Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (2) pushes the ball up the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Head on over for your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NBA FanDuel and DraftKings optimizer, NFL optimal lineups, and our NHL Optimizer. Plus our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA or NFL? Be sure to read our free NBA and NFL Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy, and more. We've got you completely covered.
Opponent - ATL
Proj Pts FD - 40.72 DK - 45.77
The Hornets season might be all but over and it never really got started. A big part of that was poor team-building and drafting, but there was also some bad luck in there as well specifically with the early-season injury issues with LaMelo Ball. The young guard is back now though and should be up to playing max minutes in this game against the Hawks. The 234 over/under is the third-highest of this large slate, and this game could have a lot of value in it. Ball is coming off a 23 point, 11 assist game that actually only saw him grab one rebound in 35 minutes. That’s an outlier on the low side and he’s a nightly triple-double threat when things are going right. It is worth noting the rebounding has been down in his limited time this season, but I am not looking a ton into this just yet.
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 41.61 DK - 44.46
This game could be an absolute track meet with the over/under sitting at 238.5, one of the highest numbers you’ll see. It makes sense for the Kings side especially with the Pistons playing a top-10 pace and the second-worst defensive efficiency in the league. Fox’s fantasy production has come and gone in recent games, and there was an injury in there as well, making him a bit of a risk here. But he’s coming off a 27 point, 10 assist, six rebound game against the Raptors, playing 41 minutes on the second half of a back-to-back. That’s a very good sign and again, this matchup is pretty choice. I like the price on both sites and think he has a high floor here.
Terence Davis (FD 4400 DK 3900) and Malik Monk (FD 5000 DK 5300) are interesting options if Kevin Huerter has to sit out again. Luckily, this is the first game of the slate so the injury info for this will be in well before lock.
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 47.3 DK - 50.23
With Karl-Anthony Towns out for the foreseeable future and D'Angelo Russell now questionable for this game as well, we could be looking at a high usage game for Anthony Edwards. While the situation was the same for last game, Edwards was only able to get up 14 shots in 37 minutes. He had put up 16 and 20 in the two previous games respectively and I think that is more on the side of what we should be looking at here. This game against the Thunder has a 231.5 over/under, one of the best of the Friday slate and should be an up-and-down affair. Edwards is getting pricy, but he isn’t in the stratosphere yet.
Opponent - LAL
Proj Pts FD - 37.04 DK - 40.04
While it might be tough to run a guy like Jamal Murray in cash especially when he shares the court with Nikola Jokic, there is a case here on Friday because of the matchup and the price. The Nuggets face the Lakers who are running the fourth-fastest pace in the league this season with about an average defensive efficiency. Murray’s production is a bit all over the place on a game-to-game basis, one of the reasons his price is sitting in the $7K range on both sites. But I do think the six-shot game last time out was a complete outlier.
Opponent - CHA
Proj Pts FD - 30.4 DK - 34.5
Opponent - CHA
Proj Pts FD - 28.64 DK - 31.56
The Hawks are without Dejounte Murray and also Clint Capela (who we will get to in a second) and there is more minutes and opportunity available in the offense behind Trae Young right now. These two have been the biggest beneficiaries along those lines and both have minutes floor in the low-to-mid 30s for the game against Charlotte. The Hornets have the fifth-worst defensive efficiency and have been playing an above-average pace even without LaMelo Ball on the court. Though Bogdanovic is still slated to come off the bench, the usage is there, taking the second-most shots on the team last game with 14. He’s the de facto backup point guard with no Murray as well.
And then there is De'Andre Hunter who played 38 minutes last time out against the Magic and got up 14 shots of his own. He needs to be efficient shooting to get there fantasy-wise on these prices, but the minutes are an encouraging sign for his production. In all, with the way the Hawks are dealing with injuries right now, there are plenty of minutes and usage to go around even with a guy like Trae who dominates so much of the on-ball action.
Opponent - CHA
Proj Pts FD - 33.51 DK - 34.46
Clint Capela is going to be out for extended time and that means it’s Okongwu SZN on both sites. He will get the start and is a favorite to log minutes in the low-to-mid 30’s going forward. That means even with a slight price bump on both sites, he is still a major value for now at least. Per 30 minutes, Okongwu is averaging 11.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks+steals. And he’ll start things off in a matchup against the Hornets which should be up and down the court. I suspect he’s one of the most popular plays on the slate for Friday and it will be for good reason.
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 46.05 DK - 47.42
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 19.19 DK - 19.24
This is a “one or the other” situation we have going with these centers on Friday. At the time of this writing, Rudy Gobert is questionable with an ankle sprain. If he were to play and have a fully clear tag, then he makes for a great option against a smaller Thunder team allowing the most opponent rebounds on the season. Gobert could and should clean the glass without resistance if he were to play. And without Karl-Anthony Towns, he’s still coming too cheap on DraftKings especially. But, if he were to sit, then I think we can run Naz Reid without a second’s though. Reid would almost definitely get the start here and would easily make for one of the best points/$ options on the whole slate.
Get a free trial to DFSR NFL DFS projections for DraftKings and FanDuel.
Get a free trial to DFSR NBA DFS projections for DraftKings and FanDuel.
A packed slate of late-season NBA DFS action on DraftKings and FanDuel
We've got a ton of games going with picks and plays for DFS NBA games…
A packed Tuesday of NBA DFS action on FanDuel and DraftKings
We've got an interesting slate of NBA DFS action on DraftKings and FanDuel.