NBA Daily Fantasy Picks & Playbook November 25
Published: Nov 25, 2023
We have just four games on tonight's NBA DFS main slate but some big news already impacting our roster constructions with Jordan Clarkson, Lauri Markkanen and Zion Williamson all being ruled out already. We are also waiting to find out the status of Lebron James and Donovan Mitchell who are both questionable this evening.
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!
Notable NBA Injury Updates
Questionable
Out
- Jordan Clarkson
- Lauri Markkanen
- Zion Williamson
- CJ McCollum
- Dereck Lively
- Rui Hachimura
- Danilo Gallinari
- Dean Wade
Teams on Back-to-Backs
First Leg
Second 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
- Atlanta Hawks 2nd vs Washington Wizards 20th
- Los Angeles Lakers 22nd vs Cleveland Cavaliers 15th
- New Orleans Pelicans 16th vs Utah Jazz 16th
- Dallas Mavericks 3rd vs Los Angeles Clippers 19th
Notable NBA Game Totals
- Atlanta Hawks vs Washington Wizards (+8.5) - Total: 249.5
- Los Angeles Lakers vs Cleveland Cavaliers (-4.5) - Total: 225
- New Orleans Pelicans vs Utah Jazz ( +5) - Total: 232.5
- Dallas Mavericks vs Los Angeles Clippers (+2) - Total: 234.5
Top Tier Core Plays
Trae Young, PG ATL
Young exploded for 43 points, four rebounds and nine assists against the Nets on Wednesday and he's now averaging over 60 FP for the last two games. Today he's in a great matchup against the Wizards in a game with a slate high 249.5 game total. Sure, blowout potential is a concern here, but Young has been too good and the Hawks defense is very bad so here's to hoping the Wizards who stayed competitive with the Bucks last night show up tonight as well.
Lebron James, SF/PF Los Angeles Lakers
Though listed as questionable with the Lakers also facing the front leg of a back-to-back it seems difficult to envision a scenario where James returns to Cleveland and does not suit up. The Lakers are 4.5-point underdogs here tonight and the Cavs could get back Donovan Mitchell but that will hopefully only mean a competitive game where we are getting the most from LBJ here tonight.
Brandon Ingram, SG New Orleans Pelicans
No Zion Williamson and no C.J. McCollum for the Pelicans tonight against a Jazz team that is without their top two scorers in Jordan Clarkson and Lauri Markkanen. We are looking at just a 5-point spread and a game total of 232.5. Ingram has gone for 40+ FP in three of the last four games and we have enough of a sample size here of Ingram not he floor without the above two mentioned Pelicans players being active to know that he averages a healthy 1.25 FP/Min with a ridiculous 36.7% usage rate.
Paul George, SG/SF Los Angeles Clippers
We've touted PG13 a lot this season and the price really continues to remain steady as does his production. George has scored at least 40 FP in 12 of the 14 games he's suited up for this season and over the last five games he is averaging close to 48 fantasy points per game. The Clippers and Mavericks are playing in a game tonight with a 234.5 game total and a two-point spread and this is also a massive pace up game for the Clippers with Dallas ranking 3rd in pace this season.
Mid-Tier Core Plays
Jordan Poole, PG/SG Washington Wizards
We've given Poole plenty of grief this season and it was more than warranted but we have to be slaves to the scoreboard and right now that scoreboard is telling us that Poole's offensive game is heating up as the Wizards guard has scored 26, 24 and 30 actual points over the last three games while averaging close to 40 fantasy points. The price tag continues to sit in a reasonable range for the current production and we are looking at a game with a close to 250 total. The Wizards are also in a huge pace up spot, ranking 20th while the Hawks rank 2nd.
Jonas Valanciunas, C New Orleans Pelicans
While we love Brandon Ingram tonight it is actually Jonas Valanciunas that leads the team with 1.27 FP/Min with McCollum and Williamson off the floor this season. Valanciunas is also second in usage rate at 21.7%. The Jazz are getting back second-year center Walker Kessler tonight but he's had some issues with foul trouble this year and JVal is a really good offensive player.
Austin Reaves, SG/SF Los Angeles Lakers
Cam Reddish and Rui Hachimura are both ruled out tonight which will shorten the rotation for the Lakers here this evening. Reaves played 31 minutes against the Mavericks on Wednesday and returned 5x value. He's also averaging over 30 FP over the last six games. Good spot for him to get extended run this evening against the Cavaliers.
Value Tier Core Plays
Collin Sexton / Talen Horton-Tucker, Utah Jazz
With Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson ruled out tonight we should see a nice increase in minutes from both Sexton and THT here tonight with one of the two entering the starting lineup. My initial thoughts here are that we see THT start with Sexton coming off the bench but both present some nice ceilings and 20+ shot upside if they get close to 30 minutes tonight.
Saddiq Bey, PF Atlanta Hawks
Always a favorite value play of mine. Bey lost out to a ceiling night from DeAndre Hunter which can happen when you are the 6th man. Prior to that Hunter explosion however we've been rolling with Bey playing big minutes off the bench and giving us close to 30 FP a night. He is still far too cheap in a spot with the highest game total on the board.
