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We have a typically compact five-game slate on tap Thursday night, one that will be missing a trio of star guards in Ja Morant, Damian Lillard and Devin Booker due to injury. Neverthless, there are still plenty of top-shelf options to stock rosters with, as well as a number of very appealing mid-salary and value plays, some rising to the forefront as a result of key absences on their team.
Oddsmakers are projecting a relatively competitive slate as well, with three of the five games sporting spreads of five points or fewer on FanDuel Sportsbook as of Thursday morning, and a fourth, the Thunder-Grizzlies battle, potentially set to be more competitive than the 8.5-point spread in favor of Memphis implies due to Morant's absence.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on 12/2/21. I’ll be providing multiple player suggestions for players at guard, forward and center on FanDuel, aiming to highlight one option apiece at the high, middle and lower end of the salary scale. You can also check out DraftKings lineup picks and injury news before lineups lock. Good luck, RotoBallers.
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FanDuel Guards - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Dejounte Murray, PG – at POR ($9,800)
Murray continues to put together a career-best season and comes into Thursday averaging 46.5 FD points per contest. The five-year veteran comes in on quite the four-game heater as well, a stretch where he's averaging 53.5 FD points per contest on the strength of a trio of tallies over 50. Murray finds himself in another favorable position through which to overdeliver on salary again Thursday, as the Lillard-less Blazers check in allowing 45.7 FD points per game to PGs, along with the seventh-highest three-point shooting percentage of any team on its home floor (36.4). High as his salary is, Murray has already delivered over a 5x return on it in nine of 19 games this season, strengthening his case even further.
C.J. McCollum, SG – vs. SA ($8,000)
McCollum totaled 46.8 FD points across 36 minutes against the Pistons in the first game of Lillard's current absence Tuesday, and he's sporting a 31.5 percent usage rate and averaging 38.4 FD points per 36 with Dame off the floor overall this season. The veteran wing will naturally take on a major offensive burden again Thursday against a Spurs team that's given up 38.5 FD points per contest to SGs over the last 15 games, and that's ranked in the bottom 10 in three-point percentage surrendered on the road (36.0). McCollum has already delivered over 5x return on his current salary in eight of 22 games this season, and that number should only continue to quickly rise while Lillard is out of action.
Dillon Brooks, SG – vs. OKC ($5,800)
Another shooting guard missing his star backcourt mate -- and whose salary isn't anywhere near reflective of his increased usage -- is Brooks, who'll once again operate without Morant on Thursday. In the star point guard's first two absences due to a knee sprain, Brooks has scored 35.7 and 33.3 FD points, and he boasts a team-high 34.4 percent usage rate and is averaging 43.2 FD points per 36 minutes with Morant off the floor overall this season. The Thunder ranks in the bottom half of the league in offensive efficiency allowed to shooting guards (20.5 percent), and OKC is allowing 39.1 FD points per contest to the position overall this season.
Also consider: Chris Paul ($8,400)
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FanDuel Forwards - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF – at TOR ($11,000)
Antetokounmpo is coming off having racked up a whopping 64.9 FD points in a very favorable matchup against the Hornets on Wednesday, and despite the back-to-back scenario, he remains a very viable play Thursday. The Raptors come in allowing 47.9 FD points per game to PFs over the last seven games; additionally, Toronto ranks in the bottom half of the league in offensive efficiency allowed to frontcourt players (77.5 percent) and in the bottom 10 in offensive efficiency allowed in the paint (58.1 percent). Giannis has FD-point totals of 52.4, 51.0 and 73.5 in the three back ends of back-to-back sets he's played this season, further supporting the notion he can deliver handsomely again Thursday.
Pascal Siakam, PF – vs. MIL ($8,000)
Siakam makes for an intriguing option on the other side of the Raptors-Bucks matchup at a reasonable salary relative to upside. Siakam has scored 36.2 to 45.1 FD points in four of the last six contests, and at least 31.4 in each game during that span. The big man also draws a reasonably favorable positional matchup in his current position of center, as Milwaukee has allowed 48.5 FD points per game to fives for the season, along with the eighth-most total rebounds per contest overall (54.8).
Jaren Jackson Jr., PF – vs. OKC ($6,900)
Jackson is another member of the Grizzlies that is taking on plenty of extra responsibility with Morant out, scoring 32.8 and 46.7 FD points in the first two games of the guard's absence. The big man is right behind Brooks in usage rate with Morant off the floor (31.3 percent), and he's averaging a team-high 50.2 FD points per 36 minutes without his teammate available. The Thunder makes for an excellent target as well, as OKC is allowing NBA-high 30.3 percent offensive efficiency to power forwards, along with the second-most FD points per game to the position on the season (50.7). The Thunder is also conceding the second-most total rebounds per road game (59.1), another factor in Jackson's favor.
Also consider: Jerami Grant ($7,500)
FanDuel Centers - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Nikola Vucevic – at NYK ($8,800)
Vucevic has come back from COVID-19 protocols on a tear, scoring 31.1 to 58.3 FD points in his first four games while shooting 49.1 percent, including 50.0 percent from three-point range. The veteran missed the most recent Knicks-Bulls clash, but he scored 43.1 FD points across 36 minutes in the first one back on Oct. 28. New York has allowed 49.7 FD points per game to centers for the season as well, and they've actually been more susceptible to three-point shooting at home (35.2 percent) than on the road (33.2 percent). What's more, the Knicks are surrendering the fifth-most rebounds per home game (56.4), while Vucevic is pulling down a robust 11.2 boards per contest.
Jusuf Nurkic – vs. SA ($6,700)
Nurkic turned in 34.1 FD points over 27 minutes in the first game of Lillard's current absence Tuesday, but he'd actually already been on a strong stretch of production that included tallies of 29.5 to 56.9 FD points in five of the previous six games as well. The big man is averaging 37.7 FD points per 36 minutes with Lillard off the floor overall, and the Spurs' work against centers includes allowing 57.6 FD points per game to the position over the last seven, along with the ninth-highest offensive efficiency to the position on the season (33.2 percent). San Antonio also ranks in the bottom 10 in total rebounds allowed per road game (54.4), while Nurkic is averaging a career-high 10.8 rebounds per contest.
Also consider: Julius Randle ($8,500)
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