NBA Daily Fantasy Picks & Playbook January 9
Published: Jan 09, 2024
We have five games on tonight's NBA DFS main slate with some big names ruled out and more big names having their statuses unknown at the time of writing today's playbook. With just five games on this slate we also have two games with double-digit spreads and three games with totals over 235. Let's get into tonight's action!
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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!
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Notable NBA Injury Updates
Out
- Ja Morant (Done for Season)
- Cade Cunningham
- Franz Wagner
- Jakob Poeltl
- Dante Exum
- Dereck Lively II
- Wendell Carter Jr.
- Isaiah Stewart
- Moses Brown
- Deandre Ayton (doubtful)
- Garry Harris
- Jonathan Isaac
- Joe Ingles
Questionable
Teams on Back-to-Backs
Second Leg
- None
First Leg
Pace Up Spots
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
- Sacramento Kings 11th vs Detroit Pistons 7th
- Minnesota Timberwolves 21st vs Orlando Magic 14th
- Portland Trail Blazers 18th vs New York Knicks 25th
- Memphis Grizzlies 13th vs Dallas Mavericks 8th
- Toronto Raptors 17th vs Los Angeles Lakers 9th
Notable NBA Game Totals
- Sacramento Kings vs Detroit Pistons +11 (241)
- Minnesota Timberwolves vs Orlando Magic +5 (217)
- Portland Trail Blazers vs New York Knicks -12.5 (229)
- Memphis Grizzlies vs Dallas Mavericks -8 (235)
- Toronto Raptors vs Los Angeles Lakers -4.5 (236)
Top Tier Core Plays
Anthony Davis, PF/C Los Angeles Lakers
Whether or not LeBron James plays tonight really will have little impact when it comes to my feels on Anthony Davis. I already think he may be the top player overall on the late in this matchup against the Toronto Raptors and if James ends up not playing then even better. The Raptors front court matchups for Davis tonight will be a combination of Chris Boucher, Jontay Porter or a small ball lineup that may feature Pascal Siakam at the center spot. All of these matchups are elite spots for Davis to assert his domination here this evening.
Julius Randle, PF New York Knicks
While its difficult to ignore what we've seen from Banchero over the last few games, I'm going to run to Randle here tonight against the Blazers in what is a better matchup for a little bit cheaper of a price tag. Randle has been every bit as good as Banchero of late and since the trade to acquire OG Anunoby he has a team high 32% usage rate while averaging 1.28 FP/Min. Prior to the trade Randle had a 28% usage rate.
Desmond Bane, SG Memphis Grizzlies
Ja Morant is out for the season which means we go back to Bane being an absolute usage monster. With Morant off the floor this year Bane has a 30% usage rate compare to a 25% usage rate when Morant is on the floor. We also see his fantasy points per minute go from 1.11 to 1.23 when Morant is off the floor. We should get 20+ shot attempts from Bane here this evening.
Mid-Tier Core Plays
Anfernee Simons, PG/SG Portland Trail Blazers
Minutes cap removed and we get 45 minutes from Simons in an overtime game where he goes and scores 38 points. If there is no minutes limit here then we should expect to see Simons back to playing 35+ minutes a night where he has an elite scoring ceiling, especially at his price tag.
Isaiah Hartenstein, C New York Knicks
Games of19 and 20 rebounds in two of the last three but what we discussed on the show this morning was the extra stats we are now getting from Hartenstein which is really showing his ceiling. This is a great matchup against the Blazers for the Knicks tonight and we love the minutes we are getting right now from the Knicks starters.
Marcus Smart, PG/SG Memphis Grizzlies
We've seen Smart take 19 and 20 shots over the past two games and now there is no Ja Morant. I preached earlier this year that Smart is going to be an aggressive shot taker now that he is out of Boston and the Grizzlies will need all the scoring they can get now that Morant is out. IF Jaren Jackson Jr. is active tonight he too is an elite mid-tier play at his price tag.
Bojan Bogdanovic, SF Detroit Pistons
While many are going to Jaden Ivey here we looked at the numbers and Bojan gets the nice bump when Cade Cunningham is off the floor. There is a good shot that Bogdanovic could lead the Pistons in both shot attempts and scoring here tonight in this matchup against the Kings.
Value Tier Core Plays
Shaedon Sharpe, SG/SF Portland Trail Blazers
He played 40 minutes and we love to see that. Sharpe and Simons should be among the leaders in shot attempts for the Blazers now that their minutes cap is removed and he is too cheap at his current price tag if he is going to be playing all these minutes.
Alec Burks, PG/SG Detroit Pistons
Burks will continue to play 20-to-25 minutes off the bench and while the price is up a bit here he still posses strong scoring upside. There is also a good chance that he sees a minutes boost here with Cade Cunningham out with the Pistons needing to make up for the lack of scoring upside.
Chris Boucher, PF/C Toronto Raptors
Ok, so, if you saw the show this morning or you've been in the discord today then you know that I recommend this play with extreme caution. Listen, we've all loved the prospects of Chris Boucher for a while now. He has popped when given the opportunity to play minutes over the years but he rarely stays in the rotation and he can be foul happy. Tonight he has to defend Anthony Davis and that could go bad quick. He is a popular value play tonight and should see a ceiling when it comes to minutes if he can stay out of foul trouble and he is one of the few guys in this price range that has actual 10x upside.
