DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks (4/23/21): NBA DFS Lineups

April 23, 2021

The top daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on April 23, 2021. Mike Marteny provides NBA DFS analysis and sleeper picks for building optimal DFS rosters.

We have a solid seven-game NBA slate on tap tonight, at least on the surface. Once we look closer, it becomes less appealing. Trae Young joins the long list of injured players on this slate, and that doesn't even take into consideration the ones that will rest. The Clippers are on this slate against a bad Houston team. There's a chance they only suit up seven and the waterboy tonight.

The Wizards and Thunder have the high total at 230 tonight. The Nuggets-Warriors are close behind. The Hornets and Cavs are the only total under 210 right now. The only one that might join them there would be the Heat and Hawks with Young out. We should have been high on Thunder-Wizards anyway. This serves more for affirmation than anything else.

This article will supply you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for the DraftKings on 4/23/21. You can also check out today’s FanDuel lineup picks. It’s also important to monitor injury news as a result of COVID-19 as the slate can completely change before line-up lock. Without further ado, let’s dive into the picks! 

DraftKings DFS Guards

Russell Westbrook - PG, at Oklahoma City ($11,000)

It's impossible to fade Westbrook in cash games and getting increasingly harder to do so in GPP formats as well. Westbrook hasn't been under 50 DraftKings points since March 23 and has only been under 55 twice in the 17 games since then. 5x value has to be considered his floor right now. In fact, Westbrook hasn't been under that mark since April 3. It's nearly impossible to find this kind of upside in the high salary ranks where the players need mid-50's just to not be a bust. Westbrook is one assist against the Pelicans on April 16 shy of 11 consecutive triple-doubles. He's a cash lock right now and still has ample upside for GPP usage.

Paul George - SG, at Houston ($9,300)

It's the Clippers, so at the very least I'm worried that they wont let George play more than 30 minutes. Still, this is an elite matchup for George and Kawhi Leonard is still out of commission. We saw George still put up 45.75 DraftKings points in just 27 minutes against Minnesota over the weekend. The Timberwolves are the closest comparison to the Rockets right now, so even if this game gets out of hand and the Clippers rest George, he should still hit 5x value.

Collin Sexton - PG/SG, at Charlotte ($7,300)

Sexton has only been under 35 DraftKings points once in the entire month of April and he was still comfortably over 30 in that game. Sexton has taken it a step further lately by going past 45 DraftKings points in the last two games against Detroit and Chicago. The Hornets will provide a little more resistance, but I'm still willing to bet that Sexton hits 5x value at the least. He is underpriced on DraftKings tonight.

P.J. Dozier - SG/SF, at Golden State ($3,800)

Dozier is one of the Denver guards that is benefitting from the absence of Jamal Murray. The difference is that Dozier didn't get the huge price jump that Facundo Campazzo and Monte Morris got. The little secret here is that Dozier has been better than both of them with Murray out. Dozier has 96 DraftKings points in the four games that the Nuggest have been without Murray. That's 7.5x value. Sign me up!

Bonus Guards: Kyrie Irving ($10,100), Ja Morant ($7,200), Darius Garland ($6,800), Kenrich Williams ($4,900)

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DraftKings DFS Forwards

Miles Bridges - SF/PF, vs. Cleveland ($8,000)

Just the fact that Bridges gets top billing should tell you all that you need to know about tonight's forward pool. It's littered with injuries and overpriced guys. I'll save a couple of thousand and at least get some upside with Bridges. He has more than 35 DraftKings points in four of the last five, so it seems as though the Hornets are content to let him take as many shots as he wants. Bridges is just 23 years old, so he shouldn't need to be rested on the second night of a back-to-back and he gets a very nice matchup here.

Draymond Green  - PF/C, vs. Denver ($6,900)

Foul trouble has limited Green's production a bit lately, but he's still getting right around 30 DraftKings points per game. That's a little below what we've come to expect from him, but whenever you have a shot at a triple-double for this low of a price, it's worth considering. Green is still flirting with those on a regular basis with points being the category that he misses the most often. Green put up 45.25 DraftKings points on Denver back on April 12. I could see him getting somewhere close to that mark tonight.

Darius Bazley - PF, vs. Washington ($6,400)

The Thunder desperately needed scoring with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out and they were having serious problems getting it. That is until Bazley came back into the fold. Only Utah has held Bazley to single-digit real points and under 30 DraftKings points. That was in his second game back, so will give Bazley a bit of a pass on that one. Bazley is looking like a guy that can carry this team. This is a tasty matchup with the Wizards. The same Wizards team that he put up 39.25 DraftKings points on just four days ago.

Davis Bertans - SF/PF, at Oklahoma City ($4,300)

DraftKings forgot to adjust the price on Bertans after he put up 30.5 DraftKings points on the Warriors. He also attempted more two-pointers than he had all month prior to that game. Bertans put up 30.75 DraftKings points against this same Thunder team in the game before the Warriors game. That gives him 30+ in back-to-back games. This Washington team is going to rack up a bunch of points and Bertans has proven that he's one of the ones that will help. He's a steal at this price in this matchup.

Bonus Forwards: Bradley Beal ($9,600), Michael Porter Jr. ($7,700), Kelly Oubre Jr. ($5,800), Carmelo Anthony ($4,100)

DraftKings DFS Centers

Nikola Jokic - C, at Portland ($10,900)

Forget the matchup. I don't even care who Jokic is playing anymore. He's a triple-double threat every night with Jamal Murray out. Portland became the first team in nearly a month to hold him under 50 DraftKings points. I would expect him to be back in familiar territory tonight against a Golden State team that he hung 58 DraftKings points on 11 days ago.

Jusuf Nurkic - C, vs. Memphis($5,200)

Memphis isn't the same defensively without Jonas Valanciunas in there. We know that Portland isn't going to turn Nurkic loose just yet, but he is back to playing around 28 minutes per game. That's plenty long enough for him to hit value at this price. Nurkic wont hit a true ceiling game until some time in the playoffs, but in the meantime, I can be happy with a ceiling of around 7x value. He could hit that against Memphis if he plays about 30 minutes.

Daniel Gafford - C, at Oklahoma City ($3,800)

Here's more proof that DraftKings is slacking off on pricing, particularly in the case of the Washington Wizards. Gafford has 119.5 DraftKings points over the last four games and his price is still this low. That's north of 9x value! If Gafford isn't in your lineups, move on from NBA DFS until the playoffs. This is the kind of value pick that allows the winning lineups to hit 400 like they have in recent weeks. DraftKings is asleep at the wheel. This is one of those that you really have to take advantage of.

Bonus Centers: Clint Capela ($8,800), Tristan Thompson ($4,900), Xavier Tillman ($4,600), Isaiah Hartenstein ($4,000)

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