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The top daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on February 25, 2021. Euan Leith provides NBA DFS analysis and sleeper picks for building optimal DFS rosters.
Happy Thursday, RotoBallers! We greet Friday's Friday with a six-game schedule as we get the weekend started early. Only the New Orleans Pelicans are playing the second half of a back-to-back tonight, and it gives us a lot of fresh legs to play in our DFS lineups. It doesn't necessarily take all of the Pelicans off the board tonight, but it will be a deciding factor if I have a close call between a member of the Pelicans and another player. New Orleans' game with the Milwaukee Bucks is the primetime nightcap after we get to watch Luka Doncic battle Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers.
There are only two games above the 230 over/under mark this evening, but it's too exciting contests with Washington and Denver (237 points) and New Orleans-Milwaukee. Denver is the slowest of those four teams, but they have many discount daily fantasy options with the number of injuries they are currently working through. Meanwhile, it could be a tough night for some of our usual frontcourt studs as the top-four defenses versus the center position (76ers, Nuggets, Magic, and Clippers) all play this evening.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 2/25/21. You can also check out today's FanDuel lineup picks. With COVID-19 a significant factor, remember to monitor injury news as the slate can completely change before lineups lock.
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DraftKings DFS Guards
Luka Doncic - PG, DAL at PHI ($10,900)
The Mavericks are performing below expectations this season, but it's not because of their 21-year old superstar. Luka Doncic is lighting the DFS world on fire in 2021. He's third on the year in total DraftKings points and only trails Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Tonight, he takes on a 76ers backcourt defense that allows the eighth-most points to point guards and a team that plays the seventh-fastest pace in the league.
Doncic has been crushing it with 57.5 fantasy points per game this season, but he's taken it to another level in recent games. Over his last seven tilts, the Slovenian is averaging 61.1 FPPG by recording 34 points, 8.6 dimes, 8.1 boards, one steal, and 4.1 three-pointers daily. He's getting to the charity stripe 9.6 times per game over these last seven contests, and it just raises the floor on this phenomenal DFS and real-life player.
Facundo Campazzo - PG/SG, DEN vs. WAS ($4,200)
Campazzo is one of the two pieces of the Nuggets-Wizards game that I want in my DFS lineups tonight. Gary Harris (groin) has been out of the lineup for a week now, and Campazzo is becoming a useful fantasy option in his absence. The Argentinian distributor is averaging 12.1 fantasy points per game on the season, but that has risen dramatically over the last 10 days. In his previous six games, the 29-year old rookie is averaging 12.2 points, four assists, 1.5 steals, and 2.3 threes per game in 28.5 minutes.
Campazzo should get to run up and down the court a bit more often tonight against the Wizards. They play at the fastest pace in the league. When he played them just over a week ago, this pace resulted in 21.25 fantasy points and a six-time return on his salary that evening. The guard is finding his rhythm in the NBA, resulting in another positive performance on Thursday.
Bryn Forbes - SG, MIL vs. NO ($3,700)
As mentioned above, the Bucks-Pelicans contest is the final primetime game, and you will get to watch Forbes sail you into the money. Jrue Holiday (medical protocols) will miss his 10th-straight contest, and it will give the extra court time to his 27-year old teammate. Forbes is coming off a season's-best 35 fantasy points against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The fifth-year guard recorded 23 points, four rebounds, three assists, and five three-pointers in 26 minutes.
Milwaukee is playing at the eighth-fastest pace in the league over their last ten games, and they will get up and down the court. The Pelicans allow the most points to point guards and the eighth-most fantasy points to shooting guards this season. With the Bucks utilizing Forbes as a usable offensive outlet, he may not get to the 35 points he showed on Tuesday, but he is a safe bet to return five-times value on his $3,700 cost.
Bonus guards: James Harden ($10,800), Josh Richardson ($4,700), De'Anthony Melton ($4,600)
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DraftKings DFS Forwards
Julius Randle - PF/C, NY vs. SAC ($9,100)
The point of playing any fantasy sport is to have some fun, and I think we can all agree that Julius Randle's ascension to an All-Star has been one of the happier highlights of the season. He takes on a King's defense allowing the third-most fantasy points to centers. DraftKings allows us to put Randle at power forward or center, and that gives us a cheat code as we build our lineups. It's certainly not a well-rounded team, but I've got a lineup with Doncic, Randle, and Jokic starting.
Focusing back on Randle, the 26-year old is taking it up a level in February. He's posting his highest offensive rating of the season (117) and is averaging 25 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in 11 games. His peripheral stats back up these monster numbers with a 27.9 percent usage rate and a 60.9 true-shooting percentage. The newly-minted All-Star has scored at least 49 DraftKings fantasy points in three of his last four tilts, and DFS players should expect more of the same tonight.
Joe Harris - SG/SF, BKN vs. ORL ($5,500)
With Kevin Durant (hamstring) still watching his teammates from the sidelines, Joe Harris is enjoying a productive stretch of basketball. While James Harden and Kyrie Irving dominate the shots and usage rates on a nightly basis, there is still enough leftover for other Nets players to be DFS relevant. In his previous four contests, Harris is averaging 18.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4.5 threes. It's not a diverse profile in how he obtains his fantasy points, but he's doing it efficiently.
The 29-year old is shooting 56.8 percent from the floor and 54.5 percent from behind the three-point line over those same four games. I'm all for riding the hot hand, and that's what Harris is at the moment. His matchup with the Magic shouldn't provide too much resistance either. They allow the third-most points to shooting guards and the ninth-most points to small forwards. So wherever lines up on the court tonight will provide a fantasy-position situation.
Desmond Bane - SG/SF, MEM vs. LAC ($3,600)
Sliding Bane into your DFS lineup tonight will only be an option if Dillon Brooks (thigh) misses another contest. As of this writing, Brooks is questionable, so make sure to check back before this game tips off at 8 pm ET. If Brooks does sit Thursday's game, Bane has sneaky upside against a Clippers backcourt that's more vulnerable than people realize. Los Angeles allows the fifth-most points to shooting guards this campaign, and an extra boost in playing time will raise the 22-year old's floor.
From Jan. 30-Feb. 19 (eight games), the rookie averaged 12.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.4 threes in 24.5 minutes. In that same stretch of the schedule, the 2020 first-round pick scored at least 21 DKFP in six of those eight games and returned five-times his cost in seven of eight. It's not the most exciting play, but Bane offers a salary relief option that can throw in a vital 20-25 fantasy points on a crowded slate.
Bonus forwards: Zion Williamson ($8,600), Marvin Bagley ($5,700), Zeke Nnaji ($3,100)
DraftKings DFS Centers
Nikola Jokic - C, DEN vs. WAS ($10,400)
The top-four defenses versus centers are on the slate tonight. Thankfully, we still have the chance to take advantage of the Wizard's terrible frontcourt defense with daily fantasy-monster Nikola Jokic. There's isn't a lot to breakdown when it comes to the Serbian big man. He's averaging 59.0 FPPG on the season, 59.7 FPPG in his last 10 games, and 57.9 FPPG in his last 10 days.
The three-time All-Star will be heavily used in cash games tonight, and besides earning all those points, rostering him in your lineup will protect you from missing out on 60 points that the rest of the field is picking up. Jokic went up against the Wizards on Feb. 17 and tallied 33 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, two steals, and three triples for 59.25 fantasy points. This game has the second-highest over/under on the slate (237 points), and Washington's pace (106.2) will enable a ton of scoring opportunities for Jokic and the Nuggets.
Bonus centers: Joel Embiid ($9,900), Richaun Holmes ($5,700)
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