Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 12/20/14

Welcome to our daily fantasy basketball column - where we provide the best daily plays on a points per dollar basis.

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Point Guard

C.J. Watson - FD 4100 DK 5000 DFSTR 3800
Cory Joseph - FD 4800 DK 4900 DFSTR 3500
With George Hill fixing to return soon, we're coming to an end of the CJ Watson gravy-train. Dewnver is basically neutral against opposing point guards, but the guy is playing 25-30 minutes a game with a ton of usage. And it's for a bad team. And he's sort of sick. But he's basically a lock for 4.5x on this FanDuel price, with upside for 7x+ when things break right. Joseph is like the safe version of Watson, without the upside. Well, maybe that's unfair. Dallas has allowed 16% more points than league average to opposing PGs this season (though Rondo might change that). Nonetheless, I love going cheap at PG today.

Ty Lawson - FD 8700 DK 9500 DFSTR 6500
If you find cheap options elsewhere, Lawson becomes a pretty intriguing play. The guy has been playing an incredible amount of minutes recently, and his overall price has been depressed by some run-bad in the shooting department. And if there's a cure for shooting woes, it's squaring off against the Pacers' horrendous defensive backcourt. They've allowed 24% more points to opposing shooting guards this season. Lawson seems as safe as possible, to me.

Shooting Guard

James Harden - FD 10900 DK 11600 DFSTR 9600
On a relatively short slate at an always short position, Harden has got to be the go-to for safety. Don't get thrown off the scent by his game long - he was in foul trouble and didn't play his full assortment of minutes. Atlanta has been slightly below average against opposing shooting guards this season, and this will undoubtedly be a bounce back game for the Rockets' main attraction.

Gary Neal - FD 3800 DK 4000 DFSTR 4600
Neal has now produced better than 5x on this FanDuel price for 3 games in a row, and it stands to reason that he'll see even more minutes with Stephenson out. That didn't play out in the Philly game, but that was also a blowout. If he is going to play high 20s minutes, he could definitely be a part of the overall winning GPP squads.

Alec Burks - FD 5600 DK 5700 DFSTR 5400
If Neal is the perfect GPP play, Burks might just be the perfect cash game play. Burks is relatively unspectacular, but Stephenson is a pretty good defender, and his absence should open things up for Burks quite a bit. Even if Stephenson does play, Burks is steadily playing mid-thirties minutes and getting plenty of looks to put together pretty safely 4-5x on this FanDuel price every night. Not sexy at all, but a safe stop gap for you to spend up elsewhere.

Small Forward

Gerald Henderson - FD 3500 DK 3900 DFSTR 3900
Henderson got the unexpected start in place of Stephenson, and produced a mighty fine game on these prices. This is a classic case where you need to separate yourself from the player himself - Henderson is generally terrible, 3 steps slower than he should be, and doesn't bring a whole lot to the game. But the minutes and his usage without Stephenson in the lineup is more than enough to justify him being in your lineups.

Trevor Ariza - FD 6100 DK 6400 DFSTR 5700
Apologies to regular readers of DFSR for having to read about Ariza every night, but he's just not priced properly at this point in time. He plays 40 minutes a game. He does a lot of little things well, and gets very consistent opportunity. And there's more upside than you might expect if he gets hot on a given night. Etc etc. We say this every night. Atlanta is essentially average against SFs, allowing slightly more scoring and rebounding than league average. Should be another solid night.

Jared Dudley - FD 3800 DK 3700 DFSTR 3000
The cheap mega-upside play of the night is Jared Dudley. Who the hell knows what the Bucks are going to do about minutes on a game by game basis, but if Dudley does get the start, the Clippers are a fantastic match-up. They don't have anyone who plays small forward, which is kind of a problem for defending the position. Dudley isn't a transcendent talent or anything, but he doesn't need to be to pay off the minimum price.

Spendy OptionsWilson Chandler, Gordon Hayward are decent options

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Power Forward

Derrick Favors - FD 6900 DK 7400 DFSTR 6700
So, it looks like the ankle injury was a small thing. Favors embarrassed the Magic front-court with a 23/10/3 and 2 blocks, and the match-up arguably gets better with Charlotte. The Marvin Williams/Cody Zeller combo has allowed 15% more points than league average, and Favors' transcendent athleticism should be way too much for Zeller tonight. Foul trouble is always a potential downfall for Favors, and I get gunshy on him in cash games, but I love him for GPPs for sure.

David West - FD 6400 DK 6200 DFSTR 5900
West makes for a terrific cash game play tonight. His minutes are back in the low 30s, and he's actually shooting more than he did last year. So why's his price below where it was last year? Some random bad shooting luck. It's been ten years since West shot below 47% from the field, and he's below 46% right now. While he may not have otherworldly upside, he's the only decent Pacer at the moment. He'll get his.

Also considered: Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Millsap

Center

Enes Kanter - FD 6300 DK 6900 DFSTR 6100
Full disclosure: it's a rough day for centers. On to Kanter. The price has been steadily climbing on Kanter, and with good reason. He's locked into his 31-34 minute rotation, and he's improving in every aspect of the game. His offensive game looks more polished, and he's even chipping in some defensive stats these days. While Al Jefferson is a beast offensively, he's whatever the opposite of a beast is defensive. Great spot to grab Kanter and run.

Tyson Chandler - FD 6900 DK 7100 DFSTR 5800
Chandler has been absolutely tearing it up on the boards recently, and while his scoring will come and go, it's really his rebounding that raises his floor to a terrific cash game level. Well, San Antonio's big men tend to play below the rim, and they've allowed 8% more rebounds than league average to opposing centers this year while also being below average when it comes to allowing scoring as well. Both of these suit Chandler quite well, and he might be able to use his explosive pick and roll skills to put together a very nice game here.

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