NBA

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Wednesday 1/15/20

Kemba Walker has seen his price drop over the past few days but now has a soft matchup against the Pistons. What other players can you build around tonight?

With 10 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

Russell Westbrook ($9,600) -- The Rockets played last night and Westbrook was rewarded a rest night against the Memphis Grizzlies, in order to prepare for a potential playoff matchup between the Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers. Westbrook has recorded 14-straight games of 20 points or more, and six double-doubles in that stretch. Against Portland earlier in the season, Westbrook recorded his third triple-double of the season recording 28 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists in Houston. Westbrook will now have three days of rest since his last game, and when he has three days or more of rest he averages 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists in the two games that qualify this season.

Kemba Walker ($7,200) -- Walker's value has dropped over the past few weeks with his injury and inconsistent play -- but versus the Detroit Pistons tonight in Boston -- I love his worth. The Pistons are depleted and if you've been following me, I've picked a few players opposite of the Pistons nightly because of their excess of weaknesses right now. Walker has averaged 15.7 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists over his last four games since returning from injury. He has shot 50% or higher in all four games, but this is the perfect game for him to get over to his 21.7 points per game average and rack up some assists as well. Detroit ranks 28th in opponent's three-point percentage (37.2%), 27th in opponent field goal percentage (47.4%), and 26th in opponent's steals per game (8.2). All categories that Walker excels in and can take advantage of in front of the Boston crowd.

Shooting Guard

Zach LaVine ($9,300) -- 2020 has been good to LaVine, he probably wishes the Chicago Bulls had more wins, but he's averaging 30.1 points in seven games. LaVine hasn't missed a free-throw in three-straight games going 24-for-24. The Washington Wizards are tied-fourth in pace (105.6) and fifth in points per game (114.8), fitting LaVine's game to a tee. Chicago is middle of the pack in pace (16th) and has scored more than 108 only once in their past eight games. If LaVine can get the rest of the Bulls to play at the Wizards pace he should have his fifth 30-point game in eight games. Our model projects LaVine to record 24.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists versus the Wizards.

Bradley Beal ($8,400) -- Beal returned to the Wizards lineup and didn't skip a beat versus the Utah Jazz scoring 25 points in 27 minutes. He went 0-for-7 from deep, but 11-for-25 (44%) from the field in the loss. Beal went 3-for-3 from the free-throw line and has been to the line at a career-high rate, making 6.3-of-7.5 free-throw attempts (83.3%). The Bulls allow the third-most free-throw attempts per game (26) and fifth-most makes per game (19.8). In the 10 games, Beal has attempted 10 or more free-throws this season, he's averaged 31.5 points per game, 5.8 assists, and 5.4 rebounds. In the first meeting, Beal recorded 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists and went 13-for-14 from the free-throw line.

Small Forward

Josh Richardson ($6,400) -- Without Joel Embiid in the lineup, numerous 76ers have stepped up to the plate and filled his void. Richardson has done so, scoring 22.6 points, 3.3 assists, and 3 rebounds per game over the last three games without Embiid. Versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, Embiid injured his finger and was ineffective scoring so Richardson stepped up and took the spotlight with 23 points, 4 assists, and 2 rebounds. Since then, he's averaging 31.8 fantasy points in his last four games, and the 76ers are hosting the Brooklyn Nets -- who are playing the second night of a back-to-back. The Nets beat Philly on December 15 in Brooklyn on the second of a back-to-back to stop a two-game losing streak -- the exact same situation Philly is in tonight. Brooklyn averages 107.2 points in four back-to-backs and if both teams reach 100, I like Richardson to earn his fourth 20-point game in his last five games and build off his 5-for-15 shooting performance in the first meeting.

Will Barton ($7,000) -- Barton has quietly putting together a great first-half to the season for Denver. He's averaging a career-high seven rebounds per game, and the second-most points (14.7), and assists (3.6) over his career. Barton had his first single-digit scoring performance in 13 games against the Clippers recording six points in a loss. Prior to the Clippers game, Barton recorded 46 points, 18 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals in his previous two games against the Cavaliers and Heat. Tonight against the Hornets at home, Barton is licking his chops at their 26th ranked rebounding (42.7) unit, and the 28th overall defensive net rated (113.1) Hornets.

Power Forward

Domantas Sabonis ($8,300) -- Sabonis is coming off his worst shooting performance of the season scoring 10 points going 3-for-12 (25%) from the field. Over his last five games, he's still shooting 61.9% from the field with 19.6 points and 12.4 rebounds. He's recorded double-digit rebounds in four of his last five games -- and eight of his last 10 overall. His opponent tonight -- the Minnesota Timberwolves -- rank second in offensive rebounding (11.3) and seventh in total rebounding (46.5%), but that's due to their 29th-ranked field goal percent (43.2%). Sabonis will have his plenty share of rebound opportunities and if Karl-Anthony Towns misses his 15th-straight game, lock Sabonis in for another big night.

Serge Ibaka ($7,500) -- Ibaka returns to his first home in the NBA, Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder tonight. The Toronto Raptors get good news with Marc Gasol returning to the lineup to relieve Ibaka of his defensive duties. Gasol is averaging under seven points and seven rebounds per game, so his impact shouldn't affect Ibaka's too much. Ibaka is averaging 18.8 points and 10.8 rebounds in his last 10 games and recorded 40 or more fantasy points in four of his last five games. He's double-doubled in his last eight games and recorded at least a block or steal in eight of his past 10 games. Our model projects Ibaka to record 15 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists with Gasol returning to the team.

Center

Bam Adebayo ($8,300) -- Adebayo has failed to record 10 rebounds in four-straight games, but has scored 10 or more in 18-straight games. He's averaging 17.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in his last six games, and has slipped to 10th in rebounds per game (10.4) on the year. Both teams are top seven in field goal percentage, defensive rebounds per game, and three-point percentage. Rebounds may be hard to come by in this one, but the Spurs rank 17th in points allowed in the paint (48.3), an advantage to Adebayo's corner. Our model predicts Adebayo with a great all-around game of 16.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 4.7 assists.

Myles Turner ($6,500) -- I'm going with two Pacers' big men tonight, simply because they've both been playing so well double-doubling in each of the last two games together. Turner posted 27 points and 14 rebounds in a 56-point fantasy night against the Bulls then followed that up with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 35.5 fantasy points versus Philly. For the same reasons as earlier, I back Turner the same as Sabonis, but Turner's game has been improving after a slow start to the season. In his last six games, he's averaged 16.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 34.8 fantasy points compared to 12.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 28.2 fantasy points on the season.


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.