Russell Westbrook does not need a lot of playing time to make a big splash on the stat sheet
FantasyPros is proud to be taking part in FanDuel’s new Partners Basketball Championship. Each week from now until March 25, we’ll be posting our top five favorite plays on Wednesday’s and Friday’s to help you set your own lineup. All picks are chosen with FanDuel scoring in mind and you’ll find explanations below on how we came up with the players we’ve named.
Note: With last minute lineup changes, please be sure to read the latest news to make sure a player in the list below isn’t going to miss the contest.
DFS Lineup Tools:
I’ve listed three primary tools that we use to help come up with lineups each night. Each one has its purpose, but ultimately, these help build lineups quickly and efficiently while using a few key metrics to assist with narrowing down selections.
To start, the lineup optimizer is used to generate an initial lineup which we can then fine-tune. I then like to take a look at the matchup ratings to find games that could be high scoring affairs. Finally, the defense vs. position report allows me to quickly determine if I like the matchups at those specific positions, factoring in how many FanDuel points are typically allowed by a given team. If you’re short on time, take advantage of the tools below.
FantasyPros FanDuel Lineup Optimizer
Matchup Ratings Report
Defense vs. Position Report
Point Guard:
Russell Westbrook (OKC): $10,600 @ PHI
One thing you need to realize is even in a game where minutes could be limited due to a blowout, Westbrook is still capable of putting up big time points. You don’t even have to look too far back as evidenced by his 59 point FanDuel showing against Portland two games ago (played 28 minutes). He’s had back-to-back sub-30 minute games so he should be ready to go against a weak 76ers squad.
Shooting Guard:
DeMar DeRozan (TOR): $8,400 vs. BOS
If you’re worried about the second game of a back-to-back for Toronto, stop worrying. Yes, there is generally a concern for players being sluggish in a back-to-back, and in this case, possibly even more so with the Raptors playing an overtime game against the Pacers. This may sound like two strikes against any Raptors player, but DeRozan has had two strong games against Boston posting an average of 28.5 pts, 6 asts, and 4.5 reb. There’s a decent chance people will avoid DeRozan for these reasons along with the fact that Boston is a solid squad, but playoff seeding is still open with the Raptors only two games behind the Cavs. He’s a stud who could have low ownership in GPP play.
Small Forward:
LeBron James (CLE): $9,800 @ ORL
LeBron got his rest against the Mavs and now the Cavaliers need to continue winning to stay ahead of the Raptors. They’ll take on a beat-up Magic team with Kevin Love listed as a game-time decision and Kyrie Irving who is a bit under the weather as well. I’m expecting LeBron to carry the team making him a threat tonight to be a top producer on FanDuel.
Power Forward:
Tristan Thompson (CLE): $4,500 @ ORL
Thompson has put up a couple of clunkers now which will likely lead people to avoid him. One was against Utah who has Favors and Gobert to deal with. The other was their last game against Dallas where LeBron James was not playing which typically helps spread the floor and get Thompson easy opportunities. Orlando has been the third worst team against centers over the last seven games (missing Nicola Vucevic who will be out again) and Thompson plays the center position as much, if not more than he does the power forward role. With Kevin Love possibly sitting out, Thompson has nice upside at a low cost.
Center:
Enes Kanter (OKC): $5,300 @ PHI
If you want to spend money elsewhere, consider Kanter for your lineup. He’s had 4 double-doubles in his last six games and the lowly 76ers allow more points to centers than any other team. There’s a high probability that Kanter sees extended minutes with OKC being nearly 17 point favorites. It wouldn’t be surprising at all if he put up a 20/15 night.
