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

It's Thursday, December 18th, and we have a 11-game NBA DFS main slate on DraftKings and 12 games over on FanDuel.

With the NBA Cup over, the NBA schedule is full force as there are 12 games and DraftKings cut off the late game, so the slate is 11 over there. There are stars everywhere you look as Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Alperen Sengun, and Stephen Curry are all taking the floor. We have two games over 240 implied points today and two games with 15-point spreads or higher.

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 18th

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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

• UPDATE - 4 pm ET
• Trae Young is PLAYING tonight. He'll be limited, but it greatly impact the rest of the Hawks and the desire to use any of them other than Jalen Johnson. Even Johnson is a GPP only play.
• UPDATE – 6 pm ET
• Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart & Mitchell Robinson are OUT, OG Anunoby is IN
• Head coach Mike Brown said “he'll watch guys minutes” when asked if he's going to limit the starters per James Edwards of the Athletic
• My guess at Starting 5: Jalen Brunson - Jordan Clarkson - Mikal Bridges - OG Anunoby - Ariel Hukporti
• Rest of rotation: Tyler Kolek - Pacome Dadiet - Guerschon Yabusele - Mohamed Diawara
• It's hard to trust the main guys minutes such as Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges & OG Anunoby.
• Main interest: the centers (Ariel Hukporti & Guerschon Yabusele), Tyler Kolek, Jordan Clarkson, Mohamed Diawara (if starting)

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 12/18

• Giannis Antetokounmpo - OUT
• Anthony Davis - IN
• James Harden - OUT
• Karl-Anthony Towns - OUT
• LaMelo Ball - IN
• Austin Reeves - OUT
• Lauri Markkanen - OUT
• Trae Young - IN
• Domantas Sabonis - OUT
• Tyler Herro - OUT
• Josh Hart - OUT
• Franz Wagner - OUT
• OG Anunoby - IN
• Norman Powell - IN
• Jalen Suggs - OUT
• Deandre Ayton - OUT
• Isaiah Hartenstein - OUT
• Jrue Holiday - OUT
• Grayson Allen - OUT
• Kristaps Porzingis - OUT
• RJ Barrett - OUT
• Zach LaVine - OUT
• Cam Thomas - OUT
• Jalen Green - OUT
• Naji Marshall - IN
• Kyle Kuzma - OUT
• Collin Sexton - OUT
• Peyton Watson - QUEST
• Jakob Poeltl - OUT
• Dennis Schroder - QUEST
• Brandon Williams - IN
• Miles McBride - OUT
• Pat Spencer - OUT
• Khris Middleton - OUT
• Tari Eason - OUT
• Tim Hardaway - QUEST
• Mitchell Robinson - OUT
• AJ Green - IN
• Tre Mann - OUT
• Tristan da Silva - QUEST
• D'Angelo Russell - IN
• Cole Anthony - IN
• Jaylin Williams - OUT
• Pelle Larsson - OUT
• Nikola Jovic - 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

• Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic (pivot off Doncic), Cade Cunningham, Alperen Sengun, LeBron James

Mid

• Paolo Banchero, Keyonte George, Stephon Castle, Anthony Black, Kyle Filipowski, Norman Powell (GPP)

Value

• Jaxson Hayes, Brice Sensabaugh, Dylan Harper, Tristan da Silva (if starting), Isaiah Collier, Tyler Kolek, Ariel Hukporti, Guerschon Yabusele, Jordan Clarkson, Sandro Mamukelashvili

Don't Miss The NBA DFS Playbook Live Show At 5:00 PM ET

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