Daily Fantasy DraftKings and FanDuel NBA Picks - Friday, March 3, 2023

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Point Guard/ Shooting Guard

Damian Lillard FD - $10800 DK - $11600
Opponent - ATL
Proj Pts FD - 54.3 DK - 59.72

Damian Lillard is just on a ridiculous run right now. It’s really something. When healthy, since January 8th, the dude is averaging 38 points and seven assists a game. This is about as good as you’ll ever see with 60 and 71 point games thrown in there for good measure. Portland will be without Anfernee Simons again for this game facing a Hawks team running a top-10 pace and a bottom-10 defensive efficiency. The spot sets up well for Dame who is on a different level right now.

Terry Rozier FD - $7800 DK - $7700
Opponent - ORL
Proj Pts FD - 39.5 DK - 42.82

Kelly Oubre Jr. FD - $7000 DK - $6600
Opponent - ORL
Proj Pts FD - 38.57 DK - 40.4

The Hornets are without LaMelo Ball for the rest of the season and these two should play major minutes as long as games can stay close. That was the case last game with both running 38 against the Suns in a loss. Rozier took 18 shots and finished with 20 points, but he has a 29.8% usage rate when Ball is off the court this season.

Meanwhile, Kelly Oubre took a team-high 24 points and finished with 26 points while adding in nine rebounds. The matchup against the Magic on Friday should be a better one though Orlando isn’t exactly a rollover team. That being said, the Hornets guys without their star are all a bit underpriced and this game doesn’t have inordinate blowout risk.

Anthony Edwards FD - $9400 DK - $9400
Opponent - LAL
Proj Pts FD - 47.1 DK - 49.93

I still want to trust Anthony Edwards at these prices now that the team has traded away D’Angelo Russell and still doesn’t have Karl-Anthony Towns back in the mix. The 18 and 19 shots respectively over the last two games isn’t quite where it should be for a score-heavy guy like Edwards, but the usage over the course of the season has been there. This isn’t a defensively stout Lakers team so the matchup is a good one and the game has a thin spread.

I really want to trust Josh Giddey (FD 8000 DK 7900) without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but the production has been so up and down over the last few games.

Small Forward

Lauri Markkanen FD - $8600 DK - $9600
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 47.75 DK - 51.9

Talen Horton-Tucker FD - $6300 DK - $6400
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 35 DK - 37.01

The Jazz are still shorthanded here, especially in the backcourt and both of these guys ring in as value plays once again. Over the last five games, Lauri Markkanen has averaged more than 31 points and eight rebounds, turning into one of the league’s better fantasy options. That should be able to continue here is a matchup against the Thunder who run a top-6 pace. Their defense is above average, but this still represents an opportunity for Lauri.

And then there is Talen Horton-Tucker who is still taking on point guard duties for Utah after trading away Mike Conley and with Collin Sexton on the shelf. He’s a bit of a wild card in the scoring consistency department, but his game is predicated on contributing across the box score so he has a high floor even if the shot isn’t going down.

Jalen Williams FD - $7200 DK - $6800
Opponent - UTA
Proj Pts FD - 35.22 DK - 36.55

Jalen Williams has turned into one of the league’s real rookie surprises in his first season and has been especially good of late. With SGA out of the lineup over the last three games, Williams has become more a focal point in the offense, averaging 15 shots per game while putting up 21 points and six rebounds per. It’s amounted to solid fantasy contributions and he’s one of the few Thunder guys whose minutes can be trusted on a game-to-game basis.

Power Forward/ Center

Anthony Davis FD - $11500 DK - $10200
Opponent - MIN
Proj Pts FD - 51.18 DK - 51.94

LeBron James is out for the next few weeks meaning that, when he plays, this is fully Anthony Davis’s team. He sat out last game on the back-to-back, but the game before (a loss to Memphis) saw him put up 28 points, 19 rebounds, and five blocks. He can pile it on in the right situation, and things are lining up that way here against the Timberwolves. Davis is a much better option on DraftKings where he’s coming more than $1K cheaper and he makes for an easy play there.

Willy Hernangomez FD - $4600 DK - $4300
Opponent - GS
Proj Pts FD - 32.9 DK - 35.45

This is an interesting spot. On the one hand, Jonas Valanciunas is out again and Willy Hernangomez should draw the start for a second game in a row. The issue is that last game, in a similar spot, he only played 21 minutes and finished with seven points and seven rebounds. That just isn’t good enough even at these lower price points. I’m tempted to go back to the well just because he has a history of putting up big fantasy points-per-minute stats. But it’s definitely a risk.

Mark Williams FD - $6800 DK - $6300
Opponent - ORL
Proj Pts FD - 38.04 DK - 37.86

The value is getting a little thinner here for Williams especially without LaMelo Ball in the mix to help facilitate pick and roll. The remaining Hornets guards don’t have that in their skillset as much. But we’ve seen Williams put up big, per-minute stat lines on the season and he’s got a good matchup here against the Magic. I don’t think he’ll have a ton of ownership but he has big upside.