Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks for FanDuel Early Games 1/20/14

 

Get ready for a packed holiday slate in the NBA. We've got picks for everything you're playing today. Check out our FanDuel late day picks and our plays for DraftStreet's games. Good luck today. 

Quick reminder about these picks. At DFSR we employ a system that seeks to gain the most points-per-dollar. When we give a recommendation, it’s because we believe that player has the best chance to meet or exceed his price. On any given the night the highest dollar player can be expected to score the most points, but that doesn’t always make him the best play for the money. Just something to keep in mind. On to the picks. 

 

Point Guard

Going to want to get some cash into point guard today.

John Wall $9000 - Get ready to see a bunch of Wizards guys today. Wall being at the top of the list. He's gone for more than 40FP in his last five games. And guess who sucks against pretty much every position on the basketball court? The Sixers. Man they are bad in every phase of the defensive game. Wall will be a heavy start and I don't suggest fading him.

Kyle Lowry $8400 - Not as great an option as Wall, but fairly close. Lowry will be facing a Charlotte team that is without Kemba Walker. I don't know what that does to them defensively, but I can't imagine it helps. Lowry has been consistently over 40 FPs a game and should be in fine shape today.

Darren Collison $6900 - Outside of a subpar performance against the one of the best defensive teams in the league in Indiana, Collison is consistently paying this price. In fact, I think he might even get overlooked today against Detroit who is subpar against point guards. (I'm looking at you Brandon Jennings).

Update: Ramon Sessions $4200 - Starting for Kemba Walker at nearly minimum prices. Makes for a perfect punting situation.

 

Shooting Guard

Going to probably go cheap at shooting guard today. Except for:

Joe Johnson DS $6200 - After a stretch in which JJ was essentially a dead guy getting dragged around the court Weekend at Bernie's style he's come back with a bang. Hitting shots from behind the arc, looking excited, you know things he's getting paid a ridic amount to do. This is a fair price against the Knicks.

Alan Anderson $3800 - Anderson is actually the SG for the Nets and has been starting, getting healthy minutes. Problem with Alan is he doesn't do too terribly much on the court. Fortunately, for this price, he doesn't need to. And if he can get the ball in the basket a couple of times, well all the better.

Rodney Stuckey $4100 - I stared and stared and stared at Stuckey the other day, wanting bad to recommend him and then chickened out. then he scored 20pts on a minimum salary. He comes off the bench and needs to score to pay, but I like this price against a weak defending Clippers team. Either Jamal Crawford or Redick will be on him. So...

 

Small Forward

Only two really viable options for me today:

Trevor Ariza $6600 -For a guy who does a little of everything in the stat line, Philly is just the kind of game you want to see Ariza in.  He only scored seven points the other night and still had a great line for the price. This is an even better matchup. Trevor's almost a must start for me today.

Shawn Marion $5000 - Put up a dud in a blowout loss to Portland the other night. But that's just what we want. Get him off of other's radar and on to yours. Deng is a better defender than what Cleveland was running out there before, but I still love Marion today. At this price he can win you a tournament with his upside.

 

Power Forward

This position is where to grab the most value today. Going to recommend a bunch of mid tier guys who have some upside along with:

Blake Griffin $10100 - A hefty price tag but Blake can pay this 5x against the right opponent. Detroit is just such a group and have been going through a rough stretch against power forwards. Griffin is elite and I think you can easily save in other areas to get him into your lineups.

Nene Hilario $6300 - Could go beast mode against Philly.

Greg Monroe $6200 - Blake's good on offense. D? Um. Nope. Monroe's been all over the place lately, but could put up a nice line here.

Tristan Thompson $6100 - You need to pick your spots with Tristan. We had him the other night against Denver. And also a few games ago against LA. When he faces weak interiors he can really pay. His price is held in check because he's an average player who feasts on bad teams. Dallas actually doesn't control PFs very well. This isn't as great as the other two times we had Tristan but I think its a fairly safe play.

Patrick Patterson $4300 - If you want to save a little money here, Patterson isn't a bad option. He's in that James Johnson mode of coming off the bench and being insanely productive for short stretches.

Center

Andre Drummond $7500 - Andre is my top play at center today. He's had  a few off games, but I expect a bounce back against the Clips. Outside of Deandre Jordan blocking some shots and trying to pop the ball on rebounds, LA lets up a ton of points and rebounds against centers. Look for Drummond to get his early and often.

Marcin Gortat $6200 - He's playing Philly so I have to recommend him.  It's in my contract.

 

Who'd I miss? What did I get totally wrong? Leave a comment down below or hit us up on Twitter @dailyfantasysr

  

 

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