Sunday brings about a stupendous seven-game NBA slate with a 7:00 p.m. ET tipoff on DraftKings and FanDuel. There are plenty of valuable options in the player pool to analyze for the best NBA DFS building blocks and NBA DFS picks. Let’s dive into the top picks and core plays for today. like Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and some Phoenix value.
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The NBA Lineup Generator is a powerful, easy-to-use tool that simplifies building your DFS lineups. Just select your DFS platform and slate, adjust the ownership level (chalky, contrarian, balanced, or all), and lock in any players you want. Once your settings are set, the Lineup Generator will create high-ROI lineups and provide valuable insights to guide your choices.
Check out the screenshot for an example of a very chalky lineup we crafted for today’s DraftKings main slate — where we locked in Devin Booker. For more tips, head over to our NBA Lineup Generator guide.
Kevin Durant strained his calf in the last game, so the Suns are going to let him rest for at least two weeks before even considering a timetable for a return.
After rupturing his right Achilles tendon in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, Durant has dealt with a myriad of other injuries.
Since then, Durant has played in 35, 55, 47 and 75 games. Yes, last year was a high-water mark, and the then-35-year-old even averaged 37.2 minutes per tilt. This year, despite the future Hall of Famer being a year older, new head coach Mike Budenholzer felt the need for Durant to average 38.8 minutes per game. That figure trailed only Tyrese Maxey, who was logging 39.7 minutes per game before going down with his own injury last week.
Such is life, and this, of course, is a massive change for the fantasy landscape as it opens up 17.9 field goal attempts, 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists, in addition to the minutes. Clearly, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal will be absorbing a significant portion of the offense, but there will still be plenty to go around for the other key members of the rotation.
Since joining forces, when Booker is on the court without Durant, he averages around 1.2 fantasy points per minute for around a 10% increase in production. Over the last two seasons, Booker was averaging nearly 27.5 points per game, so his 23.1 rate this season has room for growth. Booker has never really been the model of health, and he is averaging 36.6 minutes per game this season, which is a career high. Over the last seven seasons, Booker has averaged 63.4 games, so the high workload is a little concerning for him as well. That should not dissuade anyone from taking him tonight, but it is worth keeping in mind over the next couple weeks.
Beal was plagued with lower-leg issues, including severe shin splints for his first few seasons, though in year 5 he played 77 games, all 82 in his sixth season and then hit 82 again while leading the league with 36.9 minutes per game. In the subsequent five years after that, he averaged 52 games per campaign, in line with his 53 last year. Yes, some of those games were when he was mad about not getting a max contract and then being mad about playing for a bad team after getting that deal. But the point remains; he is a delicate flower as well.
Beal is looking like one of the most popular options tonight, and we should not shy away from rolling with him in a majority of lineups. He averages around 0.9 fantasy points per minute when he is on the court without Durant, and the 31-year-old will likely approach 20 field goal attempts with this top-heavy team losing a key contributor.
Royce O’Neale should see a significant increase in his minutes, as he has been playing around 26 per game off the bench. He does a little bit of everything, and while his fantasy production is not going to wow anyone on a nightly basis, he should have a couple games where he is one of the more prominent point-per-dollar options. Jusuf Nurkic may pick up a couple of minutes, and he will have one less efficient scorer and rebounder to compete with on his team.
Tyus Jones and Grayson Allen will also benefit from the trickledown effect, with both having reasonable featured-slate differentiation possibilities, and the duo moves into secondary consideration on the evening sub-slate.
None of the Sacramento players stand out for the giant tournaments on DraftKings, though adding one to a Phoenix-heavy lineup is a way to gain some in-game synergy. DeMar DeRozan and De’Aaron Fox are projecting for just above double-digit popularity on FanDuel, so they are more apt to organically land in lineups with their Phoenix counterparts.
Domantas Sabonis does have triple-doubles in two of the last three games when he was facing Nurkic, who is far from a staunch defender. Sabonis is in play on the FanDuel sportsbook, with a +420 line to record a triple-double.
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Anthony Davis is currently leading the league with 32.4 points per game. That is a massive number and well above anything he has done in his career, let alone his five season in Los Angeles. He also is averaging 36.3 minutes per game, which is his highest rate since the 2017-18 season when he had a personal-best 36.4 minutes per game in his age-24 season.
This is a great spot for the Lakers as the team definitely needs a win, and it is a true island game with the team last playing on Friday and not lacing them up again until Wednesday. There is always some sort of shenanigans that occur with Sunday NBA, though it would seem that the Lakers may not contribute to it.
This is the fourth game in seven days for Toronto, and the Raptors lost last night to the Clippers. Obviously, getting the Los Angeles back-to-back cuts down on the travels, though the understaffed team is currently a double-digit underdog. Immanuel Quickley returned to action last night, but he is expected to rest this game. Ochai Agbaji led the team with 36 minutes last night, followed by Gradey Dick (34), Jakob Poeltl (30) and RJ Barrett (30). That is the core four worthy of our consideration in the DFS world as well, though mostly for the late-slate tournaments.
For those who are not enthralled by Davis in DFS, there is some value in the under on his 12.5 rebounds prop, which is worthy of our attention.
By using Portfolio EV to do the heavy lifting when researching favorable bets, we can quickly spot inefficient odds like this one, and having accounts at multiple sportsbooks allows us to pivot to the best number quickly.
This pits the books against each other, which shows that SugarHouse, BetRivers and Unibet have posted +100 odds that are above the rest of the major operators. Odds are constantly shifting and moving, so when you find a good number, pounce on it. That is the beauty and power of Portfolio EV to find the best odds at any point in the day.
Stokastic’s Advanced NBA Statistical Projections have Davis projected for 34.5 minutes and 12.48 rebounds. That is a tick below 13 needed for this under to fail, and with the 51% win rate, we can see that it is crucial to get even money. In his eight games this season, Davis has 13 or more rebounds three times. He had 11 when he dropped 38 points on the Raptors in Toronto, so we already know he is not worried about Poeltl in the paint. The hope here is that the Raptors are not able to keep the game close down the stretch, and the Lakers allow some of their understudies to put a win on ice.
For those of you who want to feel alive, there is decent value on the under for Tyus Jones staying under two made 3-point attempts. That is currently available at +123 on SugarHouse, BetRivers and Unibet. This is likely to go down to the wire, and Jones may feel inclined to help out more on offense with Durant out. Over the last three seasons, in 155 games with Memphis, Washington and Phoenix, Jones is averaging 1.6 made 3-pointers on 4.0 attempts. This has held consistent across the stops while also seeing him go from a reserve to a full-time starter.
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