Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/21/16 Opening Round Thursday brings us to the first games with higher seeds on the road. Home court advantage is something often speculated about, but I did some research to see if it really makes a difference, particularly in the first round of the playoffs. You can’t draw quite that specific of a conclusion, but there is definitely an advantage, and the best I can estimate is 5 points on the spread. That’s right in line with the spreads from the first two games of this years’ series compared to game 3. How helpful is that for DFS? I think you can expect that, at the margins, key players perform slightly better in Game 3 for the lower seeds. I can’t statistically validate this, but I suspect that higher seeds may play their top guys a little longer than usual if the games are closer. Keep those trends in mind when setting your lineups. Also, keep in mind that these projections assume Steph Curry will play his normal allotment of minutes. If he doesn’t go, the other GSW players will get significant bumps (especially Shaun Livingston and Draymond Green - no really). Note that this article’s format changed when the playoffs started. Additionally, there won’t be a separate update article. Check back to this article throughout the day Thursday and review the discussion in the comments below for updated information.   Now’s your chance to get DFSR Pro with NBA Optimal Lineups, Projections, Player Cards and Google Chrome extension that auto-populates your lineups into FanDuel. Or try a free trial of our base package with projections for every player. While the seasons overlap, you'll get access to our tools for the NBA and NHL (and MLB when the time comes)! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA? Be sure to read our free NBA Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. We've also launched a Stats and Research Page, which includes a lot of the individual statistics that we use to make our projections. It's free! Enjoy.   Oklahoma City Thunder at Dallas Mavericks Analysis After a Game 1 beat-down by the Thunder, the Mavs came back and stole Game 2 at the buzzer in OKC. What changed? Dallas hit the boards and cut the rebounding deficit way down, and the Thunder (particularly KD) couldn’t make a shot. It will be interesting to see how much OKC’s shot was off due to defense or just variance. I’m looking for a bounce-back from the Durant-Westbrook combo, and the DFSR projections seem to agree....

Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/20/16 Opening Round Wednesday’s three game slate brings us increased options compared to the two played on Tuesday. Technically that’s 50% more, a great example of Mark Twain’s explanation of the increasing magnitude of falsehoods: lies, damn lies, and statistics. Just because there are more options doesn’t translate to many options, so there's still not a lot of margin for error. Even in cash games, lineups will be similar. This is when playing late-night cash games with reduced slates during the regular season pays off. As usual in the first round of the playoffs, the biggest concern is court time. Examining blowout risk is a major theme below. Note that this article’s format changed when the playoffs started. Additionally, there won’t be a separate update article. Come back to this article throughout the day Wednesday and review the discussion in the comments below for updated information. Good luck all, though the plan is that you’ll need less, armed with DFSR’s projections and analysis.   Now’s your chance to get DFSR Pro with NBA Optimal Lineups, Projections, Player Cards and Google Chrome extension that auto-populates your lineups into FanDuel. Or try a free trial of our base package with projections for every player. While the seasons overlap, you'll get access to our tools for the NBA and NHL (and MLB when the time comes)! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA? Be sure to read our free NBA Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. We've also launched a Stats and Research Page, which includes a lot of the individual statistics that we use to make our projections. It's free! Enjoy.   Charlotte Hornets at Miami Heat Analysis The series began with a 32-point rout for the Heat, and the game wasn’t even that close. The real issue here is whether Steve Clifford and the Hornets can make the necessary adjustments to be competitive, given the opportunity to dig in and focus on one team. Our friends offshore upped the line just a point to 5 ½. For DFS players, that suggests a closer game and tighter rotations. Reviewing both teams’ minutes shows a pattern fairly close to what we saw in the regular season. In turn, it's reasonable to expect typical fantasy production from each of the clubs' usual suspects. Top Value Plays Nicolas Batum - FD 6900 DK 6600 Opponent - MIA FD Proj. Pts - 35.61 DK Proj. Pts - 37.73 Nic Batum is the top SF on FanDuel (FD) and DraftKings (DK) on a Pts/$ basis. In a game...

Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/13/16   Wednesday night is bitter=sweet. The schedule brings 14 games but signals the finale of another NBA season. DFS players will have to find something else to do until Saturday (I can recommend a site with great DFS projections and picks for MLB, NHL, and many other sports!). Along with the huge slate comes a tremendous amount of uncertainty. Only half the games have lines posted less than 24 hours before they start. Some teams are still vying for playoff qualification and/or seeding. Other teams are playing out the string. Many stars cleared out their mental lockers games ago. Other players (even entire starting lineups) may be sitting to rest and avoid injury before the playoffs. Just listing all the variables in play would take an entire article. Below are picks to form the nucleus of your Wednesday lineups. You’ll notice a few commonalities. Most are on teams with something still to play for (as of this writing – but even that’s in flux, pending Tuesday night’s results). A few players are from teams that haven’t been playing for anything in a while, but they’re (more) predictable, as there’s little reason to expect significant changes in rotations, usage, or minutes. All are pretty much cash game recommendations. Tournament lineups typically contain many of the same players, but be aware that there will be more punt/flier opportunities than any other night. Of course, many won’t be clear until right before tipoff… Wednesday’s games are essentially separated into two smaller slates. Ten games tip at 8:00ET. Be sure to note this - it's an hour later than usual. The remaining four games tip at 10:30ET. That creates more options for late-night contests, but also presents additional challenges for full-slate participants. The Jazz will know before tip if they’re playing for anything, but we won’t know before lineup lock. More chaos. If ever there were a day to follow breaking news, Wednesday is it. Fortunately, DFSR has your back on this. Now’s your chance to get a free trial to DFSR Pro with NBA Optimal Lineups, Projections, Player Cards. While the seasons overlap, you'll get access to our tools for the NBA, NHL, and MLB! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA? Be sure to read our free NBA Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. A quick heads up - we post an updates article every day in the early afternoon, EST, to catch everyone up on how things are changing as a result of whatever news has come through. We also have...

