NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 1/22/19

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

Russell Westbrook ($12,500): With the top fantasy studs truly dominating this year, we've had no shortage of slates on which you all but have to pay up above $12,000. That's not the case tonight, but there's still something to be said for spending up to get Westbrook's elite floor, particularly in cash games. He's hit the 50 FanDuel point mark in 11 of his last 15 games, and the only time he fell below 40 in that time was a blowout in which he didn't even eclipse 30 minutes. He's averaged 55.5 in 37.4 minutes per game over those 15. His matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers is also a bit softer than we would usually expect it to be, as the Blazers are on the second half of a road-road back-to-back, and they played in a close game last night against the Utah Jazz, which saw them give both of their starting guards at least 36 minutes of run. That sub-30 minute game for Westbrook I mentioned came yesterday afternoon, so he should be decidedly more fresh than his counterpart tonight.