FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Picks - Thursday, 1/16/20 Head on over a for your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NBA FanDuel and DraftKings optimizer, our NFL Optimizer and NHL Projections as well. Plus our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA or NFL? Be sure to read our free NBA and NFL Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Point Guard Lonzo Ball FD - $6500 DK - $7900 Opponent - UTA Proj Pts FD - 39.59 DK - 41.02 As a general rule we try to avoid running guys against the Jazz, but I think we have a good reason to run a few tonight. While Holiday has been out for a while, FanDuel has not totally accounted for what his absence means for Ball, as you can probably tell by the disparity between his FanDuel and DraftKings prices. Ball has averaged a triple double in his last three games, has topped 30 in his last 8, and even performed against these very Jazz in that stretch. In that meeting the Pelicans put up 126 points in regulation, and Ball chipped in 21/8/7 in the effort. He's just too cheap on FanDuel right now, and almost match-up proof at these prices. Elfrid Payton FD - $5700 DK - $5500 Opponent - PHO Proj Pts FD - 31.37 DK - 31.06 The trick to playing Knicks this season is grabbing the right Knicks in the right game scripts. Payton has, at times, been one of those "right Knicks," as he should have a lot of time of possession in a roughly 32 minute rotation in close games. Phoenix isn't a dream match-up these days, but they are still plenty solid, playing the league's 10th fastest pace with league average defensive efficiency. Something like the 15/6/7 he put up against New Orleans is very much in play here. Also considered: Kemba Walker, though I'll be monitoring his status on the second half of a back to back. Shooting Guard Lou Williams FD - $6200 DK - $6900 Opponent - ORL Proj Pts FD - 38.57 DK - 40.44 Lou Will grabbed a start on Sunday against the Nuggets and more than answered the call, putting together a solid 26/4/4 in 34 minutes. He headed back to the bench against the Cavs, but I don't think we can draw a lot of conclusions about his reduced playing time given that the Clippers were up by 35 heading into the fourth quarter. His playing time should get back to normal in what should...

FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Picks - Thursday, 1/9/20 Head on over a for your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NBA FanDuel and DraftKings optimizer, our NFL Optimizer and NHL Projections as well. Plus our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA or NFL? Be sure to read our free NBA and NFL Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Point Guard Chris Paul FD - $7200 DK - $7400 Opponent - HOU Proj Pts FD - 40.75 DK - 41.25 Chris Paul has just been awesome this season, and has exceeded basically everyone's expectations for real life basketball and DFS. While he didn't have a great game against the Rockets in their last meeting, he's still been steadily paying these prices all season long so long as the game stays close. This is match-up is against a Rockets team that plays a league average defensive efficiency with the 2nd fastest pace, and given that we are getting Paul at normal prices he looks like a discount here. Point guard is tough tonight, and Paul looks like a nice way to lock in some midrange value. Derrick Rose FD - $6600 DK - $6500 Opponent - CLE Proj Pts FD - 36.82 DK - 37.21 Rose started the second half in this very match-up against Cleveland on Tuesday, and wound up playing a season high 31 minutes en route to a very solid 24/3/7 line. It's annoying that the sites have jumped the gun on raising Rose's prices, as it looks like he's finally stepping into the 30+ minute role we all hoped he was capable of. He's scored 30 fantasy points a game this season on 25 minutes per game, so raising that total by 20% means we have a great play for every format against this lousy Cleveland team. Also considered: Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard, both of whom look like decent pay-up options tonight. Shooting Guard James Harden FD - $11200 DK - $12200 Opponent - OKC Proj Pts FD - 64.17 DK - 67.22 A night after Harden likely set the record for highest ownership on a regular slate at a staggering 98%, I think we can go right back to the well here against the Thunder. This actually isn't a good match-up at all, as the back-court duo of Paul and SGA is one of the toughest in the league, but on a night with precious few pay-off options it's just going to be hard to put together a Hardenless lineup if there are any cheap...