Vince Williams, SG/SF Memphis Grizzlies
He played big minutes off the bench and that should continue to be his role, especially given how down bad the Grizzlies are tonight with Ja Morant out, Santi Aldama doubtful and Jaren Jackson Jr. listed as questionable. Williams has shown a nice ceiling at times this year and if he can be aggressive on the offensive end he will pay off the price tag.
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Player Pool
| $ Tier | PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  De'Aaron Fox  $9,600 |  Anthony Edwards $9,500 |  LeBron James $10,000 |  Paolo Banchero $9,700 |  Anthony Davis $11,300 |
| Kyrie Irving $9,300 |  Desmond Bane $8,500 | Julius Randle $9,100 | |||
 Jalen Brunson $9,000 | |||||
| Medium |  Anfernee Simons $8,100 | Austin Reaves $7,500 |  Bojan Bogdanović $6,800 | Jaren Jackson $8,300 |  Isaiah Hartenstein $7,800 |
 Marcus Smart $7,000 |  RJ Barrett $6,600 | Karl-Anthony Towns $8,000 | Duop Reath $6,700 | ||
| Jalen Suggs $6,500 | Shaedon Sharpe $6,500 | Goga Bitadze $6,100 | |||
 Jaden Ivey $6,400 | |||||
| Low | Tim Hardaway $5,900 |  Josh Green $4,900 | Naz Reid $5,700 | Moritz Wagner $5,300 | |
| Vince Williams $5,200 | Caleb Houstan $4,600 |  Derrick Jones $5,400 | Chris Boucher $4,800 | ||
 Gary Trent $4,900 | Ziaire Williams $4,500 |  Chuma Okeke $4,300 | |||
| Luke Kennard $4,300 |
Player News
Kristaps Porzingis (illness) said after Wednesday’s Game 2 loss to the Knicks that his current stamina issues may be related to the problem that sidelined him for eight games late in the regular season.
After an illness limited him to 13 first-half minutes in Boston’s series-opening defeat on Monday, Porzingis came off the bench in Game 2. Unfortunately, he could only give the Celtics 14 minutes. Following the game, Porzingis said his current problem may be related to the upper respiratory ailment that sidelined him for eight games late in the regular season. “Probably, probably,” Porzingis said. “I’ve had like ups and downs throughout until this point. Just now, had a big crash. Now, my energy, my everything, hasn’t been good, but who cares? Have to move forward and it will get better from this point.” While Boston’s shot selection was the focus following its two home defeats, Porzingis’ limited availability has also been a factor. He’ll hope to return to full health in time for Game 3 on Saturday afternoon.
Nikola Jokic finished with 17 points (6-of-16 FGs), eight rebounds, six assists, one steal, one block, two three-pointers and six turnovers in Game 2 against the Thunder on Wednesday.
This was Jokic’s worst performance of the postseason, and it came to an end in the third quarter. He fouled out with 1:17 left in the third, which brought his night to a close after he played 32 minutes. OKC was up 41 points when Jokic fouled out, so his night may have been close to over anyway. Jokic dominated Game 1, and the Thunder adjusted. Denver will need other players to step up if they want to have a chance of winning this series, but Jokic will also need to be better than he was in this game.
Michael Porter Jr. struggled on Wednesday and finished with just eight points (2-of-10 FGs), five rebounds, one steal and two three-pointers in Game 2 against the Thunder.
MPJ was slightly better in the second half, as all eight of his points came in the third quarter. However, the game was already out of hand at that point after a terrible first half for both Porter Jr. and the Nuggets. MPJ shot 1-of-8 in Game 1, and they’ll need him to be much better moving forward. The series will now shift back to Denver, and MPJ will look to get back on track during the two home games before the series heads back to Oklahoma City.
Russell Westbrook provided a boost off the bench with 19 points (5-of-11 FGs, 8-of-10 FTs), one rebound, five assists and one three-pointer in a 149-106 loss to the Thunder in Game 2 on Wednesday.
Despite an ugly first half for Denver, Westbrook was productive and entered the break with 15 points. He didn’t add much in the second half, though he sat the entire fourth quarter, still it was enough to lead the Nuggets in scoring. Russ has been awesome over Denver’s last five games, and his continued success will be key to the Nuggets winning this series. Though this game was ugly, they still have homecourt advantage in this series. They’ll look to keep it in Game 3 on Friday.
Chet Holmgren recorded a double-double on Wednesday with 15 points (3-of-8 FGs, 7-of-7 FTs), 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals, two blocks and two three-pointers in Game 2 against the Nuggets.
After struggling in Game 1, Holmgren bounced back and recorded the fourth postseason triple-double of his career, with three of those coming this season. Aside from Game 3 against Memphis, Holmgren has swatted at least two shots in every game during these playoffs, which was a trend that continued in this game despite him only playing 26 minutes. Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein (14/8/5/1/1) will look to continue to limit Nikola Jokic (17 points) in Game 3 on Friday.
Jalen Williams bounced back on Wednesday with 17 points (6-of-11 FGs), four rebounds, seven assists and two blocks in Game 2 against the Nuggets.
Williams was criticized for his poor performance in the Thunder’s Game 1 loss, but he responded well in OKC’s blowout victory. He was on pace for a bigger night, but he only played 26 minutes and sat the entire fourth quarter due to the lopsided score. He shot the ball much better after shooting 5-of-20 in Game 1, and he’ll need that success to carry over into Game 3 in Denver on Friday.