NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 3/7/19

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 ($12,200): Westbrook has been rolling lately, averaging just shy of 58 fantasy points in 36.6 minutes per game over his last 18. That stretch has seen him eclipse 60 FanDuel points as many times as it has seen him post fewer than even 57 (seven each). Only one of those games saw him post fewer than 40. In a vacuum, the Portland Trail Blazers make for a matchup that is thoroughly "fine" -- allowing slightly above-average fantasy efficiency at the point while sitting 14th in defensive rating. On this tiny two-game slate, though, that matchup becomes far more appealing. All three of the other teams on the slate rank top five in defensive rating and allow bottom-10 fantasy numbers at the point -- making this a comparably outstanding matchup for Westbrook. This game also only has a 4.0-point spread, compared to the 10.5-point spread in the other game, meaning we have much less of a blowout risk in this one.