DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Tuesday 12/17/19
With six games to choose from on tonight's NBA slate, let's take a look at how to utilize the DFS possibilities. Here are some of the top plays and sleepers on DraftKings. As always, good luck.
Point Guard
Jrue Holiday ($7,700) -- Holiday has scored 20 or more points in three of his last four games and 29 against the Magic in a home loss in his most recent game. Holiday compiled 50 fantasy points in that matchup and has recorded 37 or more in four straight games. He's averaging 20.4 points, 5.9 assists, and 4.9 rebounds in eight December games despite currently riding a 12-game losing streak. At home against the Nets, expect Holiday to be one of the leading scorers tonight. Our model projects Holiday at 20.6 points, 7.2 assists and 4.8 rebounds over 36 minutes.
Devonte' Graham ($7,800) -- Graham has come back down to Earth, somewhat, scoring a combined 28 points in his past two games. The Hornets have struggled, scoring only 83 and 85 points in each of the past two games after scoring 104 points or more for six straight games. Graham's averaging 23.3 points in his last eight games and remains seventh in assists with 7.4 per game. He's attempted eight or more three-point attempts in his last nine games, so don't be surprised to see him break the Hornets out of their slump despite a tough matchup with the Sacramento Kings.
Shooting Guard
Spencer Dinwiddie ($7,500) -- Dinwiddie has scored 20 or more points in 8 of his last 10 games for the Nets and has been a driving factor in the offense still without Kyrie Irving. Without Irving on the floor, Dinwiddie has a 31.5% usage rate and averages 1.25 DraftKings points per minute. He'll matchup against Holiday for the Pelicans in what will be one of the most exciting and underrated guard matchups of the night. The Pelicans are third in offensive tempo, and the game has the highest over/under of the night at 229 points.
Buddy Hield ($7,200) -- In Hield's last 10 games, he's surpassed his season-long average of 35 or more fantasy points 8 of 10 games and has attempted 20 or more shot attempts in 7 of 10. Hield has led the team in scoring in six of those 10 games, and he's up to 21.9 points per game on the season. Hield will be dialing it up tonight versus the Hornets in what could be a shootout between Hield and Graham. Charlotte struggles against the wing, and De'Aaron Fox may be out again.
Small Forward
Brandon Ingram ($8,100) -- Ingram has scored 20 or more points in 16 of his last 17 games even though his Pelicans have gone 3-14 in those contests. Ingram has been carrying the scoring load, leading the Pelicans with 25 points per game (11th in the NBA). Ingram had two 30-point nights last week and posted a double-double in another loss, as he's been doing all he can for a Pelicans win. At home tonight, expect Ingram to build off and exceed his 18.4 shot attempts at the Smoothie King Center.
Marcus Morris ($6,200) -- Morris has been on and off for the Knicks all season, and last game, he was on in Denver, scoring 22 points in a loss that snapped a two-game winning streak. In this past week, Morris exploded for 62.5 fantasy points, scoring 36 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in a win over the Warriors. Morris averages 18.7 points for New York and has hit a triple in 15 straight games. numberFire projects him for 34 minutes in a plus matchup with the Atlanta Hawks.
Power Forward
Anthony Davis ($10,500) -- Davis is averaging 52.2 fantasy points a night and has three-straight double-doubles for the Lakers. He faces a Indiana Pacers team that is 5th in defensive rating and 20th in pace, so the matchup isn’t great on paper. However, he leads the slate in DraftKings points per minute (1.62) and should see his typical role in a tight game (just a 4.5-point spread) with minimal blowout risk. numberFire’s projections anticipate 36 minutes for Davis, who rates out with the second-best ceiling on the main slate.
Julius Randle ($7,000) -- Three-straight games of 20 points or more and two wins in three of those games will make you smile if you're a Knicks fan. When Randle is playing well, the Knicks are a much better team, and his 23.3 points and 10.3 rebounds qualify as playing much better. Randle is the key to the Knicks and with the Hawks on the schedule tonight, he has a good opportunity at four-straight 20 point games against Atlanta's weak interior, which ranks 8th of 12 teams on the slate in fantasy points allowed to forwards. Randle should be aggressive tonight as the Knicks will fight the Hawks for last place. Randle has the second-best value projection among center-eligible plays on DraftKings.
Center
Jarrett Allen ($6,400) -- Allen was playing some of the best ball of the season before he cooled down against two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference last week. Allen and the Nets visit the Pelicans in what could his fifth double-double in eight games. He's 11th in rebounding with 10.4 boards per game, and he's averaging 12.3 points as the starting center. The Nets are 5th in rebounding and the Pelicans 20th. I like Allen's matchup tonight in the uptempo matchup.
Cody Zeller ($5,400) -- Zeller has been quietly playing well for Charlotte with two-straight double-doubles and three in the last four games. Zeller is averaging 13.0 points and 8.8 rebounds in his past five games to go along with four games of 25 fantasy points or more. Zeller faces the Kings tonight, and they are ranked 29th in rebounding, making this another game where Zeller can keep his double-double streak alive at a cheap price tag.
Vaughn Dalzell is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Vaughn also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username vdalzell. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
