Out of the six games being played today, half the teams are on the second half of a back-to-back. The Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, and Boston Celtics will all be playing again tonight, but none were in that close of games yesterday. Not that fatigue won't be a major aspect, but outside of the Nets-Grizzlies, the minutes were not typically heavy on any one player last night. The Wizards and Nets have the highest pre-game projected score, so feel free to look anywhere on the Washington roster for value or upside. Jeff Green is always a risky play, but this is looking like it could be Jeff Green night for our DFS players. I do not expect DeMarre Carrol or Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to limit his upside.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 12/1/18. These DFS lineup picks can vary from higher-priced players and elite options to lower-priced players and value picks on DraftKings. You can also check out today's FanDuel lineup picks. As always, don't set your lineups to early and check player statuses before the opening tip.
DraftKings DFS Guards
Ish Smith - PG vs. GSW ($3,600)
Reggie Jackson does have equal upside here, but this is the value play we need if we want to stash Kevin Durant on another monstrous night. He might resort to getting Klay Thompson involved at an increased rate, but it won't keep the ball out of Durant's for long enough to hurt his upside. The Warriors are still the team to beat, but there is no way they establish a defensive stopper to keep Smith from getting to his spots. Smith's speed and ability to finish at mid-range will be an annoying thorn in the Warriors defense.
Tyreke Evans - SG/SF @ SAC ($5,000)
Does this still count as a revenge game? I doubt Tyreke Evans feels any animosity towards the Kings for trading him and he actually might thank them for it. With that, look for Evans to have a different type of energy going into this game. He has played for these fans, worn the jersey and although the arena might be new, he's still used to this environment. With Victor Oladipo being out indefinitely, expect the Pacers to find a new source of production rather then trying to implement a quick fix for Oladipo's production. Literally every Pacer has upside because the Kings are bad defensively and this game should be close enough to warrant minutes for the main players in both rotation.
DraftKings DFS Forwards
Marcus Morris - SF/PF @ MIN ($5,500)
One thing about Marcus Morris that many fans don't understand is that Morris would rather spend 48 minutes locking down LeBron James than scoring 15 a game. He knows what he's good at and he knows the type of talent that requires him to focus on defense. Against the Timberwolves, only Karl-Anthony Towns is a real frontcourt threat and even then, I don't expect Morris to expend enough energy on defense to keep him from producing on the other end. The best thing about his matchup is that Morris will have his work cut out for him. He won't need to be all that mobile on defense and Minnesota struggles to guard players that can catch-and-shoot at a high rate.
Ed Davis - PF/C vs. WAS ($3,400)
Ed Davis is borderline matchup-proof. He has been double-doubling against teams for years and it's not really slowing down. His energy is still at an extremely high level and as long as he gets minutes he should produce. The Wizards frontcourt is downright pathetic when it comes to defensive stats so Davis has upside to go along with his already increasing minutes and usage. Granted, his usage only bumped up from 13% to 15%, but that is still an important improvement when it comes to his overall output.
DraftKings DFS Center
Blake Griffin - PF/C vs. GSW ($9,300)
Kevin Durant got into a scoring duel with Kawhi Leonard last game and while Blake Griffin isn't Leonard, he will still score on the Warriors defense. Griffin and Andre Drummond will overpower the Warriors in the paint and contribute, but they will need the rest of the team to pick up the slack if they actually want to win this game. I actually expect decent games from Langston Galloway and Reggie Bullock with Griffin doing a majority of the distributing.