DFS NBA FanDuel Starting 5 Lineup Advice 1/22/18
What’s up GoingFor2? Hope everyone had a great weekend. I had a rebound weekend in Starting 5 contests. After a four-day losing streak, I won everything back and then some Saturday and Sunday. We also have our Super Bowl matchup, so be on the lookout for GoingFor2’s annual Super Bowl preview GoingFor2 style.
It should make for an interesting article considering I have 5-to-6 writers that our Eagles fans and the entire MomentumShift Radio crew are all Eagles fans. If you have never read one of our preview articles, we will have a bunch of writers contribute to one article. It makes for an interesting read, especially if you follow any of our writers on a regular basis.
Let’s get to why you’re here. I adapted my normal full write-up to the Starting 5. If you are unfamiliar with my style, be sure to check out the Legend below our sponsor Bovada’s banner…
NBA DFS Legend
| Nothing But Net | My top plays of the night at his position. |
| Dunk | A Dunk is a second or third tier player with the highest upside. |
| Half-Court Shot | Otherwise known as a “punt play.” A Low-priced, high-upside player. |
| Blocked Shot | A player I’ll be avoiding. Otherwise known as “Fading.” |
**Main Slate
Guards
Nothing But Net | Khris Middleton $13,500 vs PHO
Those that follow me on Twitter, Facebook or anywhere that I chat Starting 5 strategies, you will already know this, but for those that don’t… Paying up for the top-tier guys, more often than not, is not the way you win in S5, you want to aim to get 40 FanDuel points per player or 200 total points. Paying up for those $15,000-plus players means you are going to have to punt somewhere, and if that punt gets you only 20 FanDuel points, your $15,000 player needs to get you 60 to balance out the “40 per player” goal.
Okay, that was a very long way for me to tell you to roster Middleton. The Greek Freak is ruled out and Middleton’s usage rate goes up nearly 9 percent when he plays without him. He just dropped 54.8 on the Sixers, and now he gets the Suns, the worst team in the league in points allowed to shooting guards, giving up 46.06 FanDuel points per game (per Rotogrinders).
Dunk | Jrue Holiday $13,500 vs CHI
At the time column, all the Vegas lines had not been posted yet. However, the line for this game was out, and I don’t expect any game to come close to the 225 over/under for this game. You are going to need exposure to this game to cash tonight, and if you don’t wanna pay up for Anthony Davis or DeMarcus Cousins, Holiday is a good choice.
The Bulls are third worst defending the shooting guard spot, only the Clippers and Suns are worse. They give up a healthy 43.86 Fanduel points to the position and will have trouble with Holiday who has two 50 FanDuel point games over his last four.
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Half-Court Shot | Jerian Grant $10,000 @ NOP
If you really want some cheap exposure to that same game, Grant is probably the best value on the late. Kris Dunn has been ruled out for this game opening the door for Grant to get the start. He has two games this season in which he played over 25 minutes; on December 29 he scored 38.4 FanDuel points in 33 minutes and just a few nights ago he scored 26.2 in 25 minutes. That’s an average of over one Fanduel point per minute, and with Dunn out, he should push for 30-plus minutes tonight.
The Pelicans give up 45.31 FanDuel points to point guards which ranks them in the bottom third of the league. The pace of this game will also be fairly high, giving both teams a ton of shots. Grant is risky, but at $10,00, he might be worth it.
Blocked Shot | All three guards at $15,000
The Guards position tonight is so deep that I see no reason to pat up for any of these 15k guys. The Forward position is very shallow, so if you’re going to pay up, that’s where you want to do it.
Honorable Mentions: Donovan Mitchell $13,000, Andrew Wiggins $11,000, Rajon Rondo $9,500
Forwards
Nothing But Net | Anthony Davis $16,000 vs CHI
Okay, I know I went through a long explanation has to why I don’t roster the top-tier guys and here I am recommending one. This is one of those rare cases that rostering one makes sense. There isn’t a player on this slate, except maybe his teammate Cousins, with as much upside as Davis. Not to mention, Forward is a very shallow position tonight, especially if Jimmy Butler is ruled out again.
The Bulls give up 47.17 Fanduel points to power forwards and in a game with an over/under at 225, he is likely your top scorer on this entire slate. He is a must own in cash games.
Dunk | Josh Richardson $11,000 @ HOU
We may have to wait on some news for this one, as both Goran Dragic and Tyler Johnson are currently listed as questionable, but at $11,000, Richardson might be rosterable even if they both play. He has four straight games with at least 32 FanDuel points and has logged no fewer than 30 minutes in 11 straight games. In other words, he is going to play and in this pace up game against the high volume Rockets, he could easily push for 40 FanDuel points tonight.
Half-Court Shot | Denzel Valentine $9,000 @ NOP
Another inexpensive way to get exposure to this game is Valentine. While he won’t benefit as much from Dunn’s injury, he will see some benefit in minutes. Valentine has shown us that he can flirt with 40 FanDuel points if he is given the minutes, which he should see closer to 30 with Dunn out tonight. The Pelicans
The Pelicans are the eighth worst team defending the small forward position — giving up 41.85 FanDuel points.
Blocked Shot | Ben Simmons $13,000 @ MEM
A combination of his price, the pace at which the Grizzlies play and his recent struggled, I’m avoiding Simmons tonight.
Honorable Mentions: TJ Warren $11,500, Lauri Markkanen $11,000, Wesley Johnson $8,500
Centers
Nothing But Net | Dwight Howard $14,000 vs SAC
In the past, I always hated rostering Howard. You never knew when he was going to “take the night off”, but that hasn’t been the case this year. He hasn’t had fewer than 43 Fanduel points over his last six games and it doesn’t hurt that the Kings as third worst against centers overall and dead last in rebounds allowed.
Dunk | Rudy Gobert $12,500 @ ATL
Gobert played 29 and 28 minutes in his last two games, which also happened to be a back to back. I fully expected them to sit Gobert in the second game but they did not. Gobert has had three blocks in his last two games, his first two games since early December 15. He also had double-digit NBA points and a double-double in his first game back. In short, he is fine and will play in this great matchup.
Half-Court Shot | Robin Lopez $8,000 @ NOP
This is the definition of a punt, but an educated punt. Lopez will likely need to play big minutes in order to matchup up with the twin towers of Davis and Cousins, and with those minutes will come increased production. He isn’t the best scorer, but he is a good rebounder and could flirt with a double-double today.
Blocked Shot | Joel Embiid $15,000 @ MEM
Much like Ben Simmons, I don’t like the matchup, the pace or his price tag. No thanks.
Honorable Mentions: Hassan Whiteside $13,500, Marc Gasol $12,500
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