Sunday, Jan. 19 has a quick two-game main slate for all the big daily fantasy sites. Before you lock in your NBA DFS lineups and NBA DFS picks on DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo and FantasyDraft, make sure to check out check out Awesemo’s NBA DFS rankings and projections. Let’s dig into some NBA DFS Picks, including Damian Lillard, Carmelo Anthony, Anfernee Simons and more.
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Check out today’s special Conference Championship NFL Live Before Lock at 2pm ET
Get ready for NFL Sunday with the Championship Weekend Baller for your NFL DFS picks and analysis.
NBA DFS Picks: Prime Time Players
Nikola Jokic: Denver Nuggets vs. Indiana Pacers
DraftKings $9,600, FanDuel $10,000, Yahoo $42 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings TBA%, FanDuel TBA% Yahoo Fantasy TBA%
All eyes will be on the NFL Conference Championship games today, but we still have some NBA action. This is pretty straightforward today anointing Nikola Jokic as our prime time player. Paul Millsap, Gary Harris and Jamal Murray are all out, so this is going to force Jokic into taking the field goal attempts that his fantasy backers want to see.
Since the beginning of December, Jokic has played in 24 games with 31.8 minutes and 47.5 fantasy points on average. In the eight games where he has attempted at least 19 field goals, his production increased to 55.5 fantasy points per game. In full disclosure, he has averaged 34.5 minutes in those games, but that is a fair baseline for today considering how much production is going to need to be accounted for with all of the injuries.
NBA DFS Picks: Good Value
Will Barton: Denver Nuggets vs. Indiana Pacers
DraftKings $7,600, FanDuel $6,600, Yahoo $26 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings TBA%, FanDuel TBA% Yahoo Fantasy TBA%
10-year veteran Will Barton has continued to provide a well-rounded game for the Nuggets. His per-36 figures are all in line with some of his better campaigns and he is the second-best facilitator on the team behind Jokic with the injuries to Murray and Harris. The FanDuel and Yahoo prices are too good to pass on, with DraftKings and FantasyDraft still putting him among the better building blocks today. With Millsap, Harris and Murray off the court, he sees a 10% increase in his production.
Yahoo Fantasy Discount Dandies
Malik Beasley vs. IND – $10
Monte Morris vs. IND – $12
Michael Porter Jr vs. IND – $15
Duncan Robinson at SAS – $10
Patty Mills vs. MIA – $10
NBA DFS Picks: Risky Value
Dejounte Murray: San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat
DraftKings $5,400, FanDuel $5,500, Yahoo $20 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings TBA%, FanDuel TBA% Yahoo Fantasy TBA%
This cautionary tale did not go my way on Friday when Dejounte Murray had a 90th percentile outcome against Atlanta. He was stellar including season highs with 32.9 minutes and a dozen rebounds. All told, he topped 40 fantasy points for the first time in more than two months. Murray and Derrick White only shared the court for three minutes and we know if White has the hot hand, coach Gregg Popovich will give him extra minutes at the expense of Murray.
This is a tough matchup which we saw play out in Miami on Wednesday with Murray playing 25.7 minutes posting four points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal for 18.3 fantasy points. He is also dealing with an illness, so be careful if you are enamored with Friday’s outstanding fantasy performance. The Spurs also play tomorrow so this is Game 2 of a three games in four days stretch.
FantasyCruncher Tip of the Day
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Today’s highlighted feature is the ability to limit players with multi-position eligibility to just one position. This is accomplished by using the drop-down in the “Position” column that appears for any player that is eligible at more than one position.
Final Thoughts
With just two games on tap today and NFL action as well, it may be a good time to keep your powder dry for tomorrow’s holiday slate with six games at 5 p.m. EST and another five tipping off at 7:30 p.m. EST. There will be double Live Before Lock shows tomorrow leading up to the tip-off for each slate on the Awesemo YouTube, Twitch and Periscope channels. Plus, we will have the NBA Strategy Show at 9:30 a.m. EST and of course, the Deeper Dive at 5:30 p.m. EST.
As always, you can reach out to me in Awesemo.com Premium Slack or on Twitter @EMacDFS if you have any NBA DFS questions about DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo or FantasyDraft.
Good Luck, NBA DFS Gamers! ~ EMac
If you haven’t signed up for Yahoo Fantasy DFS, click this link and use the promo code Awesemo when making your first deposit and you will be eligible for $30 of free play, which Yahoo will match through the first $30 of your deposit (this bonus will be received in Yahoo Sports Rewards Points, aka YSRP, which can be used to enter any paid contest immediately).
