Tuesday, Nov. 9 brings three games on the main slate that tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET. Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. Do not forget to head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS home page for more great written daily fantasy basketball content.
NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Tuesday, Nov. 9
Yahoo Play of the Day — Giannis Antetokounmpo: Milwaukee Bucks at Philadelphia 76ers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 56.15 | DraftKings: 57.92
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 51.4% | FanDuel 62.2% | DraftKings 38.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $57 | FanDuel $11,300 | DraftKings $11,400
Tonight Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best building block across the board. Philadelphia is on a back-to-back while missing multiple starters and key reserves in the health and safety protocol. For the Bucks, Khris Middleton (health and safety), Brook Lopez (back) and Donte DiVincenzo (foot) remain out of action. Antetokounmpo is averaging 50-plus Yahoo points for a fifth straight season, and his 1.71 Yahoo points per minute are right in line with his first MVP season. The amazing thing about this is that he has posted a 51.3% success rate from the field and a 55% effective field goal rate. Both of these figures are by far his lowest in the last four seasons, which means he has readily available room for improvement.
This is the first night of a back-to-back for Milwaukee and they will head to New York after this game to face off against the Knicks on Wednesday in Madison Square Garden.
Paul George: Los Angeles Clippers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 48.48 | DraftKings: 51.58
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 33.6% | FanDuel 32% | DraftKings 24.9%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $49 | FanDuel $10,800 | DraftKings $10,500
Once again Paul George will be a major part of strategy for tonight’s NBA DFS action. He has been a recommended play in this article half a dozen times already this season, and he will continue to pop up going forward, likely as soon a Thursday when the Clippers host Miami on another three-game slate. Without Kawhi Leonard and, to a lesser extent, Marcus Morris, George is carrying quite a load for Los Angeles. He leads the team in points, rebounds, assists and steals and is tied with Reggie Jackson at 35.2 minutes per game. These averages, with the exception of minutes, are all career highs for George, who is posting an elite 1.41 Yahoo points per minute.
Andre Drummond: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Milwaukee Bucks
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 51.91 | DraftKings: 51.79
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 58.6% | FanDuel 58.1% | DraftKings 59.1%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $30 | FanDuel $7,200 | DraftKings $7,700
While this is a back-to-back game for Andre Drummond and he played 38 minutes last night, he had averaged just over 15 minutes per outing in the prior three games. In his two starts for Joel Embiid this season he is averaging 55.5 Yahoo points. The popular opinion from ill-informed DFS gamers is that Drummond is “old and dusty,” when in reality his counterpart Embiid is only five months younger. Drummond is averaging 1.38 Yahoo points per minute this season, which is right in line with his production over the last four seasons and higher than his first five seasons in the league. The current style of play, particularly in the playoffs, and the makeup of opposing rosters have rendered Drummond obsolete in high-leverage situations. During the regular season he will continue to be a phenomenal option when getting opportunities such as tonight. In the paint he will be going against Bobby Portis, Semi Ojeleye, Pat Connaughton and Giannis. The advantage there goes to the player who just recorded 25 rebounds a night ago.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Milwaukee Bucks
There is a chance that Matisse Thybulle and Isaiah Joe will return from the health and safety protocol, depending on their test results. Drummond was detailed above, and he is in play no matter what tonight. Danny Green missed a week with a strained hamstring, but he returned to his starting role last night and played 30 minutes. There is a chance he will be a late scratch or will see minutes in the 22 to 25 range.
Thybulle and Joe will impact the minutes ceiling for Tyrese Maxey, Seth Curry, Shake Milton and Furkan Korkmaz. If Thybulle and Joe are out, then the healthy backcourt players should get similar minutes tonight. For each player that returns to the lineup, reduce last night’s minutes by 7-10% as a proxy for their new baseline. Georges Niang will likely see 24 to 27 off the bench, while Harris remains out. This leaves Paul Reed as the biggest variable. One game removed from being in the starting lineup and getting 21.5 minutes, Reed came off the bench for only five minutes despite coach Doc Rivers only having eight players see action. If Reed is starting again, then he should get 14 to 15 minutes, though most will come in the first half. If he is coming off the bench again, then he is unplayable for everyone but those with high risk tolerance, as he could play between 5 and 20 minutes.
With so many injuries popping up throughout the day in the NBA, Adam Strangis has all the NBA injury report news in one place, tracking all of the breaking news on who is and who is out for starting lineups today in his Daily NBA Injury Report.
Atlanta Hawks at Utah Jazz
Atlanta lost to Golden State Monday, and tonight they are in Utah taking on the Jazz. Everyone except Lou Williams saw the court last night, so nobody ended up with extreme minutes. John Collins has been carrying a questionable tag for most of the season, so it will not be a complete shock if he is a late scratch. Similarly, one or two of the many wings could have a reduced workload, but unless someone is ruled out, it will be hard to trust anyone from Atlanta other than the starters.
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Coach Tyronn Lue seems to have an ever-shifting rotation strategy, similar to Doc Rivers. While Rivers tends to start different players depending on who is missing on any given night for Philadelphia, Lue generally has the same starters, but his bench rotations are all over the place. Terance Mann has been seeing heavy fourth quarter action, playing all but five minutes of the final frame in the last five games. Isaiah Hartenstein has been the direct backup for Ivica Zubac, and while Hartenstein has had his moments, the scale has tipped heavily in Zubac’s favor. Los Angeles has played Portland twice already this season, and in these games Lue has elected to have Zubac play the majority of the minutes when Jusuf Nurkic is on the court, while Hartenstein only had to deal with him for five minutes each game.
Luke Kennard is seeing significant minutes off the bench and is getting a fair amount in the fourth quarter, though not at the same level as Mann. Typically, Kennard is in for a combination of Bledsoe and Zubac, depending on the opposition’s closing lineup. Kennard should see upwards of 20 minutes tonight, and he is in play as a value option with Mann. Serge Ibaka returned and had eight minutes in the last game, though he will be cutting into Zubac and Hartenstein and not the wings. Ibaka and Justise Winslow are not going to see meaningful minutes in the foreseeable future and can safely be ignored for now.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Tuesday, Nov. 9 Slate
There will be several opportunities to take a stand against the masses tonight, though one does not need to go too crazy to make unique lineups, even with a player pool consisting of six teams. Any lineup without Drummond, George or Antetokounmpo is going to be moving off one of the most popular high-end options, and using that extra salary flexibility to create a more balanced build can make lineups different enough without being foolish. Keep in mind that salaries and scoring formats differ across the various fantasy sites, and a slam-dunk play on Yahoo may be a below-average NBA DFS pick on DraftKings or FanDuel.
