The NBA has just two games on it's main slate on Thursday, January 4th, on DraftKings and FanDuel. It's a star-studded NBA on TNT slate with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Wembanyama, Stephen Curry, and Nikola Jokic all taking the floor. It's a fun two-gamer with both games having over/under's up over 230 implied points with the Bucks and Spurs sitting up near 250. Maybe the biggest news of the day is Khris Middleton not being listed on the injury report.

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 off 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!

Milwaukee Bucks vs. San Antonio Spurs

Total: 248.5

Spread: MIL -9.5

NBA Injury Report

Milwaukee Bucks Injuries

San Antonio Spurs Injuries

Bucks NBA DFS Breakdown

Pace: 4th

Defensive Rating: 21st

I did an entire write-up assuming Khris Middleton wasn’t going to play considering he’s yet to play in any back-to-backs but he’s NOT listed on the Bucks injury report.

That doesn’t necessarily mean somebody won’t sit and be ruled out late, but as of now, Jae Crowder’s the only player on the injury report. It makes things a little muddy for sure. 

Top Play(s): Giannis Antetokounmpo 

Secondary Play(s): Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, Bobby Portis, Brook Lopez, MarJon Beauchamp

Spurs NBA DFS Breakdown

Pace: 3rd

Defensive Rating: 25th

The Spurs are just, sigh. Everyone just collectively nodded their head. The Spurs are likely going to be without Malaki Branham tonight and that could lead to an extension of Tre Jones, which we saw last game. Jones started the second half for the Spurs, played 25 minutes, and closed the game. Devin Vassell has been a 1 FP/min player this season, so if you land on him that’s more than fine. Blake Wesley is the other guard that could warrant *some* attention. Guards have been crushing Milwaukee this year.

For whatever reason, Keldon Johnson is coming off the bench, but he’s still playing 30-32 minutes and is still north of a FP/min as well. The Spurs are going to continue to start Julian Champagnie, too, and without McDermott and Branham, maybe he’s extended to mid-20’s minutes. Decent value. Jeremy Sochan has played well without Collins, Branham, and McDermott averaging 1.03 FP/min in nearly a 100-minute sample. Cedi Osman likely sees a little increase in playing time without Doug McDermott in the lineup.

How many minutes with Victor Wembanyama is the question of the day. Here’s what Pop had to say recently;

The Spurs are not on a back-to-back and we saw him go from 24 to 26 minutes last game. He has an insane ceiling but the minutes cap is simply annoying. We’ve seen Dominick Barlow ahead of Sandro Mamukelashvili lately, too, for that’s worth it. 

*note* Domnick Barlow & Mamadi Diakite are both QUEST on G-league assignments. If neither is available, San Antonio’s only center options are Mamukelashvili & Wemby.

Top Play(s): Tre Jones, Victor Wembanyama (GPPs), Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan

Secondary Play(s): Keldon Johnson, Blake Wesley, Julian Champagnie, Sandro Mamukelashvili (if Barlow & Diakite are out)

Denver Nuggets vs. Golden State Warriors

Total: 234.5

Spread: DEN -2.5

NBA Injury Report

Denver Nuggets Injuries

Golden State Warriors Injuries

Nuggets NBA DFS Breakdown

Pace: 29th

Defensive Rating: 8th

Denver’s starting five is a well-oiled machine and there’s not much else we need to look at here unless you have a magic eight-ball and can see a blowout coming here.

Jamal Murray has a 27.5% USG rate and averages 1.28 FP/min. In three of the last four games Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in which he’s topped 30 minutes, he’s put up 20+ DKP. He’s very inconsistent in terms of FP scoring, but he can knock down threes in a hurry and provide a nice floor.

Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon are solid ancillary pieces that could always have a big game playing next to Jokic and Murray. Porter is the better per-minute performer at .97 playing with the Denver starting five, but Gordon at .87, as a last piece in, is solid. Porter has better eligibility but is $800 more on DK and $400 on FD.

Nikola Jokic is good and if you want to play him, play him. 1.5 FP/min with this starting lineup on the floor, 1.8 FP/min overall. Yeahhhhh.

Peyton Watson, Reggie Jackson, and Christian Braun are the only other guys I’d even sniff attention to.

Top Play(s): Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic, Michael Porter Jr.

Secondary Play(s): Aaron Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Warriors NBA DFS Breakdown

Pace: 13th

Defensive Rating: 19th

The Warriors rotation is one of the most challenging things we have to navigate on a slate-to-slate basis. They’re trying to figure out what their best five is as some of their older players are struggling and the younger players look good.

Speaking of good, Stephen Curry. He’s scored 36 and 25 actual in back-to-back games. He’s starting to give us more peripherally, too, which has been a major issue this season. I don’t love Chris Paul’s price and I’d be OK landing on Brandin Podziemski and Klay Thompson as secondary pieces, but neither is a priority. I lean Podz of the two guys.

Jonathan Kuminga has seemingly put a stranglehold on 25+ minutes and is providing a BIG spark offensively notching 16+ points in back-to-back games. He has a 23% USG without Draymond Green on the floor this year and is averaging .99 FP/min. That’s much higher than Andrew Wiggins, who he upsurpsed in the rotation, but Wiggins does have some upside when his shot is falling. Over his last four games, he has averaged 14.3 PPG and 24.6 DK/game, which are both up from his season averages.

The bigs rotation is getting worse as the days go by. Trayce Jackson-Davis has entered the starting lineup, but after playing 29 minutes against Dallas, he lost five minutes against the Magic. Kevon Looney saw his spike from 11 to 17 and Dario Saric is settling into about 14-15. I rank them Jackson-Davis, Looney, then Saric, but it’s hard to love any of them.

Top Play(s): Stephen Curry, Jonathan Kuminga

Secondary Play(s): Andrew Wiggins, Brandin Podziemski, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Kevon Looney