NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 12/20/18

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes hugely on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

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

We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each price point.

Let's take a look at who you should target on today's main slate.

Best of the Best

James Harden ($12,400): We only have a two-game slate on tap tonight, and Harden is averaging 13.3 FanDuel points more per game than anyone else on the slate, with his average of 53.2 per game ranking as the fourth-best in the NBA. Our models have that big gap holding up tonight, projecting him for 15.6 fantasy points more than anyone else. This is a steep price tag, but you're really not getting any higher upside (or floor) than Harden's on this slate, and it's not close. As the only true high-priced player, his ownership is going to be huge, but it's still worth stomaching. There's something to be said for building a tournament lineup without him, focusing on the higher mid-priced options and hoping for a dud, but in general Harden should be anchoring your lineups in any format tonight.