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Nine contests on Friday's slate and there is no shortage of betting action. We will get to the DFS picks in a minute, but there are pretty significant lines floating around right now that need to be addressed. Right now, at 3:09 AM CST, I am seeing the Celtics -3 versus the Raptors in Boston and the Timberwolves -5 in Charlotte. Both of those are coming off like strong bets outside of the fact that both teams are on the road which really doesn't scare me enough. The Kings will EVENTUALLY bounce back to a solid form, but with the Marvin Bagley injury and playing against Hassan Whiteside, taking Portland -2.5 over the Kings is another sweet bet.
Don't get me wrong, I will tune into every game at some point, but as far as invested interest goes, I have a feeling the Suns-Nuggets game will be the one to stack for DFS. There will be plenty of value to go around with Deandre Ayton missing time, increasing the upside for both teams starting and backup centers, but looking back at the Portland-Kings matchup, this game will most likely come down to how well Portland shoots. This will be one of the higher scoring games so do not shy away from Sacramento's starters just because they probably wont win this game. The Bagley injury opens up extra opportunities for nearly everyone on that roster.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 10/25/19. You can also check out today's FanDuel lineup picks. Remember to monitor injury news as the slate can completely change before line-up lock. Find me in the NBA Chat Room if you have questions or @HalfCourtJester on Twitter.
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DraftKings DFS Guards
Kyle Lowry - PG, @ BOS ($7,000)
The Boston Celtics and their fans are in for a long season. I don't even want to dive into the non-fantasy aspects of the team, but I know that I will find myself betting against them frequently. Starting tonight with their game against the Raptors, I can't imagine the Celtics backcourt stopping Kyle Lowry along with the rest of the Raptors offense. They might not have the name talent, but Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol, Fred Vanvleet, and Serge Ibaka are a handful no matter what. I can't see Lowry going nuts this game, but I expect a strong start with his supporting cast picking up the slack when it's needed. This should allow him to close out the game, a trait that he will have to learn sooner rather than later now that Kawhi Leonard is gone.
Luka Doncic - PG/SG, @ NOP ($9,200)
It didn't take long for Luka Doncic's price to go right back up to All-Star pricing and rightfully so. Alongside Kristaps Porzingis, who we will get to later in the article, Doncic has another outlet to work his game around. The more chemistry developed between these two players is going to bleed into the rest of the team. If these two are hitting, the rest of the team will follow suit because production will come easy. Both players are capable of drawing multiple defenders for different reason, and the Pelicans defense will not be able to contain both, and that's being generous assuming they can contain one. The only downside to Doncic is his turnovers and realistically, they aren't a big deal when you are generating 40 point nearly by yourself.
DraftKings DFS Forwards
Buddy Hield - SG/SF, vs POR ($6,700)
Not many people will say much about Buddy Hield's early season demands with how the Kings played in their first game of the season. Hield was the lone star for the Kings and now that Bagley is going to be missing some time, his usage is going to be even higher than before. Everything is going to go up. I mean that statistically, figuratively, and literally. With the Kings needing offense, defense and everything in-between, look for both De'Aaron Fox and Hield to take the game into their own hands extremely quickly.
Nemanja Bjelica - PF, vs POR ($3,600)
We are going to be honest with ourselves here, last night in DFS we could afford a Landry Shamet dud because of who else was on the roster. Tonight, despite Nemanja Bjelica being the most likely candidate to score below 15 FPTS on any given night, we really can't. With so many options available, we need every player hitting on a new level. Bjelica hasn't shown much promise in his game other than having an impressive ability of making people say, "If he ever starts hitting his shot..." Regardless, there will be a game where Bjelica makes me eat my words and I am not saying this will be the game, but the Trail Blazers are starting Zach Collins and brining Mario Hezonja, Skal Labissiere, and Anthony Tolliver in as relief. Bjelica is going to get his attempts.
DraftKings DFS Centers
Kristaps Porzingis - C, @ NOP ($7,600)
I basically talked about why this is a good pick and to drive the point home I'll mention that Derrick Favors and Jahlil Okafor are the opposing frontcourt. I shouldn't have to spell this one out and truth be told, it's 3:52 AM and I am struggling to spell everything as it is.
