We kicked off the week with a 2-0 sweep with our NBA pick'em plays over on Underdog Fantasy. Today's NBA slate features some elite talent in the field such as a returning Tyrese Haliburton, Stephen Curry and LeBron James. When it comes to finding the right plays for our Underdog Fantasy NBA pick'em plays today we are looking to target matchups with solid game totals, competitive spreads and projections we can exploit.  

 

Underdog Fantasy NBA Pick'em Top Plays

Jonathan Kuminga, PF Golden State Warriors

Kuminga is having a breakout season for the Warriors and finally cracked the starting lineup on Saturday which resulted in his sixth straight game with at least 20 points. The 2021 7th overall pick is averaging 20.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game for the month of January which leads up to today's pick'em play. His line on Underdog Fantasy is set at 26.5 Points+Rebounds. Kuminga has gone over this total in six straight games. Today the Warriors are home against a 76ers team that will be on the second leg of a back-to-back and could once again be without Joel Embiid.

Pick: Higher than 26.5 Points + Rebounds

Jaylen Brown, SG Boston Celtics

There is just something about this matchup for Brown that he just loves. In three games against the Pacers this season he has scored over 30 points in all three contests. These ceiling scoring performances are driven by really strong first quarters where Brown has scored at least 10 points in the first quarter in all three games against the Pacers this season. Yes, one of those games was without Jayson Tatum, but I will continue to preach that understanding NBA rotations is the key to targeting these first quarter plays. Brown typically plays the first 10 minutes of the first quarter with nearly half of those minutes coming with Jayson Tatum off of the floor as Tatum is an early first quarter sub. With Jayson Tatum off the floor this season Jalen Brown averages 0.74 points per minute. We need just seven first quarter points tonight for him to finish higher than the projected line and as long as we can get an early bucket or two when Tatum IS on the floor we should be able to coast to another big first quarter for Brown against the Pacers this evening. 

Pick: Higher than 6.5 1Q Points