High-Upside NBA Daily Fantasy Picks for DraftKings & FanDuel Lineups Tonight | 4/8/22

For the last Friday night of the NBA regular season, DFS players get a nine-game slate to attack this evening. With many teams locked into their playoff position or eliminated from the postseason, be sure to watch the Awesemo NBA Starting Lineups page closely for updates on each team before making NBA picks today. Here are some NBA daily fantasy basketball picks that stand out for tonight’s slate using Awesemo’s NBA DFS Boom/Bust Tool and NBA DFS projections.

Boom/Bust NBA Daily Fantasy Projections & Picks Today

Boom: Jaylen Hoard: $5,600 DraftKings/$6,000

76% DraftKings Boom/67% FanDuel Boom

The Thunder are currently tanking and letting their younger core handle all the minutes as the regular season comes to a close. Only nine players have seen the floor in their last two games, and Hoard has been Oklahoma City’s starting power forward in these games. First he exploded for a massive double-double of 61.8 DraftKings points against the Trail Blazers. Then he responded with 39.8 DraftKings points against the Jazz in the following game. Howard has seen at least 36 minutes in each of these two starts and should continue to garner a massive workload tonight, assuming Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault does not make a surprise lineup change and moves Hoard back to the bench, which is unlikely.

He is contributing 1.1 DraftKings points per minute this season and has received a 22.2% usage rate as a starter in these past two games. Awesemo projects Hoard for 35 minutes tonight when the Thunder visit the Lakers, who have also called it a year and are expected to sit their best players. With LeBron James (ankle), Russell Westbrook (shoulder) and Anthony Davis (foot) inactive last night, which is expected to be the case again tonight, the depleted Lakers gave up 128 points to the Warriors. Tonight’s game sports a total of 228 points and Hoard brings a ceiling near 50 fantasy points in this spot according to Awesemo’s NBA DFS Boom/Bust Tool. He is vastly underpriced for this type of upside on both DraftKings and FanDuel and owns a top-three boom score on the slate for both sites.

Boom: Talen Horton-Tucker: $3,800 DraftKings/$4,000 FanDuel

84% DraftKings Boom/81% FanDuel Boom

On the other side of this matchup between lottery teams, Horton-Tucker is a must-play in the likely event the Lakers sit their big three again. With James, Davis and Westbrook unavailable last night, Horton-Tucker saw a featured role and flourished as the Lakers’ starting point guard. Leading the team with 37 minutes and a massive 37.4% usage rate, Horton-Tucker finished with a career-best 56.3 DraftKings points in a brutal spot against a Warriors’ club that ranks second in defensive efficiency and was still playing to secure the No. 3 seed in the West.

Tonight’s matchup against the tanking Thunder is obviously a huge upgrade and after his career showing last night, Horton-Tucker should remain the Lakers’ alpha and see an immense role Friday. In a sample of 404 minutes, he is averaging 0.9 DraftKings points per minute with the Lakers big three of the floor this season. Horton-Tucker should destroy his low salaries for possibly over 10-times value tonight and based on boom score, he is the No. 1 option on the slate for both DraftKings and FanDuel in Awesemo’s NBA DFS Boom/Bust Tool.


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Boom: Kevin Durant: $11,600 DraftKings/$11,700 FanDuel

22% DraftKings Boom/19% FanDuel Boom

Tonight’s meeting between the Nets and Cavaliers is the most important on the schedule for seeding purposes. Cleveland is only one game ahead of Brooklyn for the No. 7 seed. If the Nets win tonight, they will leapfrog the Cavaliers in the standings, given this victory would give them the tiebreaker between the two teams. Securing the No. 7 seed is critical, as it would give that club homecourt for the play-in tournament.

Both the Nets and Cavs should treat this as a must-win and Durant should dominate in this playoff-like atmosphere. With the Nets pursuing a higher seed, Durant has logged 41.2 minutes per game across his last five starts and has surpassed 70 DraftKings points in three of these games. With a team-high 31.6% usage rate, Durant is producing 1.4 DraftKings points per minute this season and this Cavs’ defense he is facing has struggled as of late, ranking 22nd in defensive rating over their last 10 games. Of the 18 clubs competing tonight, no team presents a higher implied team total than Brooklyn’s at 120.5 points and this game ranks second on the slate at 232.5 points. Durant should score nothing less than 60 fantasy points tonight and is the best stud to build around with so much on the line.

Boom: Deni Avdija: $5,400 DraftKings/$5,000 FanDuel

36% DraftKings Boom/36% FanDuel Boom

Avdija is far too cheap for his upside with the Wizards being so shorthanded. Bradley Beal (wrist) is done for the season, Kyle Kuzma (knee) will miss his 14th straight game and both Kristaps Porzingis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will be rested tonight. Washington has not played a game with these four players inactive this season, but in this situation, Avdija should enter the starting lineup and be forced to play huge minutes.

While his matchup is not the greatest going against a Knicks defense that ranks 10th in efficiency, Awesemo is projecting Avdija for 33 minutes tonight, giving him a strong fantasy outlook. In the 606 minutes Avdija has played with Beal, Kuzma, Porzingis and Caldwell-Pope off the floor this season, Durant has supplied one DraftKings points per minute. In the 17 games Avdija has cracked the 30-minute mark this season, he is providing 29 DraftKings points per game. Over 40 fantasy points is in the realm of possibilities for Avdija tonight and he is a sneaky value to attack in large tournaments, with Awesemo forecasting him for single-digit ownership on both DraftKings and FanDuel.

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