Basketball is the most consistent sport for daily fantasy purposes.
A top slugger in baseball will have his fair share of 0-for-4 days, and an elite fantasy football player is at risk of having games where his team's offense is shut down.
A high-salaried NBA stud is generally going to get his, though. With so many possessions in a game providing opportunities to produce, top fantasy basketball options will post high scores just about every night.
While this consistency puts us in an excellent position to identify top plays, it also means you can't afford to miss when you're paying up for someone. Even with strong value plays in your lineup, paying up and getting a dud will likely leave your lineup drawing pretty close to dead.
Which top players should be the focal points of your lineups today?
Domantas Sabonis, PF/C, Kings ($10,700)
Even with the salary increase, Domantas Sabonis appears to be one of the best ways to spend salary in all of daily fantasy at the moment.
The Kings are gunning for the West's two seed, but they're continuing to have to win shootouts to do it. Their 118.2 defensive rating in March is only stronger than five teams, but the opposing Utah Jazz (119.7) tonight are one of the squads behind Sacramento.
That's how you see a slate-high 240.5-point total in Salt Lake, and that should mean more points for Sabonis. Sabonis' minutes have climbed to 36.1 per game in March, and he's responded with absurd counting stats, including 22.0 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 8.0 assists per contest.
Notably, Domas is so reliable in these shootouts because he doesn't rely on stocks (steals plus blocks) to realize upside on FanDuel. He's averaged just 1.7 per game this month yet has eclipsed 52 FanDuel points in five of his last six.
He's a tremendous starting point in the day's best game for DFS.
Stephen Curry, PG, Warriors ($10,000)
Another large total is in Houston, where the Warriors will look to get off their road-game schneid against one of the league's worst teams.
Golden State's 126.0 defensive rating in March is abysmal, so forget blowout concerns for a squad with just seven road wins all season. That's incredibly appealing when we know the Rockets' defensive rating at home isn't good (115.6), and these are two above-average squads in terms of pace.
The problem is that outlook has mirrored the one in the last two for Stephen Curry, and he's struggled. Still, the realistic outcome of his 50-burger against the Clippers is always a possibility with his role as it is now.
Curry's 31.0% usage rate this month is not just high in a vacuum, but no other Golden State starter is above a 24.0% rate. If things are going well for the Dubs, Curry is a heavy favorite to be at the forefront of the scoring effort.
Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole also have plenty of upside in this matchup because the Rockets allow the most FanDuel points per game to guards as a whole.
Desmond Bane, SG/SF, Grizzlies ($8,000)
This section comes with an asterisk because, opposite Sabonis, Lauri Markkanen would be the no-doubt pick at wing on this slate if we knew he'd play, but he's questionable with a back injury.
As a result, we get to shine a light on another major story on this slate, which is the relative health of the Memphis Grizzlies. Ja Morant isn't quite up to speed with conditioning to return yet, and Jaren Jackson Jr. was a late addition to Sunday's injury report with a calf issue.
If both can't play, it should set up for a hefty role for Desmond Bane in a delightful matchup. With the pair off the floor this season, Bane holds a team-best 29.5% usage rate that he's parlayed into 42.9 FanDuel points per 36 minutes.
This is a really nice matchup for him against the new-look Mavericks, too. Dallas, shipping off most of their quality wings at the deadline, has allowed the 10th-most FanDuel points to small forwards over their past 15 games, and they've held a 117.4 defensive rating this month.
I'd love early, positive news on Lauri, but Bane deserves plenty of consideration even if he plays.