Happy New Year’s Eve! It’s a day full of reminiscing about the past and hope for the future. Hopefully you have some great DFS victories to reflect on from the past year. Tomorrow brings new hope of DFS success, but before we get there, we still have one more chance in 2018 to profit!
There are a couple different slates available today as games begin at 3:00 pm EST. My focus will remain on the main slate, however, and players listed in this article will be chosen from that slot. It’s a modest five-game main slate tonight and there won’t be a ton of variance so choosing the right mix of value, upside, stability will be even more impactful. My focus of this article is to highlight the players that give the best opportunity for you to end 2018 in the green one final time. This article is not meant as a roster construction model, but more of a guide to help if you’re in between a couple players and can’t decide. These players are ones chosen as a result of matchup, statistical evidence and recent play which I will outline in the descriptions. Each position will have two players listed with the exception of center, which will have one. It is vital you stay up-to-date with late scratches and injury news so keep that in mind as your building your lineup. Take the players listed below into consideration and trust your gut. As always I wish you good luck on ending 2018 in the green!
Check out today’s NBA Slam from FanDuel 
Happy New Year’s Eve! It’s a day full of reminiscing about the past and hope for the future. Hopefully you have some great DFS victories to reflect on from the past year. Tomorrow brings new hope of DFS success, but before we get there, we still have one more chance in 2018 to profit!
There are a couple different slates available today as games begin at 3:00 pm EST. My focus will remain on the main slate, however, and players listed in this article will be chosen from that slot. It’s a modest five-game main slate tonight and there won’t be a ton of variance so choosing the right mix of value, upside, stability will be even more impactful. My focus of this article is to highlight the players that give the best opportunity for you to end 2018 in the green one final time. This article is not meant as a roster construction model, but more of a guide to help if you’re in between a couple players and can’t decide. These players are ones chosen as a result of matchup, statistical evidence and recent play which I will outline in the descriptions. Each position will have two players listed with the exception of center, which will have one. It is vital you stay up-to-date with late scratches and injury news so keep that in mind as your building your lineup. Take the players listed below into consideration and trust your gut. As always I wish you good luck on ending 2018 in the green!
Check out today’s NBA Slam from FanDuel
Point Guard
Kyrie Irving (BOS): $9,400 @ SAS
Point guard is a position you may want to consider paying up at since it’s not very deep tonight. Kyrie Irving offers a good opportunity to get good value out of the top tier of point guards. While the Spurs do rank 13th against point guards, and the game will be a pace-down matchup, the over/under is still set at a healthy 218 points, with a spread of 1.5 points. This indicates the game will be close in the end, which also means Irving will dominate the usage at the end of the game. Irving is already the team leader amongst the starters in usage at 28.3 percent, almost a full seven percent clear of second on the team (Jayson Tatum at 21.6 percent). In fourth quarters of games this season Irving’s usage rate increases by just over three percent (31.7), which is nine percent clear of the next player (Marcus Morris 22.3 percent). It’s very clear he is the closer and dominates the ball in the fourth quarter giving him a DFS bump in what should be a close game. He’s also been playing very well of late posting at least 49 FanDuel (FD) points in three straight games. He’ll need to clear 47 FD points tonight to hit 5x value and I’m giving him the edge due to recent play and his late game usage in close contests, as it should be tonight.
Derrick White (SAS): $4,900 vs. BOS
Sticking with the Spurs/Celtics game, Derrick White is a candidate for a solid value play tonight. White has strung together a number of solid games in a row now posting at least 20 FD points in four straight games and five of the last seven games. He’s a bit of a jack-of-all-trades kind of guard who can find fantasy production a number of ways. He’s not a high usage player ranking fifth on the team, but he does contribute in all statistical categories which buoys his fantasy floor. He’s coming into the game tonight against Boston on the back of back-to-back double-digit scoring performances adding at least six rebounds in both games and recording multiple steals. Over his last six games, he’s averaged eight points, four assists, three rebounds, one steal and one block per game. While none of those are eye-popping it just goes to show he can produce a number of different ways. While he can be a bit of a risky proposition he does provide a stable floor along with a 30+ FD point ceiling. He seems more comfortable in his defined role as start now, and his production has reflected that lately. It’s a good opportunity for solid value.
Shooting Guard
Austin Rivers (HOU): $3,800 vs. MEM
Austin Rivers will draw the start tonight due to injuries to Chris Paul and Eric Gordon which will give him a solid opportunity to provide great value. Rivers has produced averages of 10 points, three assists and three rebounds per game over the past three games in which he’s played at least 30 minutes which should be attainable tonight as well. At such a low salary he’d need just 19 FD points to get to 5x value and would allow you to spend up at other positions. Memphis does rank 10th against the position and the over/under is set at a low 201, but any time a player sees 30 minutes of action with a salary below $4,000 it’s worth a look. I like Rivers’ upside for assist totals playing alongside James Harden and could find himself some open shots as Memphis keys in to stop Harden.
