NBA DFS Picks, Projections, Lineups, Injuries & More Today: Christmas Day Playbook

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday season and for those who celebrate Christmas, I hope you get everything you want and win some DFS tournaments. We have a 5-game NBA DFS main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel on Christmas Day!

The Christmas Day slate is the most watched day of the year for the NBA, so it's a star-studded event. Nikola Jokic, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Victor Wembanyama are all slated to take the floor. We do have a pretty long list of injuries that we're going to have to sift through before fully confirming our lineups.

Before actually diving into the meat and potatoes, welcome to the NBA DFS season. If this is your first time reading our column on NBA DFS picks, I just want to welcome you and give you a few tips and tricks on what you should be looking for each night.

• News outlets: reliable sources that give us injury news & starting lineups
• Pace of play: who's playing fast vs. who's playing slow. Which teams get a pace-up spot (more possessions) vs. pace-down (fewer possessions)
• Usage rates: is a percentage of how many plays that player is being used in
• NBA DFS Projections
• Lineup Generator
• NBA Ownership

NBA DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, December 25th

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Pre/Post-Lock Update Section

This section will be used for anything that changes from the morning until right up to roster lock. 

Injury updates, players we’re higher on than we were in the morning and so much more.

All status updates after contest roster lock will be made in the Fantasy Alarm Discord: https://discord.gg/2yATJxXe8G

Situations to monitor;

• Lakers – I don't have any written in the playbook because it's a weird situation. Luka Doncic is coming off a calf contusion & Austin Reaves came off the bench last game, so I'm not sure what to think about him. If Rui Hachimura & Jaxson Hayes sit, guys like Jake LaRavia, Marcus Smart & Jarred Vanderbilt all are options.
• Jaden McDaniels – If he sits, Mike Conley will start and Bones Hyland should be extended off the bench.
• Cameron Johnson – Johnson sprained his knee and it's unlikely he plays, which would put a LOT of Nuggets value in play (Tim Hardaway Bruce Brown, Peyton Watson, Jonas Valanciunas)

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 12/25

• Luka Doncic - QUEST (expected to play)
• Jalen Brunson - IN
• Evan Mobley - OUT
• Chet Holmgren - QUEST
• OG Anunoby - PROB
• Aaron Gordon - OUT
• P.J. Washington - QUEST
• Jaden McDaniels - QUEST
• Cameron Johnson - QUEST
• Max Strus - OUT
• Ajay Mitchell - QUEST
• Miles McBride - QUEST
• Rui Hachimura - QUEST
• Jaxson Hayes - QUEST
• Landry Shamet - OUT
• Al Horford - QUEST
• Max Christie - QUEST
• Klay Thompson - QUEST
• Jaylin Williams - QUEST
• Gabe Vincent - OUT

NBA DFS Slate & Game Overviews

In the section below, I’m listing the most notable things we need to look at in Las Vegas, including notable O/U and spreads. Not every game is listed, but every game listed has the pace and defensive numbers listed.

NBA DFS Core Player Pool & Lineup Picks

Here are the core players I’m looking at for my NBA DFS picks tonight. You can see the full analysis of tonight’s NBA DFS projections and player pool below or skip ahead to building the best lineups possible by locking these into the aforementioned lineup generator now.

High

• Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis, Alperen Sengun, Donovan Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson

Mid

• Kevin Durant, Jamal Murray, Jimmy Butler, Cooper Flagg, Jabari Smith., Josh Hart

Value

• Brandin Podziemski, Reed Sheppard, Sam Merrill, Tim Hardaway, Bruce Brown, Quinten Post, Moses Moody

Stacks

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