Tuesday, March 29, brings a succinct five-game main slate beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel. Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks today for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. As always, you can head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS & Fantasy Basketball home page for all the fantasy basketball content you need for any given slate.
NBA DFS Picks: Fantasy Basketball Building Blocks Today | Tuesday, March 29
Yahoo Play of the Day — Joel Embiid: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Milwaukee Bucks
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 56.88 | DraftKings: 58.14
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 35.4% | FanDuel 29.8% | DraftKings 24.7%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $56 | FanDuel $11,200 | DraftKings $11,300
The top four teams in the Eastern Conference are currently separated by one game. Philadelphia and Milwaukee have identical records, along with Boston and this trio is one game behind Miami. The Heat and the Celtics each have six games remaining, while the 76ers and Bucks have eight apiece. This should keep things interesting as tonight is the rare time when a pairing from this quartet directly squares off.
Joel Embiid is currently the favorite to win his first NBA MVP Award this season at -200 while the reigning titleholder, Nikola Jokic, is second with +150 odds and Giannis Antetokounmpo rounds out the top three at +800 odds. Currently, Embiid is second in the scoring race with a career-high 29.9 points per game while also corralling 11.4 rebounds per outing, which ranks seventh, and the Cameroonian is ninth with 1.5 block shots per appearance. This year the 28-year-old has been on a mission over the latter portion of the season and he has played in 52 of the 76ers last 55 games. Anything less than 50 fantasy points tonight will be a disappointment.
Look to Embiid in this matchup against the Bucks in the NBA player prop market. Currently, he has a 45.5 over/under on his points+rebounds+assists prop, and the Awesemo NBA player projections have him for 48.2, which gives him a 68% probability of surpassing the over. On the season, Embiid is averaging 46.3 points+rebounds+assists.
Russell Westbrook: Los Angeles Lakers at Dallas Mavericks
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 38.43 | DraftKings: 40.9
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 38.8% | FanDuel 29.7% | DraftKings 31.1%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $30 | FanDuel $8,100 | DraftKings $8,800
Tonight it sounds like LeBron James will be getting the night off and the Lakers are willing to take a road loss to the Mavericks. They are still half-a-game ahead of San Antonio for the final Play-In Tournament berth, plus Anthony Davis seems to be getting closer to a return. Looking at the larger picture, there seem to be two things in play for Los Angeles down the stretch. First and foremost, it is all but certain that they will need to win two play-in games to advance to the playoffs, so finishing with the ninth- or 10th-best record is window dressing. Second, James is leading the league with 30 points per game and has a chance to win his second scoring title. Why not give the 37-year-old the night off against a slow-paced team in what would likely be a loss? The upside is that he should be more effective the next time he takes the court. On Friday, the Lakers will be hosting the Pelicans in a crucial game as these two teams are battling with the Spurs for the final two postseason tickets.
Across his last five games, Russell Westbrook is averaging 35.6 minutes, 16.4 field goal attempts, 21.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 1.0 steal and 0.2 blocks. Tonight he should be able to happily dominate the ball and flirt with 40 fantasy points based on volume alone. In this recent stretch, Westbrook has averaged 1.16 fantasy points per minute alongside LeBron and 1.32 when flying solo.
Chicago Bulls at Washington Wizards
Last night Chicago fell 109-104 to the Knickerbockers in New York. Tonight they are only 2.5-point favorites heading into the nation’s capital and it would not be a surprise to see Zach LaVine get the night off to rest his ailing knee after logging 36 minutes in the loss. While DeMar DeRozan tallied 41 minutes last night, he is a prime option in this matchup against the Wizards with only 10 teams in the player pool. Nikola Vucevic should be more than the Washington frontcourt can handle and he should be in line for 20 or more points with double-digit rebounds. Alex Caruso, Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White would be the biggest beneficiaries for minutes and opportunities if LaVine sits. The Bulls have tightened up their rotation to essentially eight players, so Tristan Thompson, Patrick Williams and Troy Brown Jr. are in the mix with the thin tournament player pool.
Washington will be without Kyle Kuzma once again, so Kristaps Porzingis should continue to see heavy usage while playing 30-32 minutes. On Yahoo, Rui Hachimura ($10) and Corey Kispert ($11) are intriguing plays and they are viable tournament targets across the other NBA DFS sites. Tomas Satoransky is worthy of consideration as long as he stays in the starting lineup. Deni Avdija and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have been tasked with providing long-range scoring and either is capable of flirting with 30 fantasy points if their shot is finding the mark. Stay away from Raulzinho Neto, who has not seen action in the last two games after losing his starting gig to Satoransky.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Tuesday, March 29 Fantasy Basketball Slate
Tonight brings a split-slate with four of the five games tipping off in the first 30 minutes. This will bring a flurry of action prior to the doldrums setting in during the ensuing wait for the lone 10 p.m. ET nightcap between the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers. There is a chance the Paul George will make his return tonight, and while it will be tough to trust him as a fantasy option, he will dampen the prospects of his teammates depending on his playing time.
