We have an eight-game NBA DFS slate ahead of us on this beautiful Wednesday night. We have a ton of star power on this slate including Jayson Tatum and the Celtics take on Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. Then a little later we have the big three of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Kevin Durant making their season debut as the Suns take on the young stud Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, there are many teams on the second night of a back-to-back so we should start to see injury news trickle out throughout the day.

NBA DFS Tools to dominate tonight's NBA DFS slate!

Make sure to check out today's NBA DFS projections and NBA DFS ownership projections before finalizing your lineups today. We also have the NBA Consistency Report to help identify players that have exceeded value based off their current price tag this season and of course our NBA DFS Lineup Generator!

 

Here's the NBA DFS Podcast for today's slate. Like the video and subscribe to our channel!

 

Notable NBA Injury Updates

Questionable

Out

Teams on Back-to-Backs

Second leg of a B2B

Pace Up Spots

Pace definition: Pace is the total number of possessions a team uses in a game.

*key* Green is elite pace of play, Blue is decent pace of play, & Red is slow pace of play.

Green = Fast Paced team

Blue = Neutral Paced team

Red = Slow Paced team

NBA Game Totals

Top Tier Core Plays

Donovan Mitchell, PG/SG Cleveland Cavaliers

Donovan Mitchell is my set it and forget it locked in guy in my lineup tonight. Darius Garland was ruled out early today, which means more usage for Mitchell. With Garland missing three games earlier in the season we have a body of work for Mitchell with Garland out. Mitchell's usage rate jumps from 29.6% all the way up to 36.8% usage which is just silly. Build your lineup around Mitchell tonight, even in a game with a low game total.

Jayson Tatum, SF/PF, Boston Celtics

Taytom is also a good option tonight. Both Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis are questionable heading into this one. Zinger has a knee injury, and Jaylen Brown did not participate in shootaround because of an illness. If both of these guys happen to sit in this one, Tatum becomes a chalky option I would think. I expect those games to be a close one either way, so we don't have to worry about blowout potential tonight. 

Luka Doncic, PG, Dallas Mavericks

Luka is the most expensive player on the slate tonight after a clunker he had last night. Luka had a season-low 19 fantasy points shooting just 5-16 from the field in a blowout. Kyrie Irving is questionable heading into this one as a late add to the injury report. Luka is in play either way with a game total of 245.5 and I expect him to have a bounceback against a bad Washington Wizards team

Damian Lillard, PG, Milwaukee Bucks

With Giannis out of the lineup tonight Damian Lillard has to be in play. The Bucks are one of the faster-paced teams in the league, but Toronto is the opposite which leads to an intriguing matchup. We have yet to see Lillard have a ceiling game with this Bucks team since game one when he scored 39 game points and 57 fantasy points. Lillard is just three for his last 21 attempts from behind the arc. So if Lillard bounces back and knocks down some shots tonight, we could see a ceiling game from Dame.

Mid-Tier Core Plays

De'Aaron Fox, PG, Sacramento Kings

Is this just a miss-price by DraftKings tonight? I do not understand why De'Aaron Fox is only $8,300 on DraftKings. He came back from injury on Monday night and played 36 minutes and scored 42 fantasy points. This is a guy that before he was injured he put together two straight games in which he scored over 50 fantasy points. To get somebody who has a ceiling like that, with that kind of price has to be locked into your lineup.

New York Knicks Stars

I wanted to bunch both Jalen Brunson and Julis Randle who I believe are also priced too low. First lets start with Julius Randle as he is a bit more expensive than Jalen Brunson. Randle is on a heater, he has scored over 41 fantasy points in five straight games after struggling a ton to begin the season. His price hasn't quite come back up from a slow start yet, so keep playing it as long as he stays hot. Plus it is a great matchup against the Atlanta Hawks.

Jalen Brunson is only $8,000 on DraftKings and if you need to pay down from Mitchell or Fox he is a great option in a good matchup. We have seen Brunson have a 50 fantasy point ceiling, he just hasn't hit that in a while. RJ Barrett is questionable heading into this one which is good news for Brunson owners. In three games without Barrett this season his usage climbs from 26.4 all the way to 33.5. If Barrett is out, Brunson is a solid play. 