Naji Marshall, PF New Orleans Pelicans
We got 27 minutes from Marshall last night and he missed every shot and yet still managed 16.5 fantasy points. Prior to last nights outing he went for 30 and 26 fantasy points. He could find himself starting tonight with Williamson ruled out and I wouldn't be afraid to go back to the well here.
Richaun Holmes, C Dallas Mavericks
Dereck Lively has been ruled out and Holmes played a season high 23 minutes against the Lakers on Wednesday. Holmes has long been a fantasy point per minute beast over the course of his career but has found himself at the end of the bench for teams over the past few seasons. If he gets the start tonight he would be my top center option but either way he likely gets another 25 or so minutes of playing time this evening.
Daniel Theis, C Los Angeles Clippers
I have no shame running back to Theis here this evening after the Clippers backup center played 21 minutes and finished with 17 and 20 FP depending on your platform. This matchup against the Dallas may actually be better for him given the front court the Mavericks roll out there and while I don't ever expect a ton of minutes here, we've now seen three straight games over 20 minutes from Theis here and in two of those three games we got 27 and 30 FP.
SHEET UPDATE! The grid below is listed as our PLAYER POOLS, not our core plays. We've switched the formatting and the players written up above are the players we're using as CORE options. Everyone in the grid are options we would use too.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Luka Dončić  $11,900 | LeBron James $10,200 |  Anthony Davis $10,500 | ||
 Trae Young $9,500 | |||||
| Medium |  Darius Garland $8,200 |  Dejounte Murray $8,100 |  Paul George $8,600 |  Kyle Kuzma $8,000 |  Jonas Valančiūnas $7,100 |
 James Harden $7,700 |  Jordan Poole $6,600 |  Brandon Ingram $8,000 | Jalen Johnson $6,400 | Daniel Gafford $5,900 | |
| Austin Reaves $6,200 | Herbert Jones $6,300 |  John Collins $6,300 | |||
| Low |  Tyus Jones $5,700 |  Talen Horton-Tucker $5,200 | Saddiq Bey $5,200 | Kelly Olynyk $5,100 | Walker Kessler $5,500 |
| Keyonte George $5,400 | Norman Powell $4,900 | Naji Marshall $5,000 |  Daniel Theis $4,900 | Richaun Holmes $3,700 | |
| Collin Sexton $4,800 | Bilal Coulibaly $4,800 | ||||
| Max Christie $3,700 |
Player News
Stephen Curry (hamstring) is out for Game 5 against the Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Unsurprisingly, Curry is officially out for Game 5 due to the hamstring injury he suffered during Game 1. Game 6, which will be played on May 18, was a far more realistic possibility for the Warriors’ superstar guard. Buddy Hield will likely remain in the starting lineup, with Jonathan Kuminga taking on a more prominent role off the bench. Those two and Brandin Podziemski will need to be at their best if the Warriors are to extend this series, which they trail three games to one.
Sam Merrill (neck) is out for Game 5 against the Pacers on Tuesday.
A late addition to Cleveland’s injury report, Merrill will not be available for a game the Cavaliers need to keep their season alive. His absence leaves the East’s top seed down a rotation player, but they will have Donovan Mitchell (ankle) in the starting lineup.
Donovan Mitchell (ankle) is available for Game 5 against the Pacers on Tuesday.
Mitchell did not play in the second half of Sunday’s Game 4 blowout loss after aggravating a left ankle injury. The good news is that he’ll be available for Tuesday’s game, and the Cavaliers will need all hands on deck as they trail three games to one. Cleveland will go with its regular starting lineup, with Darius Garland, Max Strus, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen joining Mitchell. According to TNT, an MRI on Monday revealed a sprain and showed that Mitchell did not suffer any additional damage.
Sam Merrill (neck) is questionable for Game 5 against the Pacers on Tuesday.
Absent from the Cavaliers’ initial injury report for Game 5, Merrill has been added due to a strained neck. With Donovan Mitchell (ankle) a game-time decision, Cleveland could be down two rotation players with their season on the line. They would require more production from Darius Garland, Max Strus and Ty Jerome to keep their season alive.
Sam Hauser (ankle) is probable for Game 5 against the Knicks on Wednesday.
Hauser has been out of the Celtics’ lineup since spraining his ankle during Game 1. His likely return will give Boston another rotation player to call upon, as Jayson Tatum (Achilles) is out for the foreseeable future. With Kristaps Porzingis (illness) still not back to full strength, Hauser will play rotation minutes if cleared, potentially as a starter.
The Celtics announced Tuesday that Jayson Tatum underwent surgery to repair his ruptured right Achilles tendon.
Tatum was injured during the fourth quarter of Monday’s Game 4 loss to the Knicks, with his leg giving out as he attempted to corral a loose ball. The Celtics star could not put any weight on his leg while being helped to the locker room, and the worst fears have officially been realized. Not only will Tatum miss the remainder of this playoff series, which Boston trails 3-1, but he’ll likely miss most of the 2025-26 season. One would expect Kristaps Porzingis to return to the starting lineup in the short term, and the Celtics have serious long-term questions to answer following Tatum’s injury.