Welcome to another Tuesday slate of NBA action. The usual four game slate on Tuesday's slate has been expanded one to a whopping five games giving at least a few more choices than usual. That said, it's still a small slate.
That makes it vital to hit on the high-priced studs you choose to plug into your lineup. Tonight, my building blocks will be LeMarcus Aldridge who will be the clear leader of a short-handed Spurs team and Russell Westbrook who has a great matchup against one of the worst defensive teams against opposing point guards in the league.
Below you will find our daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on 1/23/18. These DFS lineup picks can vary from higher-priced players and elite options, to lower-priced players and value picks on FanDuel. You can also read more DFS lineup picks for DraftKings and other sports too. Let's get to it, shall we?
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FanDuel DFS Guards
Russell Westbrook - PG vs. BKN ($12,200)
Westbrook is my first building block on the slate as the Nets have allowed the most FD points to opposing point guards on the season. He has found multiple ways to post big lines of late, as he dished 20 assists on Saturday against the Cavs while also recently posting a more traditional Westbrook line of 38 points against Minnesota. No matter which way it comes on Tuesday, there should be production for him in one of the best matchups of the night. For those worried about a blowout lowering his minutes, Brooklyn beat the Thunder earlier in the season (albeit in Brooklyn) and the spread of this game is set at a reasonable 9.5 which should do next to no harm to Westbrook's minutes.
Dejounte Murray - PG vs. CLE ($4,800)
It appears there’s been a changing of the guard at the point guard position for the Spurs as Dejounte Murray started over Tony Parker on Sunday night and that will apparently remain the case for the foreseeable future. Given that, Murray should see upper 20s in minutes and against the Cavs porous defense, that should be enough for him to reach value on his relatively low price tag. It doesn’t hurt that Murray has a true shooting percentage of 54.8% at home as opposed to just 40.9% on the road, meaning his minutes, matchup, and splits all indicate he is a good value on Tuesday. He could get priced up quickly, but that isn’t the case yet and he is in a good spot to produce on Tuesday as a result.
Evan Fournier - SG vs. SAC ($6,300)
Fournier’s price is on the rise after posting 7X, 5.2X, and 5.5X value over his past three games. On only one of those occasions did he provide 5X value at his current price, but on Tuesday night he’ll draw a Kings team on the back-end of a back-to-back on the east coast. There isn’t a ton of upside in this pick, but he should be relative lock for a floor of 25 points making him a cash play.
Also Consider: Dwyane Wade - SG @SA ($4,000), Klay Thompson - SG vs. NY ($6,800)
FanDuel DFS Forwards
Jaylen Brown - SF @ LAL ($5,500)
Brown is a relatively easy cash game pick on such a small slate as he has shown a floor of 4.1X since the turn of the calendar. Like Fournier, there’s next to no chance Brown blows up for 40 FD points, so his tournament upside is limited but don’t overthink this spot for cash games.
Jonathon Simmons - SF vs. SAC ($5,300)
To even things out, we’ll look to Jonathan Simmons as a tournament play. In stark contrast to Brown, over his past eight games, Simmons has returned under 2.5X value in four. However, in three of his past four games he has returned over 5X value including 6.3X and 7.2X performances. I’ve already highlighted the fact that Orlando is in a good spot to produce offensively as a team, and if Simmons can get going he’ll have a big part in that.
LaMarcus Aldridge - PF vs. CLE ($9,500)
Aldridge is already the Spurs alpha on offense given the absence of Kawhi Leonard, and the Spurs have already announced that Pau Gasol and Manu Ginobili will sit out Tuesday’s game against the Cavs. That will only open up a lot of usage for Aldridge against the porous Cavs defense, making him my core play to pair with Russell Westbrook.
Also Consider: Carmelo Anthony vs. BKN ($7,200) (Cash), Kyle Kuzma vs. BOS ($5,200) (GPP)
FanDuel DFS Centers
Steven Adams - C vs. BKN ($7,500)
The Nets have allowed the third most FD points per game to centers on the season and they have actually been worse of late, allowing 48.8 FD points per game to opposing centers over their past five games. That coincides nicely with a nice recent run from Steven Adams, who has posted values of 7.4X, 4.9X, 5.0X, and 5.9X over his four games.
Also Consider: Bismack Biyombo vs. SAC ($6,600)