DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Thursday 12/12/19
With four games to choose from on tonight's NBA slate, let's take a look at how to utilize the DFS possibilities. Here are some of the top plays and sleepers on DraftKings. As always, good luck.
Point Guard
Derrick Rose ($5,700) -- Rose has posted seven straight games with 10 or more points, and he's recorded five or more assists in six of those contests. Rose scored 21 points and 7 assists in his last outing on Monday, resulting in a 36.75 fantasy night. He's had four games of 30-plus fantasy points in his last six and has been the closer for the Pistons as of late. Our model projects Rose at 14.7 points and 4.6 assists tonight, and I like him to top those numbers.
Collin Sexton ($5,400) -- Sexton has had success scoring this season and has scored 18 or more in four of the last five games. Sexton has only averaged 2.4 assists in those games, but the offense will need his energy on a road game after a close loss to the Rockets. Sexton is averaging 14.3 points in his three back to backs this season, and he seems like he's due for his first 20-point outing in five games.
Shooting Guard
Will Barton ($6,300) -- Barton gets his former team in the Blazers tonight, coming off a season-high 26 points on 10 of 19 shooting on Tuesday. Barton can be able to build off that outing, as the Nuggets have lost three in a row and have only reached 100 points once in those three games. Barton is shooting 45.3 percent over his last five games while averaging 12.8 points. Our model projects Barton at 14.9 points and 4.8 rebounds, but I like his going over those totals against his former squad.
DeMar DeRozan ($7,300) -- DeRozan has averaged 23.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.8 assists over his last 10 games. DeRozan has played in 81 minutes over his last two games, with both games going to overtime -- so fatigue could be an issue. DeRozan should be able to post 15-5-5 -- something he's done in four of his last five games.
Small Forward
Jayson Tatum ($7,100) -- Tatum has averaged 22 points and 7 rebounds over his past five games and posted 21 points and 10 rebounds against the 76ers in the season-opener. The Celtics lost for the first time in five contests yesterday -- but Tatum has led the team in scoring in three of the past six games. In four games versus the 76ers last season, he averaged 19.8 points and 8.8 rebounds, making this a favorable matchup.
Luka Doncic ($11,400) -- Doncic is the leading candidate for all lineups tonight, given his 60 fantasy points per game average. He's third in the league with 30 real-life points per game, and second in assists with 9.2. He's recorded 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in 19 straight games to go with 13 double-doubles and 7 triple-doubles. He's an MVP candidate and is a must-play on the road in Detroit.
Power Forward
LaMarcus Aldridge ($7,000) -- Aldridge has posted 40 or more fantasy points in four of his last five games and is averaging 22.2 points and 7.6 rebounds during that stretch. Aldridge is posting much higher averages at home than on the road -- posting 20.9 points and 7.3 rebounds on 52.6 percent from the floor in 12 home games. He'll be a 20 to 25-point scoring option tonight versus a slumping Cavs team.
Blake Griffin ($6,700) -- Griffin is coming off his worst performance of the season against the Pelicans, posting five points and four rebounds on 1 of 9 shooting. The Pistons will need for Griffin to pick up the slack against the Mavericks. Detroit will have to match the Mavs' pace, and Griffin would benefit the most from that. We have Griffin projected to score 19.4 points to go with 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists.
Center
Tristan Thompson ($6,100) -- Thompson is averaging 12 points and 8.4 rebounds over his last five games, and will be an important factor on the second night of back to back for the Cavaliers. The Cavs are on an eight-game losing streak and head to San Antonio tonight after the Spurs have won two straight overtime games. Thompson is averaging a double-double this season, with 13.7 points and 10 rebounds, and our model projects him to post 14.2 points and 10.1 rebounds tonight.
Joel Embiid ($9,500) -- Embiid is on a dominant seven-game run, averaging 23.7 points and 13.4 rebounds during that stretch. During that time, Embiid has posted four games with more than 25 points and six games with 10 or more rebounds. He had 15 points and 13 rebounds in the first meeting with Boston but struggled from the field -- going 5 for 14. Embiid has made 66 of his last 77 free throws (85.7%) and is averaging 11 attempts over his last seven. Expect his dominance to continue tonight.
Vaughn Dalzell is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Vaughn also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username vdalzell. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
