Happy Monday! We have a six-game main slate on DraftKings and eight games on FanDuel in the NBA DFS streets today. It’s a very fun slate with a lot of teams on back-to-backs. We have multiple games with at least 230 implied points and stars such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Alperen Sengun, Joel Embiid, and Cade Cunningham in action.

 

 

Before actually diving into the meat and potatoes, welcome to the NBA DFS season. If this is your first time reading our column on NBA DFS picks, I just want to welcome you and give you a few tips and tricks on what you should be looking for each night.

  • News outlets: reliable sources that give us injury news & starting lineups
  • Pace of play: who's playing fast vs. who's playing slow. Which teams get a pace-up spot (more possessions) vs. pace-down (fewer possessions)
  • Usage rates: is a percentage of how many plays that player is being used in
  • NBA DFS Projections
  • Lineup Generator
  • NBA Ownership

NBA DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, November 18th

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Pre-Lock Update

This section will be used for anything that changes from the morning until right up to roster lock. Injury updates, players we’re higher on than we were in the morning and so much more.

4:00 pm ET

  • Heat are missing Terry Rozier & Jaime Jaquez. tonight. It'll be interesting to see their starting lineup, but I'll be highly intrigued by things if Duncan Robinson and/or Josh Richardson are in the first five.
  • I'm toying with the idea of Oso Ighodoro, but we just aren't sure if the Suns go back to their double-big lineup we saw on Sunday.

6:30 pm ET

7:05 pm ET

  • Pacers starting Enrique Freeman. Could be worth a punt at stone cold min salary.
  • Joel Embiid IS playing & starting. Huge downgrade to Paul George.


NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 11/18

 


NBA DFS Slate & Game Overviews

With the NBA season just kicking off we don't have data yet for teams regarding pace of play and defensive matchups. In the section below, I’m listing the most notable things we need to look at in Las Vegas, including notable O/U and spreads.

Chicago Bulls vs. Detroit Pistons

  • Total: 233.5
  • Spread: DET -4.5
  • Bulls are 1st in pace, Pistons are 24th in pace
  • Bulls are 25th in DRtg


Washington Wizards vs. New York Knicks

  • Total: 232.5
  • Spread: NYK -14
  • Wizards are 2nd in pace, Knicks are 29th in pace
  • Wizards are 30th in DRtg, Knicks are 21st in DRtg


Indiana Pacers vs. Toronto Raptors

  • Total: 233.5
  • Spread: IND -4
  • Pacers are 23rd in DRtg, Raptors are 28th in DRtg


Atlanta Hawks vs. Sacramento Kings

  • Total: 236
  • Spread: SAC -5
  • Hawks are 3rd in pace, Kings are 17th in pace
  • Hawks are 22nd in DRtg


NBA DFS Core Player Pool & Lineup Picks

Here are the core players I’m looking at for my NBA DFS picks tonight. You can see the full analysis of tonight’s NBA DFS projections and player pool below or skip ahead to building the best lineups possible by locking these into the aforementioned lineup generator now.

High

Mid

Value

 

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Stacks

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