NBA DFS action on Tuesday, Feb. 2, locks at 7:00 p.m. EST with a scintillating six-game main slate. Before you lock in your lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo and SuperDraft, make sure to check out Awesemo’s daily fantasy basketball rankings and projections. Let’s dig into some daily fantasy basketball picks, including Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook and more.
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Awesemo’s NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks
Yahoo Play of the Day – Russell Westbrook: Washington Wizards vs. Portland Trail Blazers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 49.15 | DraftKings: 52.3
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 27.2% | FanDuel 15.1% | DraftKings 21.7%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $41 | FanDuel $10,000 | DraftKings $9,100
For years Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard have loved squaring off against each other. Washington plays again tomorrow, and coach Scott Brooks has indicated several times that he does not plan to play Westbrook on consecutive days. Since the Wizards have resumed playing games after missing nearly two weeks for health-and-safety protocols, we have seen Westbrook’s minutes trend upwards. It is important to remember that he was dealing with a quad injury and likely was going to miss all of those game regardless. Westbrook had a season-high 41 points on Saturday against his old friend Kevin Durant. More importantly was that he played 35 minutes.
In his last eight regular-season meetings with Lillard — four with Houston and four with Oklahoma City — Westbrook topped 60 Yahoo fantasy points four times, 50 twice, and his two worst games were 40.1 and 41.9. That is no indicator of what will happen tonight, but this game does have a 240.5 projected point total.
Damian Lillard: Portland Trail Blazers at Washington Wizards
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 53.79 | DraftKings: 57.38
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 26.6% | FanDuel 34.7% | DraftKings 18.2%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $49 | FanDuel $10,200 | DraftKings $10,700
In honor of Groundhog’s Day, I will once again be recommending Damian Lillard as a core building block. It is really because this is a phenomenal matchup against a Washington squad that plays at the fastest pace in the league and the third-worst defensive efficiency. As referenced above, Lillard has said in many interviews that his favorite nemesis/rival to play against is Westbrook.
Over his last eight regular-season meetings with Westbrook, he has a game with 70 Yahoo fantasy points, one with 60 fantasy points, two with more than 50 and two with more than 45. In his worst two games he had 32.7 and 37 fantasy points. It is worth noting that C.J. McCollum started alongside Lillard in both of those tilts. Last night Lillard played only 27 minutes, so even though this will be his third game in four days and fourth in seven, I am not overly concerned, as he is unlikely to be expending any energy on defense.
Paul George: Los Angeles Clippers at Brooklyn Nets
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 42.94 | DraftKings: 44.64
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 24.0% | FanDuel 29.0% | DraftKings 9.0%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $36 | FanDuel $8,400 | DraftKings $8,900
Somehow the Blazers – Wizards game has only the second-highest projected point total on Tuesday. That is because the Clippers and Nets have a 242.5-point total. Just let that sink in for a moment. On Saturday in Washington, Brooklyn lost 149-146 in a game without James Harden.
In their last 10 games, Brooklyn is allowing 118.0 points per 100 possessions, behind only the Kings and Blazers. Tossing out a game where the Nets mauled a short-handed Heat squad, they have allowed an average of 130 points per game in their last eight battles. This price is slightly better on Paul George than teammate Kawhi Leonard, though both are very much in play tonight.
Good Value
Nikola Vucevic: Orlando Magic vs. Toronto Raptors
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 48.02 | DraftKings: 49.66
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 43.6% | FanDuel 40.3% | DraftKings 44.7%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $39 | FanDuel $8,800 | DraftKings $8,200
There will be a plethora of discount dandies we can choose from tonight, and it varies by site based on projections, popularity, pricing and position requirements. Instead let’s take a look at the most popular option across the board in Nikola Vucevic. Aaron Gordon is going miss the next month or two with a sprained ankle. This is a major blow for a team that already lost Markelle Fultz.
Using NBA WOWY, we can see that Vucevic averages 1.31 Yahoo fantasy points with Gordon and 1.35 without him on the court. However, his opportunities go up with a significant increase in both his assists and rebounding rate. This provides a secure floor, and there is a very real possibility of 50 fantasy points.
Kevon Looney: Golden State Warriors at Boston Celtics
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 20.1 | DraftKings: 19.49
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo <1.0%% | FanDuel 2.7% | DraftKings 10.1%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $10 | FanDuel $3,900 | DraftKings $3,400
James Wiseman is going to miss the next week or so with a sprained wrist. Kevon Looney had replaced him in the starting lineups, so I would expect to see Looney with another 4-5 minutes and Eric Paschall picking up the remaining 12-ish minutes in place of Wiseman. Looney is not an overly exciting play since it costs us a center slot, but he should be a threat for around 20 fantasy points, and a double-double is in play. Over the last two seasons, he has averaged 0.85 Yahoo fantasy points per minute. Paschall has seen similar production, so it just becomes a question of how we project the minutes and what roster requirements we need to fill. Neither player is likely to break the slate, but they are less likely to torpedo our squads than Nassir Little.
Risky Value
Nassir Little: Portland Trail Blazers at Washington Wizards
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 14.14 | DraftKings: 14.16
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 3.6% | FanDuel 11.3% | DraftKings 22.8%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $10 | FanDuel $3,500 | DraftKings $3,100
Last night Little had a career-high 30 fantasy points in his second straight start for Portland in 29.7 minutes. A few things we should know: In his start on Saturday, he played 13.6 minutes with 11.6 Yahoo fantasy points. In his career he is averaging 0.70 fantasy points per minute.
Portland was getting crushed last night in Milwaukee, so coach Terry Stotts wisely chose to ease off on his core players, with only Gary Trent Jr and Carmelo Anthony seeing action in the final frame. Little was one of the main beneficiaries of this decision, as he seems to be only seeing action when Anthony is not on the court. While Portland is very shorthanded, three games ago Little saw just four minutes before coach Stotts opted to move him into the starting lineup and bring Anthony off the bench for a more even distribution of the few healthy offensive options the Blazers still have. Just know that while the price and matchup are enticing, there is no certainty beyond 13-15 minutes for Little even if he draws a third straight start.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies
- De’Anthony Melton: MEM at IND – $11
- Aron Baynes: TOR at ORL – $10
- Kevon Looney and Eric Paschall: GSW at BOS – $10
SuperDraft Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks
- Enes Kanter: POR at WAS – 1.85x multiplier
- Damian Lillard: POR at WAS – 1.20x multiplier
- Paul George: LAC at BKN – 1.25x multiplier
Final Thoughts on the Tuesday, Feb. 2 NBA DFS Slate
Depending on the Detroit Covid-19 testing result, we could see another wild evening with last minute scratches. 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 option on DraftKings or FanDuel.
