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Just a five-game slate on tap tonight as there are three matinee contests in the NBA as well as the almighty NFL Championship Round games kicking off at 2:00 pm CT. It's a bit of an odd slate as three of the games (Jazz-Wolves, Nuggets-Bucks, Spurs-Suns) are miles ahead of the other two (Cavaliers-Pistons, Mavericks-Magic) in terms of implied totals and, thus, appeal in daily fantasy contests.
Jokic, Giannis, and Luka are the highlights at the top of the player pool, though Booker, CP3, and KAT are also attractive options at the high end. Donovan Mitchell, Deandre Ayton, D'Angelo Russell, Will Barton, Patrick Beverley, and JaVale McGee are the notable players who come into the day with questionable tags.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 1/30/22. Remember to monitor NBA injury news and our live-updating NBA injury updates tool as the slate can completely change before lineups lock. As always, feel free to follow my Twitter (@RING_DFS) - I post about a variety of things but mainly NBA DFS with my K-Rate and Positional K-Rate model. Let's get to it, good luck RotoBallers!
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DraftKings and FanDuel Guards - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Luka Doncic - PG, DAL vs. IND ($11,200 DK, $10,800 FD)
Luka is on a roll, and I'm not in the business of recommending to fade this guy when he's hot. He went for 30/6/12/2/1 (64.5 DK points) last night in just 32 minutes of action, and he has exceeded what he'd need for 5x value tonight in five of his previous seven contests. That stretch included two games over the 70 DK point mark, which is a number that only two other players on this slate can realistically hit (Jokic and Giannis). The game environment isn't pretty, but it wasn't ideal last night against the Pacers, and the Slovenian still managed to crush value with a monster total. The Magic are allowing the sixth-most fantasy points per game to opposing teams for the season - I expect Luka to take full advantage.
Tre Jones - PG, SAS vs. PHX ($3,000 DK, $4,100 FD)
Jones is the first of many Spurs that we're forced to strongly consider on tonight's slate. The Spurs' top three players (Murray, White, and Poeltl) will be inactive, which means Jones will be stepping into hefty minutes as the de-facto starting point guard against the Suns. He holds a low usage rate, but he averages a strong 0.88 FPTS/min with those players off the floor and has generally been valuable when given at least 20 minutes this season. The Suns rank middle-of-the-pack against opposing point guards, but this is more of a "snag the value to unlock the rest of your lineup" type situation.
Anthony Edwards - SG/SF, MIN vs. UTA ($8,500 DK, $8,600 FD)
Note: This pick is entirely dependent on D'Angelo Russell (Q) being inactive. Ant becomes a much more volatile - but still useable - play at his price if D'Lo is ultimately ruled in.
The second-year, former #1 overall pick is well on his way to assuming the "lead dog" role on this Wolves team. Ant's salary is starting to creep up, but it will be fully warranted if D'Lo is ruled out and we just had an example of this on Friday. Edwards went off for 61.25 DK points in a really tough matchup against the Suns with both D'Lo and Beverley out of the lineup, marking his second eye-popping game over his last three. He totaled 65.25 DK points on 1/25 against the Blazers, which came with both Russell and Towns in the lineup. With Russell out, as it's looking like he may be tonight, Edwards averages a team-high 31.2% usage rate and his 1.27 FPTS/min is just barely behind Towns for the team lead. The matchup is better than you'd think, too, both from a game environment and positional standpoint. The game projects to be the second-fastest paced on the slate and has a high implied total, while the Jazz have allowed the 12th-most FPPG to SG's on the season and the fifth-most FPPG to SG's over their last seven games.
Others to consider: Isaac Okoro ($3,900 DK, $4,000 FD), Jalen Brunson ($6,200 DK, $5,600 FD), Donte DiVincenzo ($3,700 DK), Jordan Clarkson ($6,700 DK, $5,700 FD)
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DraftKings and FanDuel Forwards - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Lonnie Walker IV - SG/SF, SAS vs. PHX ($3,400 DK)
I'd rather get to Devin Vassell and Doug McDermott over on FanDuel, but Walker's pricing on DraftKings is absolutely broken when considering his potential role tonight. With Murray, White, and Poeltl out of the lineup, Walker leads the team with a 25.4% usage rate and his fantasy production jumps to 0.94 FPTS/min. He's going to play a ton of minutes and hoist up a bunch of shots simply out of necessity in this one, and that's something we have to jump on at his rock-bottom salary.
Giannis Antetokounmpo - PC/C, MIL vs. DEN ($11,800 DK, $11,000 FD)
There's enough value on this slate that we can easily fit in two of Giannis, Doncic, and Jokic in the same lineups tonight. When you can do something like that, do it. This game profiles as a top one to target in DFS tonight, and the Nuggets have allowed the 10th-most fantasy points per game over their last seven contests. He's not in "can't-miss" form as he has dropped a few lineup-crushing outputs lately, but he's just as likely to go for 60-70+ DK points as anyone else on the slate, and that kind of upside can't be ignored. I like the Giannis + Jokic/Doncic combo better over on FanDuel at his softer pricing over there, but you can feel free to get to him on both sites tonight.
Maxi Kleber - PF/C, DAL vs. ORL ($3,700 DK, $4,200 FD)
Others to consider: Devin Vassell ($4,100 DK, $4,900 FD), Bobby Portis ($6,500 DK, $6,300 FD), Doug McDermott ($3,500 DK, $3,700 FD), Marquese Chriss ($3,000 DK), Keldon Johnson ($5,400 DK, $5,900 FD), Dorian Finney-Smith ($4,500 DK, $4,300 FD), Saddiq Bey ($5,600 FD), Dwight Powell ($3,300 DK, $3,500 FD), Bojan Bogdanovic ($6,200 DK, $5,500 FD)
DraftKings and FanDuel Centers - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Nikola Jokic - C, DEN vs. MIL ($12,400 DK, $11,500 FD)
"If it's a day that ends in Y then Joker is in play" - Dan Palyo, Lead NBA Analyst
Truer words have never been spoken. Joker has exceeded what he'd need for 5x value tonight (62 DK points) in six of his last seven games. We're just six games removed from his 93 DK point performance. I shouldn't even need to keep going after that sentence, but I will. This is going to be the top game to target as it holds the highest implied total and two defenses that are allowing the 10th (DEN) and 11th (MIL) most fantasy points per game over their last seven contests. Obviously, we want to jam Jokic into lineups whenever that is the case. The Giannis + Jokic game stack is entirely in play tonight.
Jock Landale - C, SAS vs. PHX ($3,000 DK, $3,600 FD)
Jock averages a team-high 1.11 FPTS/min with Poeltl, Murray, and White off the floor. It's not the smallest sample size in the world, either, as he's sustaining that high rate over 155.8 minutes of action. He's projecting to play somewhere around the range of 25 minutes, and that gets him to 27 DK points and well over what he'd need for 5x value on both sites. The Suns rank well against opposing centers, but this is much more of a value play than a matchup play. Lock and Load with Jock.
Others to consider: Hassan Whiteside ($6,400 DK, $6,500 FD), Drew Eubanks ($3,000 DK, $3,800 FD)
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