FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Tuesday 3/21/23

Since it's much simpler to predict than baseball or football, daily fantasy basketball would get plenty of votes as the best sport to play on FanDuel. Players usually stick to the same minutes and produce at roughly the same rate. Sounds easy, right?

As a result, NBA daily fantasy is highly reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to ensure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

We'll also come at you with this primer daily, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's break down today's main slate on FanDuel.

The Slate and Key Injuries

This six-game slate has quite a bit less on the injury report than yesterday's six-gamer.

Dejounte Murray (illness) is the marquee name in doubt, which is probably a good sign. The Hawks are hosting Detroit, and the Pistons' "new" injuries would include Jalen Duren (head), Isaiah Livers (hip), and R.J. Hampton (back). The latter two are questionable, but they did get back Marvin Bagley III over the weekend.

The Wizards won't have Kyle Kuzma (ankle) for their trip to Orlando. The Magic have Jalen Suggs (concussion) listed out for this one, as well.

San Antonio's cycle of resting (or tanking) includes Devin Vassell (knee), Jeremy Sochan (knee), and Zach Collins (rest) on Tuesday. Tre Jones (hamstring) is doubtful, and Devonte' Graham (quad) is questionable. They're in New Orleans to battle a Pelicans team without any new injury developments.

Jarrett Allen (eye) got an upgrade to questionable for the Cavaliers today. He's got a chance for a revenge game against Brooklyn, who might be missing Dorian Finney-Smith (wrist).

The Kings are on a back-to-back, so we'll see if they're missing anyone besides Kevin Huerter (hamstring), who sat on Monday. The visiting Celtics are only missing Payton Pritchard (heel) for this one.

Finally, there are no rest listings despite the chronic resting environment in Los Angeles, and that's doubly surprising considering the Oklahoma City Thunder are in town. Norman Powell (shoulder) remains the only one out for the Clippers.

Guards

Over their last 30 games, the Celtics haven't been dominant defensively against floor generals. They've allowed the seventh-most FanDuel points to them in that period.

For that reason, De'Aaron Fox ($9,200) -- healthy and likely to play the back-to-back -- is the standout option at the top today. With his backcourt mate, Kevin Huerter, in significant doubt, that should only help. Fox has posted 49.6 FanDuel points per 36 minutes this month with K.H. off the floor.

Dejounte Murray ($8,500) is the top-projected guard above $8,000 on a per-dollar basis, so his status is meaningful to the slate. I'll get to Trae Young ($9,900) if he sits, but the 14.0-point spread there isn't optimal. Without Murray, this one could stay closer, and Jaden Ivey ($6,800) has a healthy 26.8% usage rate for the salary on the other side if it does.

The declining salary of Josh Giddey ($7,300) stands out right away in the mid-range. He's been oddly quiet on the boards (13) and dishing assists (7) in the past two games, but he's also scored over 15 points in five straight. The uptempo environment should help his peripheral stats in L.A.

Opposite Fox, Marcus Smart ($5,600) is still projecting tremendous per-dollar value in his full role -- even with Boston at full strength. Bradley Beal ($9,100), Cole Anthony ($6,200), Monte Morris ($5,000), and Isaiah Joe ($4,400) are others who aren't too far behind.

Wings

With Jaylen Brown's salary still elevated, Jayson Tatum ($10,800) is a no-brainer opposite Fox in the best environment of the day.

By his standard, Tatum has struggled this month. He's topped 30 points just five times, and that's largely due to 30.8% shooting from outside. Sacramento has allowed the third-most three-point attempts per game this month (38.3), so this is a good defensive matchup to get him better looks from outside.

Kawhi Leonard ($9,700) and Paul George have nearly the same salary, so I'll take Leonard of the two. Leonard has produced 45.2 FanDuel points per 36 this month to George's 43.4. This is the type of matchup where one could go bananas; OKC cedes the 11th-most FanDuel points to small forwards.

If you're willing to stomach a 12.0-point spread, New Orleans' Brandon Ingram ($8,500) is another name to potentially target. He's actually projecting better than any of the previous four. Paolo Banchero ($7,600) also sits in this vicinity when we'll be targeting Wizards on the other side.

As for value, Keegan Murray ($5,600) is the lone consistent winner of Huerter's injury for Sacramento. He's eclipsed 31 minutes and 36 FanDuel points in back-to-back games without him. Without Kuzma, Deni Avdija ($5,000) should have a massive on-court role, too.

Trey Murphy III ($5,900), De'Andre Hunter ($5,200), and San Antonio's Malaki Branham ($5,200) are three others to consider.

Bigs

Domantas Sabonis ($11,000) was a dud last night, firing up just 11 shots and making just 4 of them. His own selflessness can be his undoing in fantasy basketball.

He's an option to consider in the game du jour, but Kristaps Porzingis ($9,000) is the key building block up here. Beal and Porzingis have figured out their two-man game without Kuzma; both are averaging north of 46.7 FanDuel points per 36 with him off the floor in March. Porzingis' matchup is a bit easier given the Magic allow the ninth-most FanDuel points to his listed power forward spot.

On the other side, Wendell Carter Jr. ($7,200) appears to have claimed a full role for Orlando again, eclipsing 32 minutes in three straight. Unsurprisingly, the productive big has responded with 39.7 FanDuel points per game in this stretch.

There aren't too many key spending positions with better alternatives at wing and guard, so in a rare turn of events, I'll mix in plenty of budget options here.

John Collins ($5,400) is one. His role has flattened enough to eclipse 27 minutes in six straight, so while that's not ideal, we know what we're getting. He posted 33 FanDuel points on Friday, which is more than plausible in this matchup with lowly Detroit. Marvin Bagley III ($5,600) is also projecting well from the Pistons' side.

With Zach Collins resting, the Spurs likely give Sandro Mamukelashvili ($5,100) the starting nod. He logged 28 regulation minutes in his only other start, but surprisingly, he posted his lowest FanDuel point total in the past five during it. He's no must-have option but should be relatively popular.