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

It's Saturday, December 27th, and we have an 8-game NBA DFS main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. 

This slate is loaded with a bit of everything, including stars like Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Johnson, and Jalen Brunson. There are also a ton of moving parts, with injury news that will pour in throughout the day.  

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 27th

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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

6:45 PM ET UPDATE 

• Tari Eason - 25-minute restriction 
• Mark Williams NOT starting 

6:30 PM ET UPDATE 

• Rob Dillingham - AVAILABLE
• Miles McBride - OUT
• Trae Young - AVAILABLE
• Kel'el Ware - AVAILABLE
• Josh Giddey - AVAILABLE
• Alperen Sengun - OUT 
  • Steven Adams will start and is a Core value play 
  • With Sengun OFF: Kevin Durant 32% USG, 1.31 FP/min // Amen Thompson 25.2% USG, 1.05 FP/min, Reed Sheppard 20% USG // 1.12 FP/min  

5:30 PM ET UPDATE 

• Jalen Suggs - OUT
• Goga Bitadze - OUT
• Ryan Dunn - OUT  
• Mark Williams - AVAILABLE
  • Removed Oso Ighodaro from Core Plays and added Mark Williams. It's his first back-to-back of the season, but I'm assuming he's a full go unless we hear something about a minutes restriction. 

2:30 PM ET UPDATE 

• Herbert Jones - OUT
• Darius Garland - Probable (downgrade) 
• Giannis Antetokounmpo - Questionable (expected to play) 
• Gary Trent - Questionable 
• Mark Williams - Questionable (has not played a b2b this season) 
• Grayson Allen - OUT
• Ryan Dunn - Questionable 
• Ace Bailey - OUT
• Kevin Love - OUT
• Kel'el Ware - Probable (downgrade) 

1:00 PM ET UPDATE 

• De'Aaron Fox - OUT
• Rob Dillingham - Questionable (downgrade)
• Anthony Edwards - AVAILABLE
• Mike Conley - AVAILABLE
• Jalen Suggs - DOUBTFUL
• Goga Bitadze - Questionable 
• Josh Giddey - Questionable 
• Bam Adebayo - OUT
• Tyler Herro - OUT
• Trae Young - Probable 
• Aaron Nesmith - Questionable
• T.J. McConnell - OUT
• Isaiah Jackson - OUT
• Brandon Williams - Questionable (upgrade)

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 12/27

• DEN:
  Cameron Johnson - Out
  Aaron Gordon - Out
  Christian Braun - Out
• ORL:
  Yet to submit
• PHX:
  Yet to submit
• NOP:
  Yet to submit
• BKN:
  Cam Thomas - In
  Haywood Highsmith - Out
• MIN:
  Anthony Edwards - Questionable
  Mike Conley - Questionable
  Terrence Shannon Jr. - Out
• CLE:
  Larry Nance - Out
  Max Strus - Out
• HOU:
  Alperen Sengun - Questionable
  Fred VanVleet - Out
• IND:
  Yet to submit
• MIA:
  Yet to submit
• MIL:
  Giannis Antetokounmpo - Expected to play
• CHI:
  Yet to submit
• NYK:
  Deuce McBride - Questionable
  Josh Hart - Out
  Landry Shamet - Out
• ATL:
  Yet to submit
• UTA:
  Yet to submit
• SAS:
  De'Aaron Fox - Questionable

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

• Nikola Jokic, Jalen Johnson, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, Josh Giddey

Mid

• Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Jamal Murray, Keyonte George, Stephon Castle, Norman Powell, Collin Gillespie, Dillon Brooks, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez, Wendell Carter, Andrew Wiggins, Reed Sheppard 

Value

• Dylan Harper, Tari Eason, Isaiah Collier, Tim Hardaway, Bruce Brown, Brice Sensabaugh, Pelle Larsson, Taylor Hendricks, Nikola Jovic. Steven Adams 

Stacks

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