After a very entertaining night of basketball on Wednesday, the NBA is following things up with a four-game slate on Thursday.
As always, DraftKings has hundreds of DFS basketball contests to enter to take part in the festivities. Let’s preview the action and pick three players that need to be in your lineups this evening.
Set your DraftKings NBA DFS lineups here: NBA $300K Fadeaway [$100K to 1st]
SF Cooper Flagg, Mavericks at Jazz, $7,500
Flagg still isn’t the most consistent DFS asset in the world, as you might expect from a rookie that turned 19-years-old less than a month ago, but his ceiling is massive thanks to his ability to contribute in every statistical category. Since the beginning of December, the former No. 1 overall pick is averaging 21.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. Even for a prospect as heralded as Flagg, that’s a very impressive string of results. It’s also a stretch where Flagg has exceeded 40 FPTS eight times, including a career-high 64.2 FPTS against the Jazz on December 15 — the same Jazz squad he’ll face this evening. Utah is simply the best fantasy matchup in the league. The Jazz possess the NBA’s worst defensive rating (121.6) and its fourth-fastest pace (102.7), which translates to so, so many counting stats for opponents. Flagg could be $1,000 more expensive on this slate, and I’d still want him in every lineup I make.
SF Miles Bridges, Hornets vs. Pacers, $7,300
This seems like the type of game where the Hornets will ask Bridges to be a high-volume scorer. Brandon Miller (knee) sat out Wednesday’s heartbreaking, last-second loss to the Raptors, and I have my doubts that the former second-overall pick will be available on the second leg of a back-to-back set. Then there’s LaMelo Ball ($7,900), who has only once logged more than 30 minutes since a three-game absence in mid-December. It appears that Charlotte is very happy to cap the former All-Star around 25-28 minutes per contest. Bridges wasn’t able to take advantage of these circumstances against Toronto, yet he should be able to find much more success versus a Pacers squad that ranks 24th in defensive rating (117.1). When Bridges saw Indiana on November 19, he registered 25 points, five rebounds and 41.8 FPTS.
PF Matas Buzelis, Bulls vs. Heat, $6,000
With Josh Giddey (hamstring) and Coby White (calf) sidelined in recent games, Buzelis has had to take on a much larger role for the Bulls. Even with White expected back for tonight’s contest, I’d still be getting some decent exposure to Chicago’s high-flying sophomore forward. In four games in January, Buzelis is averaging 21.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 32.2 minutes per game. His usage rate within that span is a whopping 27.4%, which is easily the highest on the Bulls’ roster, and he’s producing a very respectable 1.19 FPTS per minute logged. The other thing to consider with Buzelis’ viability on Thursday? Environment. The Heat and the Bulls rank first and third, respectively, in pace this season. This is going to be an uptempo affair.
