After every team in the association received Christmas Eve off, Christmas Day gifts us an appealing five-game slate. The main slate has an earlier lock than usual, with the first-tip set for noon EST. Keep that in mind when setting your lineups. The games are also staggered one after another, which can make for interesting strategy decisions in terms of what game environments to target and where the majority of your exposure should lie. Enough small talk, though. Let’s go ahead and dig into the meat and potatoes of this thing. Merry Christmas, and good luck!

Schedule and Odds

• PHI (-2.5) @ NY (+2.5) O/U: 217.5
• LAL (+8) @ DAL (-8) O/U: 229.5
• MIL (+5) @ BOS (-5) O/U: 225
• MEM (-6.5) @ GS (+6.5) O/U: 229
• PHX (+4.5) @ DEN (-4.5) O/U: 230

Check out our consensus game odds as well as the odds from each sportsbook at BettingPros

Injury Report

• Anthony Davis (foot) OUT
• Seth Curry (shoulder) OUT
• LeBron James (ankle) Probable
• Devin Booker (groin) Questionable
• Tyrese Maxey (foot) OUT
• Andrew Wiggins (groin) OUT
• Jamal Murray (foot) Probable
• Khris Middleton (knee) Doubtful
• Kemba Walker (knee) OUT
• Marcus Smart (hip) Probable
• Draymond Green (foot) Questionable
• Cameron Johnson (knee) OUT
• Cameron Payne (foot) OUT
• Dorian Finney-Smith (hip) OUT
• Maxi Kleber (hamstring) OUT
• JaMychal Green (illness) OUT
• Josh Green (elbow) OUT
• Jeff Green (finger) OUT
• Obi Toppin (knee) OUT
• Jaden Hardy (back) Questionable
• Juan Toscano-Anderson (ankle) OUT
• Zeke Nnaji (finger) Probable
• Collin Gillespie (lower leg) OUT
• Andre Iguodala (hip) OUT

Core Plays

Luka Doncic (PG/SG – DAL): $12,500 DraftKings, $11,800 FanDuel

Superstars have a knack for putting up monster numbers on Christmas Day. Luka will be in an excellent spot to follow the trend going up against a Lakers team that plays at a top-ten pace and has been awful against point guards this season. Things won’t get any easier having to defend arguably the best scoring guard in the NBA without their best interior defender in Anthony Davis (foot). After showing off his incredible ceiling by dropping 82 DK points on Friday against the Rockets, I’m willing to bet Luka has another slate-breaking game left in the tank.

Nikola Jokic (C – DEN): $12,000 DraftKings, $12,200 FanDuel

This five-game slate brings us a multitude of pay-up options to choose from, and getting that piece to the puzzle correct will be crucial. I’ll take my chance paying up for the reigning two-time MVP. Jokic has become the gold standard for fantasy hoops as he somehow takes his game to another level every time he steps on the court. To put things in perspective, he’s averaging 65.74 DK points through ten games during December, yielding 1.86 DraftKings points per minute. In three of those games, he went for over 80 DraftKings points. Jokic is like the gift that keeps on giving. I have no problem paying a premium for his type of production.

Cash Game Considerations

LeBron James (SF/PF – LAL)-$10,500 DraftKings, $11,000 FanDuel

LeBron is another player with a five-figure salary worth getting exposure to in all formats. He’s one of the better values in terms of points per dollar, and his consistency, combined with his 33.1% usage rate, makes him one heck of a cash game option. LeBron has scored 30 or more raw points and at least 51 DK points in six consecutive games. As the NBA’s all-time leading scorer on Christmas Day, look for the King to add to his impressive numbers.

Jaren Jackson Jr. (PF/C – MEM): $6,600 DraftKings, $7,600 FanDuel

Triple-J is at an appealing price point, and given his matchup, he could end up being one of the top plays on the entire slate. The Warriors struggle to protect the rim and carry a bottom-five defensive rating (114.1). However, this is also one of the better fantasy environments, with both teams landing in the top 6 in pace. The one concern is whether or not the Warriors will be able to hang around long enough to keep this game competitive. However, Jackson is well over a fantasy point-per-minute player on the year, and he’s shown the ability to put up fantasy points in bunches, even in limited action.

GPP Targets

Julius Randle (PF/C – NY): $9,100 DraftKings, $9,200 FanDuel

Randle has been playing lights out lately, dropping six consecutive double-doubles. His salary on DraftKings and FanDuel is one of the better price points you’ll find on the slate. This game does have the lowest implied total, so Randle may not be as popular of a play. However, while he may not have the ceiling of some of the more expensive options, he has the skillset to churn out similar production at a discounted price. Randle is one of my favorite bargains on this five-game slate.

Jayson Tatum (SF/PF – BOS): $10,900 DraftKings, $10,800 FanDuel

After jumping out as the front-runner in the MVP race, Tatum has somewhat cooled off. Over the last four games, though, the young superstar is starting to heat back up. Tatum has dropped 30 or more points in his previous four games and went for over forty in two. Milwaukee taking on Boston on their home court should be an electric game environment and certainly one I want to target for DFS. While Giannis will be the preferred option to roster from this game, I like Tatum as a viable pivot. He has a similar upside but is available at a substantial discount.

Value Plays

Thomas Bryant (C – LAL): $5,600 DraftKings, $6,100 FanDuel

Bryant will undoubtedly be a popular value option on Christmas Day, but for a good reason. The big man has given the Lakers fantastic production following the injury to Anthony Davis (foot). He’s scored 15 or more points in four of the five games and has returned at least four times the return on investment in all of them. His salary is rising as a result, but he’s still too cheap, especially on DraftKings.

Brandon Clarke (PF/C – MEM): $4,400 DraftKings, $4,900 FanDuel

With the amount of star power we have available on this slate, finding productive sources of value will be essential. Clarke is one of my favorite players to target for some salary relief. He’s coming off his best game of the season, where he tallied 24 points and 10 rebounds against the Suns. One of my favorite things about Brandon Clarke is that his value doesn’t ultimately rely on scoring. However, he’s scored in double figures in every game during December. Going up against the Warriors, who allow the seventh most rebounds to opponents, Clarke should have little trouble paying off a sub-5K salary.

As we wrap things up, I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays! Good luck in your contests, and if you enjoy the content, please give me a follow on Twitter at @ev_ritt3. Any and all support is greatly appreciated.

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