It’s Saturday, December 13th, and we have a two-game NBA DFS main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel featuring the NBA Cup Semifinals.

The Knicks and Magic meet in the Eastern Conference matchup, while the Spurs and Thunder clash in the West. Victor Wembanyama is listed as probable to return to the Spurs’ lineup but is expected to be limited, adding an interesting wrinkle to roster construction. On the other side, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will look to continue their all-time great start to the season against San Antonio.

The Eastern semifinal highlights a star-driven matchup as Jalen Brunson leads New York’s offense, while Desmond Bane headlines the Magic attack. With only two games on the slate and multiple high-usage stars in action, lineup decisions will be critical. Let’s break it down. 
 

 

 

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 13th

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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

 

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 12/13

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

Mid

Value

 

Stacks

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