DFS NBA DraftKings Lineup Advice 1/5/21
The NBA season is fully underway and tonight we’ll have a 5 game slate. The purpose of this article is to give you my top plays, some mid-tier plays, value plays, and a fade at each position. Your research has to start somewhere so why not tune in to Goingfor2.com all season long for our FREE fantasy/sports content. Please be sure to give us and me a follow over on Twitter @GoingFor_2 and @ev_ritt3 Now let’s go ahead and dive into tonight’s slate!
Guards
Top Play | Kyrie Irving $9,300 DK $9,700 FD
Kyrie is coming off a 59 point fantasy game and I’m going to continue to ride him while he’s hot. Kevin Durant is set to miss the next 4 games due to quarantine protocol so Irving’s usage rate will skyrocket which is already at 30.3% with Durant on the court. That bumps up to 33% with KD off while scoring almost 2 fantasy points per minute (1.73). He’s averaging 46.8 fantasy points so far this year while logging 33.5 minutes per game. I love Kyrie Irving in this spot and he will be a staple in most of my lineups.
Mid-tier | Coby White $6,700 DK $6,200 FD
Coby White is coming off a great game where he scored 23 points, had 7 REB and 4 AST, one of his best games so far this year. He now gets to face a bottom of the barrel defense in the Portland Trailblazers so he should have no problem scoring the rock. At the moment this game has the highest implied total at 234 so look for lots of points to be scored. This could also be a nice game to stack since there are only 5 games tonight and Coby’s price tag allows you to fit him in-game stacks nicely. Most will probably play his counterpart Zach Lavine ($8,000 DK, $8,100 FD) who is coming off a monster performance but I like the discount we’re getting with White who I think will go under-owned tonight.
Value |De’Anthony Melton $3,600 DK $3,800 FD
Melton logged 25 minutes in his first game back after missing four games due to the league’s health and safety protocols. With Ja Morant out (ankle) Melton should continue to see increased minutes. He’s not a sexy play by any means but on a 5 game slate, we have to find value somewhere. At his price tag, it won’t take much for Melton to pay it off and he allows you to fit studs into your lineups.
Fade |Dejounte Murray $6,800 DK $7,000 FD
To start the season I was locking Murray into my lineups but his play has fallen off as of late. He’s only scored 16 points combined the last 2 games and now has to go against a defensively stout Clippers team. Until Murray starts playing like he did to begin the year or his price tag comes down I will continue to take the wait and see approach with him.
Others I Like
- Caris Levert $6,600 DK $6,100 FD
- CJ McCollum $8,400 DK $8,900 FD
- Zach Lavine $8,000 DK $8,100 FD
Forwards
Top Play | Kawhi Leonard $9,100 DK $10,100 FD
Leonard gets to face off against his former team the Spurs tonight. He’s coming off a sub-par performance so maybe that depresses his ownership some. Kawhi will have no problem returning 5 to 6 times his value in this matchup. Kawhi in a bounce-back game with the revenge narrative added in will have me over the field on him tonight.
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Mid-tier | Otto Porter Jr. $6,400 DK $5,300 FD
Laure Markkanen (COVID-19) is still out and Porter Jr. continues to be the biggest beneficiary of his absence. We have already seen him have a 57.5 point fantasy outing this year and he just dropped 30.8 two nights ago. As mentioned earlier, this will be a fast-paced matchup with minimal defense and Porter has put up at least 10 shots in 6 of 7 games he’s played in this year. He’s an across the board stat producer who should see plenty of minutes in what’s projected to be the highest-scoring matchup of the night.
Value | Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot $3,700 DK $4,100 FD
TLC has been in the starting lineup the last 4 games and that role should continue tonight with KD out (COVID-19 protocol). He hasn’t been the most consistent play but he’s getting opportunities and unless some more value opens up closer to lock we don’t have much value at forward. TLC should get an uptick in minutes and a few more scoring opportunities. We have seen him put up a couple of good games this year already and with his price at only $3,700 on Draft Kings I’ll take a couple of shots on him.
Fade | Robert Covington $5,100 DK $5,000 FD
He has been a totally different player in Portland and I just can’t get myself to pay in the 5k range for him. He’s only averaging under 20 fantasy points a game this year. I’ll be looking elsewhere, Covington is a full fade for me.
Others I Like
- Keldon Johnson $6,500 DK/FD
- JaMychal Green $3,800 DK $3,900 FD
- Bojan Bogdanovic $6,100 DK $5,300 FD
Centers
Top Play | Anthony Davis $9,500 DK $10,000 FD
Lebron James ($10,100 DK $10,200 FD) is considered a game-time decision (GTD). Either way, I think Davis is in line for a big game here but if James actually does sit AD would be in a smash spot. We saw him go off two games ago against the San Antonio Spurs putting up 62.3 DK points and 34 real points adding in 11 REB with 5 AST. I imagine most ownership will go towards the Joker on this slate with people thinking AD’s upside will be capped due to a blowout possibility. That’s true, the Lakers could absolutely blow the Grizzlies out but I think AD returns value regardless.
Mid-tier | Rudy Robert $7,700 DK $8,200 FD
I like Gobert’s price at below 8k on Draft Kings a little better than I do his on Fanduel at just above 8k but given the matchup and game flow, I think he’s a fine play on either site. Derrick Favors ($3,800 DK $4,000 FD) is carrying a questionable tag going into tonight’s game with right knee soreness. He played on Sunday so we’ll see if they rest him in this one. If Favors does end up sitting that would obviously mean more minutes for Gobert in a game with a 228.5 total. Last game out he put up 38.5 DK points in just 27 minutes. I will definitely be overweight on Rudy Robert tonight against a defensively challenged Brooklyn Nets team.
Value | Gorgui Dieng $4,000 DK $4,200 FD
Dieng didn’t see much playing time to start the year but has seen over 20 minutes in the last 3 games. The Lakers play tough interior defense so that means Jonas Valanciunas ($7,600 DK $6,800 FD) could easily get into foul trouble. Extra playing time for Dieng would almost guarantee him returning value. He’s also most likely to be played at super low ownership and that’s hard to come by on a smaller slate. He’s a great way to get different, especially in GPP’s.
Fade | Jusuf Nurkic $6,400 DK $6,000
At a decent price tag and going up against a Bulls team who most people always target I expect Nurkic to get a lot of looks tonight. Me, on the other hand, will be staying away. He’s averaging under 30 fantasy points a game and Enes Kanter ($5,400 DK $5,200 FD) is coming off a 40 point fantasy outing. Nurkic hasn’t been the dominant player we saw in the Orlando Bubble and if his struggles continue this year we could see Kanter continue to cut into his playing time.
Others I Like
- Nikola Jokic $10,800 DK $10,500 FD
- Enes Kanter $5,400 DK $5,200 FD
That will do it for this 5 game slate. Good luck to everyone playing tonight! Be on the lookout every Tuesday for my NBA DFS article and continue to check out Goingfor2.com for all your sports content.
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