't been stout at preventing fantasy points from being scored. Giannis is my favorite stud to target on this slate, but Ball is an appealing way to run it back and get both stars in the same game as anchors of your DFS lineups. He went crazy with 64.25 DK points against the Bucks the last time they met back on 12/1, and while that might not be in the cards tonight, he's definitely capable of reaching the 50+ FPTS mark in this favorable matchup. The Bucks are allowing the 13th-most FPPG to opposing teams and the seventh-most FPPG to SG's over their last seven games.
Alec Burks - PG/SG/SF, NYK vs. BOS ($5,900 DK, $5,900 FD)
I really don't like targeting this game as a whole as it holds the lowest implied total and slowest projected pace on the slate, in addition to both teams being stingy in terms of fantasy points allowed. As a reminder, these teams just played on 1/6 and it was The Evan Fournier Show as the former-Celtic went off for 41 real-life points in a last-second victory at the Garden. I do see an opportunity to snag an affordable and potentially low-rostered Burks after his brutal game shooting the ball as he went just 1-for-10 from the field and scored three points against the C's. He still almost hit 5x value, though, as he wound up with 27.25 DK points thanks to nine rebounds, seven assists, and a steal. If he can get back on track from a scoring standpoint, he has a very good chance to hit 5-6x value at his current salary.
Fournier is questionable, so if he's out, I'd move Burks up even higher on the priority list (24.7% usage rate, 1.13 FPTS/min with Rose, Walker, and Fournier off the floor).
Cade Cunningham - PG/SG, DET vs. ORL ($8,300 DK, $6,700 FD) | Limit on DraftKings
Cunningham has been really streaky in his rookie season as he has had a tough time finding consistency with his shot. He holds a weak 38.6% FG% (31.8% 3PT%) and has gone 5-for-19 and 2-for-13 in two of his last four games. He has been able to make up for it with peripheral stats, but we're obviously looking for the 50+ FPTS upside that we've seen him put up when he's on his game. Usage-hog Jerami Grant remains out along with Kelly Olynyk and Frank Jackson, a split in which Cunningham leads the team with a 26.1% usage rate and 1.14 FPTS/min. The Magic are allowing the third-most FPPG to opposing teams this season, and they've struggled against PG's lately as they're giving up the 12th-most FPPG to the position over their last 15 games. I don't want a ton of exposure to him over on DraftKings at his price, but he's absolutely worth taking shots on over on the blue site tonight.
Others to consider: Immanuel Quickley ($4,200 DK), Killian Hayes ($3,400 DK, $3,900 FD), Donovan Mitchell ($8,200 FD)
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DraftKings and FanDuel Forwards - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Giannis Antetokounmpo - PF/C, MIL vs. CHA ($11,600 DK, $11,700 FD)
This is a no-brainer for me. Though it is a back-to-back for him, the former MVP only played 27 minutes against the Nets last night as the Bucks got a comfortable lead and held it the entire game. He still put up 52.25 DK points despite the limited minutes, so what do we think he can do in his typical 30+ minute role while playing in the game with the fastest pace and highest implied total (235 points) on the slate by far? Well, with Jrue Holiday and other core pieces (Hill, Lopez, Connaughton, DiVincenzo, Allen) off the floor, Giannis is averaging an eye-popping 39.9% usage rate and 2.09 fantasy points per minute. He has the highest ceiling on this slate by a mile, and it's even higher than it normally is due to the incredible matchup and the fact that the game should stay close throughout (CHA -1.5).
Bobby Portis - PF/C, MIL vs. CHA ($6,500 DK, $5,500 FD)
Yeah, we're going with Bucks at two forward positions. Portis crushed value last night with 44.4 FD points (47 DK points) and he remains way too cheap for his expected production, especially over on FanDuel. It should be noted that most of his production came in just the first half as he put up 20 points by halftime and the Bucks coasted to an easy win. With the six rotational Bucks players out, Portis is second on the team with a solid 1.23 fantasy points per mine rate and he's also averaging a 25.4% usage rate in the split. As mentioned in the Giannis blurb, this game environment is the best on the slate and prime for fantasy production. What makes playing Portis extra appealing, though, is how bad the Hornets are at defending bigs. They're allowing the third-most FPPG to opposing PF's and the most FPPG to opposing C's this season, and they give up the most rebounds per game to both positions. Portis has been a beast on the boards lately and throughout the season, snagging at least 12 rebounds in two of his last three and averaging 9.0 rebounds per game on the year. This all adds up to Portis crushing his price tag once again tonight.
Miles Bridges - SF/PF, CHA vs. IND ($7,300 DK, $8,000 FD)
Others to consider: Jordan Nwora ($5,000 DK), RJ Barrett ($6,000 DK, $5,800 FD), Royce O'Neale ($3,700 DK)
DraftKings and FanDuel Centers - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Hassan Whiteside - C, UTA vs. IND ($3,500 DK, $6,100 FD) | (Limit on FanDuel)
I took a stand last night in limiting my exposure to Whiteside over on FanDuel - where we can only play one center and he's more expensive - while deploying him heavily over on DraftKings due to his secure role and bargain-bin price tag. That worked out as he was a dud on FanDuel but exceeded value on DraftKings with 20.75 DK points in 30 minutes. I'm going to have the same stance on him again tonight as his price didn't budge on DraftKings and went up on FanDuel. We won't exactly know what's going to happen with the Jazz players until later on in the day, but we do know Rudy Gobert won't be suiting up and Whiteside will get around 30 minutes as the starting center. There's no data (outside of last night) for Whiteside's play with Utah's top eight players out, but he is averaging a solid 1.23 fantasy points per minute on the season and we can reasonably expect him to destroy his too-low salary on DraftKings tonight. The positional matchup is brutal as the Pacers are the best in the league at limiting fantasy production to C's, but the matchup as a whole rates out as the second-best on the slate.
Others to consider: P.J. Tucker ($4,000 DK), Omer Yurtseven ($6,600 DK, $6,800 FD), Isaiah Stewart ($4,800 DK, $5,200 FD), Mo Bamba ($5,500 DK)
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