Dennis Schroder (OKC): $5,800 vs. DAL
Dennis Schroder finds his way in this list due to his matchup and his recent play. Oklahoma City gets a Dallas team that ranks 25th against shooting guards which is good news for Schroder, especially in a game that sports an attractive 225.5 over/under. Schroder is a pure scorer who is not shy of getting shots up so the higher the over/under the better for him. He’s scored in double-figures in five straight games, including totals of 19 and 20 and his last two games respectively. He just got done touching Dallas up for a 19 point, four rebound, and three assist stat line resulting in 33 FD points last night. Earlier in the season (November 10), he posted a stat line of 19 points, six rebounds and three assists against this same Mavs team. It’s clear the Mavs have a hard time handling his scoring ability so expect a similar stat line this evening.
Small Forward
Kevin Durant (GSW): $10,500 @ PHO
Kevin Durant gets a soft matchup this evening as the Warriors take on the Suns. He’ll be the first superstar I plug into my lineups tonight. Phoenix ranks 18th against the position and in a game that sports a 228 over/under it’s tough to pass on the Warriors leader in usage rate (36.2 percent). This game does also have a 10 point spread indicating it could get out of hand fairly quickly, but this wouldn’t impact Durant’s production too much because he is still the team leader in usage for the first half of games this season at 30.2 percent. He’s also been playing well of late exceeding the 50 point FD barrier three times in the past five games and he hasn’t scored less than 20 points since December 7. He’s also recorded three double-doubles in the same stretch of five games. Durant is a solid choice because of his high floor and high ceiling for tonight’s matchup. He carries high potential for a double-double against a Suns team that likes to get up and down.
Mikal Bridges (PHO): $4,700 vs. GSW
Sticking with this matchup with the high implied total of 228 points, Mikal Bridges will look to take advantage as well. Golden State ranks just 24th against other small forwards, which leaves the door open for the promising young Suns forward. Bridges has been seeing a lot of court time lately averaging 34 minutes per game over his last eight games. He’s also seen his usage rate stay in double-digits now in three straight games heading into tonight so he is trending in the right direction. Given the matchup and the point totals, tonight has the right mix for him to continue that streak of usage. His reasonable salary also makes him easy to take a chance on, needing just 23.5 FD points to get 5x value. He’s exceeded that total in three of the past four games, including a 34 FD point total against the Thunder on December 28. I like his upside tonight due to matchup, recent play, and bargain price.
Power Forward
Anthony Davis (NOR): $12,700 vs. MIN
Tonight Anthony Davis draws a matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves who he torched for a 29 point, 11 rebound, and four block performance against on November 14. Minnesota ranks 17th against the position, but more importantly, this matchup offers the evening’s highest implied total at 229.5 indicating there will be a ton of points to go around. Davis leads the Pelicans in usage rate at 28.4 percent so it’s never a bad thing to find a way to work in the player that leads his team in usage in a game that offers the highest implied total of the night. It’s also a perfect bounce-back opportunity for Davis who struggled a little bit against Houston on Saturday scoring 22 points on just 13 shot attempts, which were his lowest totals since December 9. That could be explained a little bit however as it was the second leg of a back-to-back. Outside of Saturday’s game, he had strung together four straight games of 60+ FD Points, including an 85 FD point outburst against Dallas on Friday. He will come into tonight’s matchup rested and ready to go and should get strong consideration for your lineup even at his inflated salary.
Dario Saric (MIN): $4,400 @ NOR
There are a few value type options for power forward on the main slate this evening and it really is a dart throw to identify which one gives the best chance of panning out. I’ve chosen Dario Saric however as his floor seems a bit safer than that of a Josh Jackson or a Taj Gibson. New Orleans does rank just 21st against the position so there is some opportunity for success, also it’s a good opportunity to grab value in the game with the evening’s highest implied total. To give Saric his due he has seen a dramatic improvement in his usage rate over the past five games finishing three of those games with 20+ percent. This is a sign he’s becoming more comfortable with the players around him and his role with the team as the Wolves sixth man. He’s always had scoring ability and has shown that recently scoring in double-figures in three of the past four games. In the month of December, he has posted averages of 11 points, five rebounds per game. Saric finds himself in this list due to the matchup and high floor at a value price.
Center
Julius Randle (NOR): $8,300 vs. MIN
Julius Randle is set to draw another start in the absence of Nikola Mirotic, which makes Randle enticing as another piece in the game with the highest implied total of the night. He’s enjoyed a successful December posting averages of 22 points, 10 rebounds and two assists per game on 50+ percent shooting from the field. He’s also posted back-to-back double-doubles against the Rockets and Mavericks. Randle will see plenty of opportunity tonight as he’s logged 30+ minutes of action in seven straight games as well as averaging 16 shot attempts per game over that same span. As a player who already carries double-double upside on a nightly basis tonight, he should see more opportunities both in playing time and possession-wise.
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Chris Berg is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @bergey13.
