We have a five-game NBA DFS main slate on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 15th, on DraftKings and FanDuel. We have a lot of pending news that could open up some much-needed value because there aren't many great value options. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Anthony Davis are both questionable and Jaylen Brown has been ruled out. LeBron James, Donovan Mitchell, and Bam Adebayo are taking the floor, even if the other superstars aren't.

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

OUT

PROBABLE

Back-to-Backs

Pace Up Spots (Last 10 Games)

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

  • Pacers: 1st vs. Jazz: 2nd
  • Thunder: 10th vs. Lakers: 3rd
  • Celtics: 9th vs. Raptors: 6th

Defensive Ratings (Last 10 Games)

NBA Game Totals

Top Tier Core Plays

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

SGA has only missed one game this year and it came in early November, so if he can play, he’ll play, but this is the front-end of a b2b for OKC. He’s coming off 37 actual last time out and has a great match-up in this spot against the Lakers. Over the last 10 games, the Lakers are 21st in DRtg and 3rd in pace.

LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers

I’m pretty skeptical about Anthony Davis’ status here. He’s been probable basically every slate and is now being listed as questionable after a game in which he played 40 minutes and went 5-for-21 from the floor in. LeBron’s fantasy production with or without Anthony Davis remains elite, so if Davis plays/doesn’t, LBJ is firmly an elite option.

Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers

Mitchell’s coming off arguably his best game of the year scoring 45 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four steals for 77 DKP. The Cavs are without Garland and Mobley again and without them this year, Mitchell has a 31.3% USG and averages 1.37 FP/min. They could also be without Max Strus and Mitchell could shoulder an even bigger load in that case.

Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

With word that Jaylen Brown didn’t go through shootaround we directly look Tatum’s way who has been on one of late and is the Celtics best fantasy producer this year. He averages 1.43 FP/min without Brown and his usage spike of +5.8% brings it to 36.3%. He’d be one of the best spends, if not the best, of the night if Brown is in fact ruled out. Still in play if Brown plays too.

Mid-Tier Core Plays

Lauri Markkanen, Utah Jazz

We're in the midst of the best stretch of Markkanen's season for sure. He's put up 48+ DKP in four of five games, has three double-doubles over that span, and missed the other two by one rebound each. Utah's been a great home team this game is between the top-two teams in pace over their last 10 games. Markkanen sits at 1.3 FP/min this year, which leads the team.

Jarrett Allen, Cleveland Cavaliers

Since 12/23, a span of eight games, Allen's topped 48 DKP in six of them and 50+ in five. Donovan Mitchell leads the team by a wide margin in usage without Garland and Mobley, but Allen is right behind him in terms of FP/min. He's at 1.33 without those guys and that's an ELITE number. The Bulls have allowed a LOT of DKP to the center position this year too.

Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder

Whether SGA is in or not, Holmgren is an elite FP producer. He averages 1.28 FP/min this season and that's paired with a 22% USG. His FP/min output is 1.27 without SGA, but his USG rate goes up nearly 2%. This is a nice pace-up spot for OKC and Holmgren here. Obviously good with Jalen Williams too.

Kristaps Porzingis, Boston Celtics

Porzingis doesn't necessarily see a massive FP/min boost without Jaylen Brown, in fact it goes down, but his usage rate goes up nearly 3% and now faces a Toronto front court missing Jakob Poeltl. They're throwing Thaddeus Young, Jontay Porter, and Chris Boucher out there as their center rotation, none of which have any chance against Zinger.

Jordan Clarkson & Collin Sexton, Utah Jazz

One of these two is getting a ton of ownership and one is not. I understand Jordan Clarkson's minutes are seemingly more secure on a nightly basis and he probably has the higher ceiling, but Collin Sexton has been damn good in his own right. Sexton's second on the team in both FP/min (1.16) and USG (27.1%). His minutes dipped recently, but a couple of games had much to do with blowouts and when Utah's needed offense, Sexton's on the floor. I love them both and prefer Clarkson, but in a tournament, pivoting to Sexton could be fruitful.

Value Tier Core Plays

Keyonte George, Utah Jazz

Putting this much faith into Utah is what it is at this point. They're one of the hottest teams in the league and George is playing with confidence off the Jazz bench again. His minutes have ticked up too playing 24 and 27 over the last two, directly cutting into Kris Dunn. George has two 30 FP games over his last four and this is an elite spot for him.

Payton Pritchard, Boston Celtics

The last time we saw Jaylen Brown sit out, the Celtics elected to run their big lineup with Tatum at SF, Horford & Porzingis in the front court, and everyone's favorite value today, Sam Hauser, only played 18 minutes. Pritchard in that game played north of 20, the only member of the Boston bench that did so. Pritchard's played well lately putting up 28+ DKP in three of four games and figures to play a prominent role off BOS bench.

Late-News Core Play Section

*Section for players we are considering “core plays” based on late-breaking news & research

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