3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 12/4/19
Basketball is the most consistent sport for daily fantasy purposes.
A top slugger in baseball will have his fair share of 0-for-4 days, and an elite fantasy football player is at risk of having games where his team's offense as a whole is shut down. A high-priced NBA stud is generally going to get his, though. With so many possessions in a game providing opportunities to produce, top fantasy basketball options will be posting high scores just about every night.
While this consistency puts us in a good position to identify top plays, it also means you can't afford to miss when you're paying up for someone. Even with strong value plays in your lineup, paying up and getting a dud is likely going to leave your lineup drawing pretty close to dead.
Let's get right into it and look at which top players should be the focal points of your lineups tonight.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, SF, Milwaukee Bucks ($12,400)
Giannis Antetokounmpo versus Luka Doncic ($12,500) is a big decision at the top of the pricing spectrum tonight, and it's hard not to give the edge to the Greek Freak.
He's coming off a couple of down games (by his standard, scoring 44.8 and 49.5 FanDuel points), but those were both 40-point blowout wins, and he played an average of just 20.8 minutes in each contest. Tonight's game should be much closer, with the Milwaukee Bucks favored by a more modest 6.5 points over the Detroit Pistons. That should keep Giannis on the floor a lot longer than those last two.
Antetokounmpo has eclipsed 50 fantasy points in each of the 14 games in which he's played 30-plus minutes this season, averaging 64.1 per game in that sample. That's compared to 56.5 per game when playing 30-plus minutes for Doncic.
Blowouts have masked just how ridiculous a fantasy season Giannis is having so far, and it's hard not to like him while he's priced below Doncic in what projects to be a close matchup.
Karl-Anthony Towns, C, Minnesota Timberwolves ($10,600)
The Dallas Mavericks don't make for an especially easy matchup, but this price-tag still makes Karl-Anthony Towns a terrific play on Wednesday.
He's had a couple of recent duds, but he's still averaging 51.1 FanDuel points in 33.1 minutes per game, turning in one of the most efficient seasons of his young career. He's on pace for new personal-best marks in points (28.2), rebounds (13.6), and assists (4.5) while adding 1.1 steals and 1.5 blocks per 36 minutes.
The Mavs rebound well (6th in total rebound rate), but they sit in the middle of the pack in defensive rating (15th), and KAT's huge offensive production should still let him thrive in this spot. He should also be in for plenty of playing time, as this game is projected to be both close (4.5-point spread) and high-scoring (232.0-point over/under).
Spencer Dinwiddie, PG, Brooklyn Nets ($8,700)
Spencer Dinwiddie's increased role in Kyrie Irving's absence has given his fantasy production a huge boost, jumping from 27.1 FanDuel points in 26.1 minutes per game (with a 28.3% usage rate) with Irving, to 43.1 fantasy points in 32.8 minutes per game (on 31.7%) without him.
That average already comes in just shy of 5.0 fantasy points per $1,000 of salary on tonight's salary, and a matchup with the Atlanta Hawks makes $8,700 an especially reasonable price-point.
The Hawks check-in at 27th in defensive rating and 12th in pace this season, surrendering the NBA's third-most points per game and allowing above-average fantasy efficiency to opposing point guards.
Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
