I’ll admit it, early in the season I’m doing a lot of box score hunting and recency bias plays a part in my recommendations for the first week or two of the NBA season. That said, the primary stat I am hunting for in the box score is minutes. If production comes along with those minutes even better, but it is the minutes that I care about the most. So, for Friday night’s nine-game NBA DFS slate, you will see a lot of names of players that performed well in their first game and more importantly played big minutes.

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One Stud

Anthony Davis (PF/C – NO): $11,600 vs. SAC
The Pelicans took care of business in their opener by dismantling the Rockets in Houston. Davis was a monster with 32 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists while playing 39 minutes. On a slate that actually has a limited number of high-priced studs, I’m going straight to the top for Davis who can also fill the center position which I am not enamored with on Friday’s docket. The Pelicans have the highest Vegas implied team total on the slate in their matchup against the Kings who just allowed the Jazz to score 123 points in their opener.

Core Plays

Paul George (SF/PF – OKC): $8,700 @ LAC
Russell Westbrook didn’t play in the Thunder opener and is sounding doubtful to play on Friday night against the Clippers. Westbrook out means an instant lock-and-load of George who gets a big increase in usage and fantasy production when Westbrook is out. George played 37 minutes while putting up 27 points against the Warriors on Tuesday despite shooting just 9-of-23 from the field including a poor 4-of-12 from three-point range. In a little better matchup against the Clippers in a game that is expected to be close, look for George to build on those numbers assuming Westbrook is ruled out.