NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 2/21/19

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

James Harden ($12,600): Tonight's matchup between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers has a strong over/under of 232.5 and only a 2.5-point spread, meaning we should be treated to a shootout here. Harden's production had dropped a bit in his last four games before the All-Star break, but his 51.9 FanDuel points per game in those four is not a bad mark, and it doesn't warrant the $1,400 drop in salary he's seen in that time -- especially when two of those games were blowouts that saw him play reduced minutes. He's still averaging a ridiculous 65.7 FanDuel points in 38.6 minutes per game over his last 30 contests, so this price tag is pretty generous, especially when you factor in his plus matchup in what promises to be a shootout tonight.