NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 1/28/20

Jason Schandl  —  @JasonSchandl Jan 28th, 2020
Which players stand out on Tuesday's eight-game NBA slate?

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 ($11,800)

Giannis Antetokounmpo commands a huge price tag tonight, but he's still well worth paying all the way up for.

Ranking second in the NBA with 56.8 FanDuel points per game, Giannis has been far more efficient than any of the other top fantasy scorers. His 30.7 minutes per game are the fewest for anyone else in the top 17 for fantasy production. This means that the blowout risk inherent with being a massive 16-point favorite against the Washington Wizards is not much of a concern.

The Wiz also make for a perfect matchup to show off that efficiency. They rank dead last in the NBA in both defensive rating and total rebound rate while playing at the fourth-fastest pace, which is an absolutely dreamy combination for a triple-double threat like Giannis.

Kemba Walker, PG, Boston Celtics ($8,000)

Jayson Tatum is doubtful to return from his brief injury absence tonight, meaning volume for Kemba Walker should be up again.

We've only got a three-game sample for Kemba without Tatum this year, but in those games, he's averaged 47.6 FanDuel points on 33.7% usage — up from 36.6 on 27.9% usage when Tatum plays.

The Miami Heat have held opposing point guards to bottom-five fantasy efficiency on the season, but Kemba's salary does not reflect Tatum's absence, meaning he's still a great play in this tough matchup.

Pascal Siakam, SF, Toronto Raptors ($7,600)

Back to a great matchup, the Atlanta Hawks allow the NBA's most fantasy points per minute to opposing small forwards and the fifth-most to power forwards.

Those numbers aren't surprising when you consider their similarities with the Wizards. Atlanta plays at the league's 5th-fastest pace while checking in at 28th in defensive rating and 28th in total rebound rate.

Pascal Siakam was going through a bit of a slump over the last two weeks, but he bounced back with 50.1 FanDuel points in his last outing, and this price is too low for him even in a neutral matchup. His season average of 41.3 FanDuel points per game already represents 5.4 points per $1,000 of salary today, and this spot should let him come in with an above-average tally.

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.