Daily Fantasy Football Game by Game Breakdowns for FanDuel and DraftKings Divisional Round - Saturday It's the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs, and Saturday's slate features the two teams with the best odds to meet in the Superbowl squaring off against the two teams that pulled off Wild Card round upsets. Will these games be as lopsided as the spreads suggest, or do the Titans and Vikings still have some magic left in the tank? Let's have a look. And also check in on our picks for Sunday's Divisional Round games Want access to the projections that power these picks? For a limited time we're offering a free one week trial to all the sports that we cover - that's optimal lineups for NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB - for the same low price. Get started now! START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Minnesota Vikings (7) vs. San Francisco 49ers (-7) The Vikings worked their overtime magic against the Saints as 8 points dogs last week, and now Vegas is giving them a hair more respect against a better 49ers team. We know how the Vikes operated in a tight one vs. the Saints, but how will they do here? Let's see what our system thinks. The Minnesota Vikings Dalvin Cook FD 8600 DK 8000 Opponent SF Proj Points FD - 20.85 DK - 22.61 If you're considering a Viking this Saturday, there's pretty much one name you need to know. Cook was the target of 33 of the Vikings 71 plays from scrimmage, and while it's true that the Vikings found themselves in the unlikely position of having a commanding lead through three quarters, that was the situation they were in nonetheless. It was clear from the opening kickoff that the Vikes wanted to keep the Saints off the field, and one has to assume they'll try the same against the Niners this week. Now one might look at this and say, "James, the 49ers have the best DVOA of any team left in the playoffs! Surely we can't play Cook against them!" Well, hypothetical skeptic, it's true that the Niners have a great defense. But there are only four teams going on Saturday, and the Vikings have to do something when they get the ball offensively. The Vikes have also shown many times this season that they are willing to go all in on the Cook plan, especially when the opposing defense is better against the pass than against the run. The 49ers are exactly that, as they ranked 2nd this season in DVOA against the pass but "just" 12th against the run. Given the fact that two teams playing on Saturday don't really feature traditional RB1,...

FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Picks - Sunday 1/5/20 We've got two little mini-slates today, and instead of giving you positional picks I think it will be more effective to touch on the early slate briefly and then go game by game and break out what you should keep an eye out for in the main slate. Let's get to it. Head on over a for your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NBA FanDuel and DraftKings optimizer, our NFL Optimizer and NHL Projections as well. Plus our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA or NFL? Be sure to read our free NBA and NFL Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Early slate action The early slate has a few extremely important dominoes to keep an eye on before you even begin to start making your lineups. Let's start with the most important. The Clippers could be missing everyone, or no one. At this point there's no determination as far as whether Paul George and Patrick Beverley will play through their respective injuries, and while there is no word on Kawhi's status, it would be surprising to see him out there on the second half of a back to back. All of this news affects not just the Clippers plays, but the Knicks as well. If the Clippers best are going the Knicks are unplayable, but if they sit there is a whole host of great plays from both sides. Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, Moe Harkless, and even Landry Shamet could be cash game plays. On the Knicks side, we have more question marks. Elfrid Payton could miss this game on account of the birth of his daughter, and if he sits Frank Ntilikina would be a phenomenal cash game play. Typically solid plays like Marcus Morris and Julius Randle would be great plays if the Clips are short staffed but risky if the Clips ran the full squad. The second game featuring Portland and Miami features a lot of solid plays, but you won't know which you want until the Clips/Knicks situations get sorted. I would be happy to run Lillard, McCollum, Anthony, and Whiteside from the Blazers and Jimmy Butler from Miami. I could consider Kendrick Nunn if I absolutely needed the money for other positions. The Late Slate The late slate features some shenanigans of its own, but some good old fashion value as well. Let's go game by game. The Minnesota Timberwolves at the Cleveland Cavaliers This is the game that contains the aforementioned shenanigans. The...

FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Picks - Friday, 1/3/20 Head on over a for your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NBA FanDuel and DraftKings optimizer, our NFL Optimizer and NHL Projections as well. Plus our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA or NFL? Be sure to read our free NBA and NFL Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Point Guard Lonzo Ball FD - $5300 DK - $6000Opponent - LALProj Pts FD - 34.78 DK - 35.93The slate starts off with a bank, with Lonzo Ball heading into LA for his revenge game! In all seriousness, we're catching Ball at exactly the right time for DFS purposes. He's coming off a barn-burning performance against the Rockets, where he shot 7-12 from 3 and netted 57 fantasy points in 40 regulation minutes. He doesn't need anywhere near that level of playing time to be a $5,300 player, and this is just a phenomenal opportunity for cash games and big tournaments alike, even in a tough match-up as a big dog against his former team. Kemba Walker FD - $7900 DK - $8300Opponent - ATLProj Pts FD - 43.59 DK - 45.29We'll discuss Walker for a couple of reasons here. First, if he winds up feeling better and getting a clean bill of health for this game, he is in a terrific spot against the returning Trae Young. Atlanta's electric point guard is a terrible defender on his best days, and on the heels of an ankle injury we can get even more excited. There's still a chance that Walker sits, however, and that would open up a ton of opportunity for the rest of the Celtics, with Marcus Smart leading the charge there. The details of Kemba's illness aren't quite known yet, but once we get more clarity I would be fine either playing him or playing his replacements. Also considered: Some excellent expensive plays, like Damian Lillard against the Wizards, Westbrook against Philly, and Ben Simmons against Houston. Listen to Doug Norrie's Brooklyn Nets Podcast Shooting Guard James Harden FD - $11100 DK - $10900Opponent - PHIProj Pts FD - 57.81 DK - 60.56It's one of the worst possible DFS match-ups with Philly ranking in the top 10 in defensive efficiency and the bottom 10 in terms of pace, but Harden's price is also cheaper heading into this one than it would be normally. The biggest threat to a singular talent like Harden is not usually the opposing defense, but the potential that his team blows the other one...