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Mike Marteny highlights the top FanDuel NBA DFS lineup picks for 3/2/21, and a couple of sleepers to consider while building daily rosters.
We have a solid six-game slate in the NBA tonight. It may surprise you to hear that the Memphis-Wizards total is only one point higher than Nuggets-Bucks. The Wizards don't play a lot of defense and Memphis doesn't either. The fact that the Nuggets on night two of a back-to-back set are in what is supposed to be a track meet with the Bucks is a bit surprising. The value pieces from those games will have to weigh a little heavier with the implied totals above 236 in those games.
Anthony Davis and Marcus Smart are still out. Jaylen Brown and Jimmy Butler are battling sore knees. LeBron is perpetually questionable but hasn't missed a game yet. That opens up a bit of value, but we wont know for sure until we get concrete news on Brown and Butler. Make sure to take advantage of all the tools we offer here at Rotoballer on nights like this when injury news is imperative towards gaining an edge in your lineup.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on 3/2/21. 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.
FanDuel DFS Guards
Bradley Beal, SG – vs. Memphis ($10,200)
If you want the best, you have to pay for it. Beal is an elite scorer even with Westbrook in town. This promises to be a high scoring game, and though I expect Westbrook to score high as well, Beal's elite scoring will be the engine driving this game. Beal is one of the only guys in the league who could legitimately score half of the team's points in any given game. His ceiling might be the highest on the slate, but I only say that because Denver is on the tail end of a back-to-back playing the Bucks.
Ja Morant, PG – at Washington ($7,100)
Morant went cold in a smash spot against Houston. We all know that many DFS players use recency bias whether they mean to or not. Don't let this be you. Morant has an enormous ceiling against a team that allows a ton of points to every position. Morant could take on even more of a scoring load if Kyle Anderson is forced to miss this game. The Grizzlies are a little more balanced in scoring than Washington is, but even if Morant isn't scoring, he's doing enough other things to give him a strong floor.
Goran Dragic, PG – vs. Atlanta ($5,400)
Dragic was a bit of a disappointment in this same matchup just two days ago. The interesting part about all of these mirrored matchups so close together this season is that the same results rarely occur in both matchups. If a player struggles the first time, more often than not he doesn't in the second and vice versa. I expect Dragic to rebound in a big way here because I'm following the trends of an unprecedented season.
Also consider: Russell Westbrook ($9,600), Derrick Rose ($6,200), Lonnie Walker ($4,200)
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FanDuel DFS Forwards
Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF – vs. Denver ($11,300)
I can't think of a good reason not to pay up for Giannis. He has at least 50 FanDuel points in ten straight games. Only two of those games have been under 60 and he has topped 70 four times. Nobody else even comes close to the recent output of Giannis. I don't even think the opponent matters anymore considering he broke 70 against the Clippers in his last outing. If he plays 30 minutes, he's getting 70. That seems like a given tonight.
Michael Porter, SF – at Milwaukee ($6,300)
I feel a little dirty even typing this. Love or hate Porter, the ceiling is about as good as you'll find. The problem is that his floor is about 20% of his ceiling. This kind of volatility is maddening in DFS, but just the fact that we can get this kind of potential at this price in the game with the second-highest implied total on the slate is crazy. Porter is still a GPP only play, but I'll be riding him heavily to see if his little two-game heater can continue against a Milwaukee team that has given up more than 110 points in eight of the last ten games.
Nerlens Noel, PF – at San Antonio ($5,500)
We have always wondered what would happen if Noel got minutes. We don't have to wonder anymore. Noel has played 80 minutes over the last two games with Mitchell Robinson and Taj Gibson ailing. This should be another heavy minutes game for Noel against a Spurs team that has been largely terrorized up front. Noel has 66.1 FanDuel points over the last two games. I'll take that 6x value. If Noel can score some actual points, he could put up some huge numbers.
Also consider: Julius Randle ($9,500), Bam Adebayo ($8,700), Serge Ibaka ($6,300), Will Barton ($4,900)
FanDuel DFS Centers
Nikola Jokic – at Milwaukee ($11,000)
The Nuggets have made it a point to make sure everything runs through Jokic, especially towards the end of games. That always gives him a very high ceiling. Jokic was one assist shy of a triple-double last night against the Bulls and scored 39 actual points. Don't expect him to be quite as dynamic from a DFS standpoint tonight, but the potential is still going to be there for a big game. I just don't know if I can justify taking him over Giannis and/or Beal. I'd feel better pairing him with one of the two.
Jonas Valanciunas – at Washington ($7,000)
At Washington says it all. They can't guard anyone and half the time they don't even try. The point and center seem to be the worst with Thomas Bryant still out of the picture. This seems like a low price for Valanciunas, but the Grizzlies rarely run him 30 minutes in a game. That does severely limit the upside, but he can easily hit 6x value in less than 30 minutes against this team.
Jakob Poeltl – vs. New York ($5,800)
It's not as hard to pay down at center as you may think tonight. I believe there is massive leverage to be gained by fading Jokic on the second night of a back-to-back. I like the upside on Jonas, but the low ceiling is unappealing. That leaves Poeltl. He was on my do-not-play list as little as three weeks ago, but now that he is starting and playing minutes in the low to mid 30's, he is finally worth the price. In fact, he's more than worth it. Poeltl is severely underpriced considering he has at least 7x value at this price in three of the last five games and hasn't been under 5x. Paying down at center on FanDuel isn't a practice that I normally engage in, but it will be tonight.
Also consider: Clint Capela ($8,500), Montrezl Harrell ($6,500), Kelly Olynyk ($4,400)
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