John Wall, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James are just three studs to play in Daily Fantasy Basketball on January 27, 2017.
The beautiful thing about daily fantasy sports is if you have a bad night the night before, it doesn’t screw up your entire season. Depresion — something fantasy players often experience — only lasts a fraction of the time in daily fantasy, as opposed to the traditional version.When it comes to building a daily lineup, you should look for these areas to attack:
Target games with highest projected over/under for the night:
Why is this important? If the game is projected to score a lot of points, you want in on it. Vegas does a very good job at projecting this and you should take advantage. The higher score, the more possessions in the game. You want your players in high-scoring games with a lot of possessions.
Injuries/Opportunity:
Daily fantasy basketball is all about opportunity. If a starter is hurt, then a bench player receives a boost in minutes. You want to target players who are projected to get 25-plus minutes a night or more. The more minutes they play, the more points they will pour in.
There are apps, such as Fantasylabs and RotoGrinders, that let you know if someone is injured or won’t play. If that’s the case, target their backups and save yourself money.
Pricing:
Check the pricing of the players every night. It changes based on the previous night or week. If a player is on a hot streak his price will go up. If he is on a cold streak, his price goes down.
Try to find lower priced players who are on hot streaks and getting minutes because of an injury or opportunity that comes up. It is all about pricing. It would be good to get all the best players but there is a salary cap.
Find cheaper players so you can fit the studs in your lineup.
Know the scoring system:
On FanDuel and Draft Kings, the scoring is different. Fanduel is cut and dry. You don’t get milestones and bonuses (double-doubles and triple-doubles or a bonus for a made three).
On DraftKings you get bonuses for 3-point made and milestone bonuses for double-doubles and triple-doubles. Knowing this can be the difference in rostering one player over another.
Here are our daily fantasy basketball plays for January 27, 2017:
Point Guard
Stud: John Wall @ Atlanta Hawks
Over his last nine games, he has scored over 41 Draft Kings points in eight of them. Atlanta Hawks are bottom five when it comes to guarding point guards. John Wall is as consistent as they come in the NBA this year. This game should stay close and it has an over/under at 213 (it might change by the time tip-off happens). Plug John Wall in your lineup and don’t have any second thoughts.
Value Play: Kemba Walker @ New York Knicks
There are few places in the NBA that players get amped up to play at and MSG is one of them, especially for Kemba Walker.
This is more of a gut call but I believe every time Kemba steps on the court at MSG he turns into UConn Kemba who carried them to a Big East title almost single handily. He has had a floor of around 30 DK points a game with a ceiling of 58 within the last month. He is consistent and in a good matchup versus Derrick Rose. You always attack Derrick Rose on defense. This game has a projection of 212 and being a one-point game.
Shooting Guard
Stud: Dwayne Wade vs Miami
Wade vs. Miami in a revenge game is as good as it gets. The real question is, “Does Pat Riley show up for the game?” If he does, Wade might drop 40 tonight.
Wade recently called out his teammates for not caring and after that, he needs to keep up his high level of play. Over the last three games, he has scored 58, 49 and 47 DK points. He always goes under owned and he has an off day since his last game. He will be healthy and ready to take on Heat and with Dion Waiters, Rodney McGruder or Wayne Ellington guarding him, he should be in everyone’s lineup tonight.
This game has a lower total of 204 but is projected to be a two point game. I am only attacking it with two players (Wade and Waiters).
Value play: Dion Waiters @ Chicago Bulls
This all depends on who guards him. If Jimmy Butler guards him, he might not do as well. If Wade guards him, load up on Waiters. Over his last three games, he has scored 42, 48, and 44 DK points. He also has shot the ball 18, 19 and 20 times.
Whenever someone shoots that much and at his reasonable price, you lock him in your lineup. Miami has a ton of injuries and with all the minutes and shots he can handle, he is the type of player you are looking for to help you win a tournament.
Small Forward
Stud: LeBron James vs Brooklyn Nets
Uhhhh, yeah, you think?
Don’t over think this one. He is the best player in the world going against the worst team in the world. There is nobody on this team that can come close to matching up with him. I am a little scared he may sit but with the way the Cavs have been playing and losing to teams that are pretty bad, he may play and make this a statement game.
LeBron has been doing his part recently by scoring 60-plus DK points in three or his last four games and with Brooklyn being almost dead last in every defensive category. He could score a season high in points this game. If one of the big three on Cleveland sits, you start the other two no matter what. When one of them sits, the other two go bananas every night.
This game has a huge total at 225 with the Cas scoring 117 points. Even if this game gets out of hand, Cleveland’s big three will still snatch stats pretty easily.
Value play: DeMarre Carroll vs Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee is dead last in guard the small forward position. Players such as Trevor Ariza (32 DK points) and Aaron Gordon (35 DK points) have enjoyed really good nights against them. Carroll’s talents mirror the two listed above and with his price being so low on DK, he should be in your lineups to help you put in the studs everywhere else.
Power Forward
Stud: Kevin Love vs Brooklyn Nets
Kevin Love is very underrated as a fantasy option. He scores and rebounds with the best in the league and he also makes threes. On DK, you get a bonus for double-doubles and made threes (.5 points more). Last time these two teams played on Dec. 23, Love played 25 minutes and had 36 DK points. He shot very poorly that night (4-14) but still managed a double-double.
With how Cleveland has been playing lately, this game can stay close. Even if it doesn’t Love has proven that with limited minutes he can still put up a good stat line. Again, Cleveland is projected to score the most points on this slate and because of that, you can load up on Cleveland’s big three. Cleveland’s scoring comes from three players.
Value plays:
- Serge Ibaka @ Boston Celtics
- Ersan Ilyasova vs Houston Rockets
- Ryan Anderson @ Philadelphia 76ers
All three of these are in elite matchups and are priced way too low. The Celtics can’t guard the PF position and Ibaka has been very consistent on games that have stayed close this year. Ilyasova has a great matchup in a game that will be fast paced. This game screams for a high total (217) and will be fast paced.
Houston plays at one of the fastest paces in the league and with Joel Embiid slated to come back, it will take the attention off of him. Ryan Anderson also has a great matchup and is dramatically underpriced on DK. Pair him up with Carroll and you will be able to afford another stud in your lineup tonight.
Center
Stud: DeMarcus Cousins @ Indiana Pacers
Every night this guy plays, I find a way to get him in my lineups. Indiana can’t guard opposing bigs and Cousins will have a field day on them tonight. He has scored 71,56 and 63 DK points in his last three games and he is an elite option tonight. Try to build your lineup around him and LeBron tonight and you should have a lineup that can compete to take down a tournament.
Value Play: Dwight Howard vs Washington Wizards
Dwight is very low priced for some reason and he has been very good over the last three games by scoring 38,39 and 40 DK points. If you want to have more value plays in your lineup instead of some high owned studs, Howard is a guy you must have in your lineup.