NBA Daily Fantasy Picks & Playbook: February 23
Published: Feb 23, 2024
We have a six-game NBA DFS main slate on Friday, February 23rd, on DraftKings and a 10-game main slate on FanDuel and it's a fun one. We have plenty of stars with Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Victor Wembanyama taking the floor. We have a LOT of teams on back-to-backs and some really fun overall matchups as well.
NBA DFS Tools to dominate tonight's NBA DFS slate!
Make sure to check out today's NBA DFS projections and NBA DFS ownership projections before finalizing your lineups today. We also have the NBA Consistency Report to help identify players that have exceeded value based on their current price tag this season and of course our NBA DFS Lineup Generator!
Here's the NBA DFS Podcast for today's slate. Like the video and subscribe to our channel!
Notable NBA Injury Updates
QUESTIONABLE
- Anthony Davis
- Donovan Mitchell – OUT
- LaMelo Ball – OUT
- Brandon Ingram – OUT
- Zion Williamson – IN
- RJ Barrett – OUT
- Tyler Herro – Heat listed him as a game-time decision – IN
- Bradley Beal – DOUBT – OUT
- Jusuf Nurkic – DOUBT – OUT
- Jabari Walker
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
- Cam Reddish – DOUBT
OUT
- Onyeka Okongwu
- Terry Rozier
- Khris Middleton
- Scoot Henderson
- Malcolm Brogdon
- Brandon Clarke
- Jamal Murray
- Deni Avdija
- Norman Powell
PROBABLE
Back-to-Backs
- Toronto Raptors
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Washington Wizards
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Phoenix Suns
- Houston Rockets
- Charlotte Hornets
- Golden State Warriors
- Denver Nuggets
- San Antonio Spurs
- Los Angeles Lakers
Pace
Pace definition: Pace is the total number of possessions a team uses in a game.
*key* Green is elite pace of play, Blue is decent pace of play, & Red is slow pace of play.
Green = Fast Paced team
Blue = Neutral Paced team
Red = Slow Paced team
- Washington Wizards - 1st
- Atlanta Hawks - 3rd
- San Antonio Spurs - 4th
- Milwaukee Bucks - 5th
- Los Angeles Lakers - 6th
- Oklahoma City Thunder - 10th
- Golden State Warriors - 12th
- Philadelphia 76ers - 13th
- New Orleans Pelicans - 14th
- Toronto Raptors - 15th
- Phoenix Suns - 16th
- Houston Rockets - 17th
- Memphis Grizzlies - 18th
- Charlotte Hornets - 20th
- Los Angeles Clippers - 21st
- Cleveland Cavaliers - 23rd
- Portland Trail Blazers - 24th
- Minnesota Timberwolves - 25th
- Denver Nuggets - 27th
- Miami Heat - 28th
Defensive Ratings
- Charlotte Hornets - 30th
- Atlanta Hawks - 29th
- Washington Wizards - 27th
- San Antonio Spurs - 24th
- Portland Trail Blazers - 23rd
- Toronto Raptors - 22nd
- Golden State Warriors - 20th
- Milwaukee Bucks - 17th
- Los Angeles Lakers - 15th
- Phoenix Suns - 14th
- Los Angeles Clippers - 13th
- Philadelphia 76ers - 12th
- Memphis Grizzlies - 11th
- Denver Nuggets - 10th
- Miami Heat - 9th
- Houston Rockets - 8th
- New Orleans Pelicans - 6th
- Oklahoma City Thunder - 4th
- Cleveland Cavaliers - 3rd
- Boston Celtics - 2nd
- Minnesota Timberwolves - 1st
NBA Game Totals
- Toronto Raptors @ Atlanta Hawks - 245.5 (ATL -6.5)
- Washington Wizards @ Oklahoma City Thunder - 241.5 (OKC -15.5)
- San Antonio Spurs @ Los Angeles Lakers - 240.5 (LAL -9.5)
- Phoenix Suns @ Houston Rockets - 233.5 (PHX -4.5)
Top Tier Core Plays
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets (FD)
I mean, the guy had a 20-point triple-double and didn't miss a single shot. Hard to ignore that against the short-handed Trail Blazers.