Nikola Vucevic, C, Chicago Bulls

Vuc is my top center play on the slate tonight with DeMar DeRozan out of the lineup. When Vuc is playing to his strengths he is working from the mid-post, either playmaking or taking a shot. With DeRozan out that gives him more room to operate because the two like to work from the same place. I expect this offense to run a lot through him tonight and wouldn't be surprised if he get close to five assists tonight. We already know he is going to get close to double-digit rebounds. Vucevic is a lineup lock for me at $7,700 as well tonight, even with a game total of just 215.5.

Shaedon Sharpe, SG/SF Portland Trail Blazers

This is a volume play as Sharpe is going to go out and try and get his every single night. He has played over 40 minutes a night for six straight games and has taken at least 16 shot attempts in each game. Malcolm Brogdon is questionable after sitting out the game last night, which puts the ball in Sharpe's hands even more. Vegas thinks this game is going to be a blowout with a 10.5-point spread. However, the Blazers have only lost by double-digits twice in their last five games. Sharpe is definitely in play tonight at $7,800. 

Caris LeVert, SG/SF Cleveland Cavaliers

LeVert has been very solid off the bench recently. Tonight with Darius Garland out of the lineup, I would expect LeVert to just slide right into the starting five. In the three games Garland has missed this season, LeVert's usage goes from 22% up to 28.5%. His points per game also go from just over 17 and climb up to 22 points per game. His price is only $6,400 and if you can afford it, he should make your way into your lineup.

Bobby Portis, PF/C, Milwaukee Bucks

Jon Impemba was all over Bobby Portis on Monday night, and it paid off. Portis put up a 19-point 10-rebound double-double finishing with 39 fantasy points which was a season high. I am going back to the well once again tonight with Giannis Antetokounmpo being ruled out. Portis should slide right in the starting five and play close to thirty minutes. Portis has a nice floor tonight which makes him a solid cash game play, but will more than likely be chalk tonight.

Value Tier Core Plays

Coby White, PG, Chicago Bulls

Another Bull who benefits from DeMar DeRozan being out tonight is Coby White. He slides into the third option outside of Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. White has also been very solid lately scoring at least 26 fantasy points in six straight games. We don't have any usage numbers for White without DeMar this year, but he will have the ball in his hands more tonight, making him a solid option at $5,500.

Moritz Wagner, C, Orlando Magic

Wagner isn't starting and he is only playing around 20 minutes a night. However, it doesn't matter because he is returning 5x value almost every single night as of late. Mo Wagner has scored over 21 fantasy points in five straight games while scoring double-digit game points in each as well. He has an important role on this Magic team and is in play once again tonight.

Bilal Coulibaly, SF, Washington Wizards

the rookie Bilal Coulibaly has broken out over his last two games playing 33 and 34 minutes which were season highs. He was known as a defensive menace coming into the draft and that is exactly what he has been the last two games. Coulibaly has seven steals over the past two games, while also adding seven rebounds in each game. He is also shooting the ball well which was a bit of a knock on him. He has knocked down five of his last eight shot attempts from behind the arc. Keep riding the wave with Coulibaly tonight.

Sam Hauser, SF, Boston Celtics

I mentioned above that Jaylen Brown and KP were questionable heading into this game. If one or both are out in this one I expect Hauser to slide into the starting lineup. Even with starting recently, he has carved out a role in this offense. He is averaging 21 minutes a game and 22 fantasy points over his last six games played. The ceiling is raised if he is in the starting lineup but he already has a solid floor.

Josh Green, SF/PF, Dallas Mavericks

Josh Green could be a sneaky play tonight if Kyrie Irving misses tonight's game. In the two games that Kyrie missed earlier this season, Green started in both of them. His usage numbers stay about the same but he still gets more opportunities as his minutes go from 24 to around 30 minutes. He has played at least 28 minutes in back-to-back games and scored 25 fantasy in one of them. His price is only $4,000 tonight and I can see him absolutely getting to his 5x value in a great game environment, he just doesn't have a huge ceiling.

Late News Updates

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SHEET UPDATE! The grid below is listed as our PLAYER POOLS, not our core plays. We've switched the formatting and the players written up above are the players we're using as CORE options. Everyone in the grid are options we would use too.

Player Pool

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Stacks

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