FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Wednesday 4/19/23

Since it's much simpler to predict than baseball or football, daily fantasy basketball would get plenty of votes as the best sport to play on FanDuel. Players usually stick to the same minutes and produce at roughly the same rate. Sounds easy, right?

As a result, NBA daily fantasy is highly reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to ensure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

We'll also come at you with this primer daily, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's break down today's main slate on FanDuel.

The Slate and Key Injuries

We'll harken back to the regular season a bit with a surprise on today's injury report.

Nikola Jokic (wrist) is apparently questionable for tonight's game in Denver, but he did practice on Tuesday. It's still a bit jarring to see a star not known to be hurt with a Q tag. Rudy Gobert (back) and Jaylen Nowell (knee) are questionable for the visiting Timberwolves.

From one MVP candidate listed on the injury report to another -- Giannis Antetokounmpo (back) was doubtful but now has been upgraded to questionable to play Wednesday after missing most of Game 1. Wesley Matthews (calf) is also out for the Bucks. Unfortunately, the opposing Miami Heat will likely be down Tyler Herro (hand) for the remainder of the year.

All three games have a star in question as Ja Morant (hand) is officially questionable against the Lakers. Outside of a few probable listings, L.A. is at full strength.

Guards

This slate won't have a free square. Tyus Jones ($7,000) is up at a fair -- but not no-brain-power-required -- salary in the event Morant sits.

It doesn't sound likely that Jokic will sit and Giannis might wind up playing, but Jrue Holiday ($9,000) and Jamal Murray ($8,700) might still lead their teams in fantasy points anyway. Murray dropped 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists in Game 1, which is a bit less surprising considering the Wolves were a bottom-10 defense for point guards all year.

Holiday's elevated salary might still be a bargain if Giannis sits. He posted a team-best 46.2 FanDuel points per 36 with Giannis off the floor this season.

Gabe Vincent ($4,900) logged 33 minutes in Game 1 ahead of Kyle Lowry ($4,700), but Lowry also totaled 45.3 FanDuel points last week as a play-in hero and resigned Vincent to the bench. Erik Spoelstra appears to be going full "hot hand" at point guard, which means you'll probably want some of both in tournaments.

D'Angelo Russell ($6,700) and Mike Conley ($6,500) are your other guards seeing significant court time. Dennis Schroder was held to an ineffective 20 minutes in Game 1, and his $5,000 salary is a bit high for a dart throw. Jevon Carter ($4,000) is a better 20-minute dart at an easier-to-stomach salary.

Wings

Though we may be down Giannis, LeBron James ($10,800) and Jimmy Butler ($10,000) are still a couple of high-floor studs to choose from on this slate.

James has eclipsed 51 FanDuel points in each of his last three -- all of which were must-win affairs. Butler, across two play-in games and a Game 1, hasn't fallen short of 45 FanDuel points over his previous three. Butler sees a usage rate increase of 1.3 percentage points with Herro off the floor, so his production should kick into overdrive. James' Lakers are at full strength, which might make him more appealing in tournaments.

A monstrous Anthony Edwards ($9,200) game is coming at some point. Edwards tallied 47.9 FanDuel points per 36 minutes this season, and I want to continue to buy the Wolves -- despite a rusty Game 1 -- against the fourth-worst adjusted defensive rating in the playoffs. Those soft matchups are few and far between this time of year.

All three of those guys could go overlooked with Desmond Bane ($8,500) and Khris Middleton ($8,200) being the natural injury-related chalk if Giannis and/or Ja sit. Middleton averaged 46.2 FanDuel points per 36 without Giannis. Bane (42.8 without Ja) might be a bit more justifiable to fade.

For all of these studs, we've got value, too. Max Strus ($4,900) and Grayson Allen ($4,400) sailed past 30 minutes due to the injuries in front of them in Game 1, but Kyle Anderson ($6,200), Bruce Brown Jr. ($5,500), Nickeil Alexander-Walker ($4,500), and Caleb Martin ($4,200) also encroached that mark as pivots.

Bigs

Part of the reason the studs at wing are so appealing is how limited the big spots are with brutal matchups for many.

Nikola Jokic ($12,100) faced some of the aggressive double teams Joel Embiid has dealt with in recent days, and it's hurt their fantasy production. Jokic posted "just" 52.7 FanDuel points per 36 minutes, but you need better at his lofty salary.

Anthony Davis might also be a popular choice, but Davis' sky-high FanDuel score on Sunday was helped in part by seven blocks. Davis averages 2.16 blocks per 36 minutes, so it's part of his equation, but seven swats was a ceiling performance in that regard.

Opposite Davis, Jaren Jackson Jr. ($9,000) poured in 51 FanDuel points in Game 1, but don't expect it to fade now that Morant could be out. The DPOY averaged 51.8 FanDuel points per 36 with his point guard off the floor this season.

I'm eyeing Karl-Anthony Towns ($9,200) as the real buy-low spot of the studs here after 33.0% shooting (and 1-for-7 from deep) in Game 1. Minnesota opted to limit the court time for Rudy Gobert ($7,700) as the game got out of hand, but I'd imagine both soar past 30 minutes in a tight one facing the same weaker D as Ant Edwards.

With Giannis out, Bobby Portis ($6,300) would likely be the most popular player on the slate in his stead. Portis amassed 30.6 FanDuel points in Game 1 and 43.4 FanDuel points per 36 with Giannis off the floor this season. I'm not one to argue with good chalk. Brook Lopez ($7,200) would also benefit.

The Lakers have been riding Rui Hachimura ($4,800) for more than 30 minutes in both of their postseason games thus far, but it's largely because Jarred Vanderbilt ($3,800) has been ineffective in a starting role. Either way, the two have low salaries for tournaments when one should hold a full-time role.

Aaron Gordon ($5,900), Xavier Tillman ($4,900), and Kevin Love ($4,100) are three other options who should meet or exceed 25 minutes played in Game 2.