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs (FD)
How do we not continue to run Wemby out? He topped 30 minutes on the front end of the back-to-back and went for nearly 70 FDP and has now put up 54+ DKP in three straight and 70+ in two of three. His block-and-steal upside on FanDuel really makes him appealing.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
The obvious question here is can Washington keep this game close. If they can, after playing in Denver last night, then there aren't many spend-ups as good as SGA today.
Young is one of my favorite plays of the day, if not my number one play. He gets the Raptors on the second leg of a back-to-back in the best game environment on the board. He shot the ball poorly heading into the break, but we've seen this before. He'll be OK.
Anthony Edwards. Minnesota Timberwolves (FD)
Really good spot for Edwards against the Bucks who struggle against guards and wings considering they don't have anyone to guard the opposing team's best player. Edwards sits at a 32.5% USG and averages 1.26 FP/min, which leads the team.
Devin Booker & Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns
I'm good getting to either Suns star with Beal and Nurkic not expected to play. Without them, both guys sit a 1.4 FP/min and Booker has the slight usage rate edge at 33% to Durant's 30%.
Mid-Tier Core Plays
Johnson's ability to stuff the stat sheet makes him appealing. Without Okongwu this year, Johnson has averaged 1.06 FP/min this year, has a chance to see some backup five run as well. Johnson's put up 38+ DKP in four of five games and has a 50+ DKP ceiling over that span too.
Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers
Mobley's pre-injury role is back as we saw him play 34 minutes yesterday. On the year he's averaging 1.2 FP/min and if Donovan Mitchell sits, that jumps to 1.33 FP/min. The price is still very appealing whether Mitchell is in or not.
Anfernee Simons, Portland Trail Blazers (FD)
It's hard to ignore some of the numbers for Simons when Brogdon, Henderson, and Sharpe have been off the floor and not gravitate towards him. He has a 35% USG and averages 1.32 FP/min. They just need to keep it competitive against Denver. Simons' life gets a lot easier if KCP sits out.
Immanuel Quickley, Toronto Raptors
I love me some Raptors here as I didn't list Scottie Barnes, but could definitely get there as well. Quickley's notched a 22% USG and averages north of 1 FP/min with the Raptors. Quickley's in the best game environment of the day, against a top-3 team in pace and bottom-3 defense.
Devin Vassell, San Antonio Spurs (FD)
The highest-rostered player on FanDuel as it currently stands is Vassell. This is a great spot against a Lakers team that struggles to defend the three-point line. Vasseell is coming off a 32-point performance and has 30+ FDP in five straight, 40+ in three of them.
Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers
As we saw yesterday, Garland's too cheap if Donovan Mitchell sits. I'll pull back a little bit if Mitchell plays, but if he doesn't we should expect solid ownership coming Garland's way once again.
Value Tier Core Plays
Ivica Zubac, Los Angeles Clippers
We saw Zubac's minutes limit officially be lifted last game and he played 29 minutes and lost out on some time due to a blowout as well. He's coming off back-to-back double-doubles and centers have been destroying Memphis since they've shifted to JJJ at the five.
I'd like to 100% know Gordon isn't going to face any type of limitations but it was interesting to see him not pop on the initial injury report at all. He played 35 minutes last game and is likely to pick up another start with Beal and Nurkic listed as doubtful.
If he makes shots, he has a high ceiling. If he doesn't, he has a low floor. This is a shot-making spot as ATL plays really fast and is really bad defensively.
I was on O'Neale before it was cool. We saw a LOT of him last night as Phoenix elected to go small and he played 29 minutes and fell one rebound shy of a double-double. He took 12 shots, eight of them from three, and if that's the role he's going to play, sign me up even if he is one of the highest rostered plays on the board.
Late-News Core Play & News Section
*Section for players we are considering “core plays” based on late-breaking news & research
- Interested in Grayson Allen as he'll likely approach 40 minutes tonight.
- Reggie Jackson (FD) is a very good value without Jamal Murray.
- Highly interested in Pelicans: CJ McCollum, Trey Murphy III, Herbert Jones, Jose Alvarado
- Jordan Nwora is starting for TOR and is min salary. Don't hate that at all.
- Isaac Okoro is an OK final piece in, starting in place of Mitchell. Caris LeVert interesting GPP play off their bench.
- If Zion Williamson plays I'm locking him in.
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Player Pool
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