Daily Fantasy Basketball Injury News and Updates for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/8/16 Welcome to the daily updates and injury news article. We’ll update this article right up to lineup lock with all information that comes across our desks. You’ll probably find an ongoing discussion below in the Comments section – please jump in with questions, thoughts, etc. All input welcome! Last night's picks can be found here, so you can wrap your mind around what you need to be looking at before lineups lock tonight. By the way - we keep our projection system updated with all of the changes as they occur throughout the day right up until lineup lock. Every day. If you want access to that system so you can cut out a lot of the research element, click the button below! START YOUR FREE TRIAL! What We Know Editor's note: Sorry for pulling this article! Tons of news came out all at once and we wanted you to be fully caught up. Enjoy! The Clippers Are Sitting Most of Their Starters Coach Doc Rivers announced yesterday that four key starters will sit out tonight’s game. They did this a few games back, so we have a pretty good idea what the rotations and minutes will look like. You’ll see them in lots of optimal lineups, and need to take advantage of this in cash games. See one caveat below. Rivers is out too Give Crawford an event bigger bump, and we're now firmly in Pablo Prigioni territory as well. I like Crawford best by far for safety from this group, but some bizarre Clippers punt stacks are now in play as well. The Zinger is Doubtful All signs point to KP sitting another game. This makes Derrick Williams a strong option, given his tremendous production in the Unicorn’s stead. The Spurs are resting everyone except for Tim Duncan They did this against the Thunder (albeit the circumstances were slightly different, since the Thunder blew them out), so we at least have some precedent. The big winners from the lineup optimizer's perspective seem to be Patty Mills (who becomes the top overall points per dollar play at point guard) and David West, with an honorable mention to Kyle Anderson. I'd be fine with any of these guys in any format, which just makes tonight totally confusing. Aaron Gordon is Sitting We know he’s not going to take the court. We don’t know if Jason Smith or Andrew Nicholson will be starting in his place, but both should get plenty of minutes, with the starter an intriguing option, especially for big tourneys. Nic Batum will play tonight. When Batum sits, Courtney Lee tends to see a...

Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/7/16 You guessed it… Short Slate Thursday! Just five games, but four have meaningful playoff implications, and seven of the eight teams involved have either seeding or qualification on the line. Only one game is projected as a blowout (10+ point favorite), and there are a couple of really nice Over/Under (O/U) opportunities. It’s all capped by the Dubs-Spurs tilt, though that one’s clouded for DFS purposes by the ever-present Pop Factor. Now’s your chance to get a free trial to DFSR Pro with NBA Optimal Lineups, Projections, and Player Cards. While the seasons overlap, you'll get access to our tools for the NBA, NHL, and MLB. Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA? Be sure to read our free NBA Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. A quick heads up - we post an updates article every day in the early afternoon, EST, to catch everyone up on how things are changing as a result of whatever news has come through. We also have great talks in the comments of that article. Hope to see you there! We've also launched a Stats and Research Page, which includes a lot of the individual statistics that we use to make our projections. It's free! Enjoy.   POINT GUARD Ronnie Price - FD 3600 DK 3800 Opponent - HOU FD Proj. Pts - 19.45 DK Proj. Pts - 20.05 I usually prefer not to lead with a very-low-cost option, but Price is easily the play of the night at the point on a point-per-dollar (Pts/$) basis. He threw up a terrible 2-times-Pts/$1000 (2x) multiple two games ago. That was in the midst of 9x, 8x, 5x, 8x, 9x string. Hard not to like that. Houston is playing for its’ playoff life, but are bottom-3rd in the league in defense versus position (DvP) on point guards, and both teams are in the top 7 in the NBA in terms of Pace. While Price’s price has come up significantly, he’s still a near-punt and been playing over 30 minutes per the last few games. There’s a lot to like here, and with ample opportunities to spend up elsewhere, the DFSR system projects him as a virtual must-play on FanDuel (FD) and DraftKings (DK). I’d say that applies to both cash and tourney formats. Ricky Rubio - FD 6700 DK 6800 Opponent - SAC FD Proj. Pts - 32.45 DK Proj. Pts - 33.4 The next-best PG option on FD and a solid one on DK, Rubio is an average-salary play in a terrific matchup. Neither...