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

It's Saturday, January 3rd, and we have a 5-game NBA DFS main slate on DraftKings and 7 games on FanDuel. 

There are seven teams on the second leg of a back-to-back, so we are sure to have some injury news break throughout the afternoon. Currently, Karl-Anthony Towns and the Utah stars (for FD) are the most impactful situations to monitor. Stay tuned for any news leading up to roster lock. 

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, January 3rd

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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

7:00 PM ET UPDATE

• Karl-Anthony Towns - AVAILABLE
• Joel Embiid - AVAILABLE

4:00 PM ET UPDATE

• Stephen Curry - Questionable
• Jimmy Butler - Questionable 
• Al Horford - OUT
• Jonathan Kuminga - Questionable 
• Will Richard - Probable

3:00 PM ET UPDATE

• Keyonte George - AVAILABLE
• Lauri Markkanen - Probable (upgrade) 
• Jusuf Nurkic - OUT 
• Ryan Kalkbrenner - OUT
• Moussa Diabate - OUT 

2:00 PM ET UPDATE

• Karl-Anthony Towns - Questionable
• Victor Wembanyama - OUT 
• Trae Young - OUT
• Kristaps Porzingis - OUT
• Luke Kennard - OUT
• Jerami Grant - OUT
• Robert Williams - OUT
• Steven Adams - OUT 

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 1/3

• Yet to Submit: ATL, NYK, CHA, CHI, POR, SAS, GSW
• TOR:
  Jakob Poeltl - Out
• PHI:
  Joel Embiid - Probable
  Kelly Oubre - Out
  Trendon Watford - Out
• HOU:
  Steven Adams - Questionable
  Fred VanVleet - Out
• DAL:
  Dereck Lively - Out
  Kyrie Irving - Out
  Dante Exum - Out
• UTA:
  Lauri Markkanen - Questionable
  Keyonte George - Questionable
  Jusuf Nurkic - Questionable
  Ace Bailey - Out
  Georges Niang - Out
  Walker Kessler - Out
• BOS:
  Jayson Tatum - Out
• LAC:
  Ivica Zubac - Available
  Bogdan Bogdanovic - Out
  Bradley Beal - Out

h/t @UnderdogNBA 

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

• Jalen Johnson, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown (FD), Deni Avdija, Jalen Brunson

Mid

• Joel Embiid, Scottie Barnes, Stephen Curry (FD), De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Brandon Ingram, Nikola Vucevic, Brandon Miller, Immanuel Quickley, Donovan Clingan, Tre Jones, Draymond Green (FD), Matas Buzelis, Jalen Smith, Kevin Huerter

Value

• Brice Sensabaugh (FD), Dylan Harper, Tari Eason, Luke Kornet, Collin Sexton, Brandon Williams, Caleb Love, Miles McBride, Kelly Olynyk 

Stacks

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