FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Friday 2/24/23

Since it's much simpler to predict than baseball or football, daily fantasy basketball would get plenty of votes as the best sport to play on FanDuel. Players usually stick to the same minutes and produce at roughly the same rate. Sounds easy, right?

As a result, NBA daily fantasy is highly reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to ensure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

We'll also come at you with this primer daily, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's break down today's main slate on FanDuel.

The Slate and Key Injuries

The odd, one-basket appearance from Giannis Antetokounmpo in Sunday's All-Star event appears to be a wonderful gesture in hindsight.

Per the official injury report, Giannis is officially doubtful to begin the second half on Friday for Milwaukee, who will also likely be down Pat Connaughton (calf). Kyle Lowry (knee) is still out for the visiting Heat, but they're otherwise at full strength.

Though he's likely getting close, Friday won't be the Phoenix debut for Kevin Durant (knee) against his former Oklahoma City squad, and the Suns are still without Landry Shamet (foot). Cameron Payne (foot) has been upgraded to questionable out of the break.

Bradley Beal (knee) is still a question mark for tonight despite the nine days off the Wizards had. Mitchell Robinson (thumb) has been upgraded to questionable and could return for the Knicks' battle with Washington.

The Warriors are on a back-to-back, but Steve Kerr has hinted those won't be as traumatic for us daily fantasy players moving forward. As was the case Thursday, Stephen Curry (knee) and Andrew Wiggins (personal) will not play. They're hosting a Houston squad still down Kevin Porter Jr. (foot) and Jalen Green (groin).

Minnesota is still without Karl-Anthony Towns (calf) out of the break, but the visiting Hornets might get back Kelly Oubre (hand) tonight.

Ivica Zubac (calf) apparently got hurt at practice over the break, so he's out for the Clippers tonight. Of course, the news with L.A. is also the addition of Russell Westbrook. They're hosting a Kings squad on the second leg of a back-to-back.

The Hawks still will be sans John Collins (concussion) after he re-entered the league's protocol before the break. They're hosting Cleveland, who is on a back-to-back, too.

Finally, Ben Simmons (knee) is questionable for Brooklyn out of the break, but it's starting to appear Simmons' status isn't that vital to the Nets anyway.

**Editor's Note: Giannis Antetokounmpo was upgraded to questionable on Friday afternoon. Check numberFire's projections to confirm his status and its impact on the main slate.**

Guards

The top of guard is pretty ugly despite the eight-game slate. No option north of $9,000 has a value score above 4.70 in our projections.

Personally, the positional group starts at Jrue Holiday ($8,000) today. There's no doubt Holiday will explode with Giannis out; he averages 46.5 FanDuel points per 36 minutes with the former MVP off the floor. That's second on the squad to Khris Middleton ($6,000), who could also into the starting lineup.

They're both elite plays, and Grayson Allen ($4,300) and Jevon Carter ($3,800) will likely also start with a role exceeding 30 minutes. It could be optimal for 100% of your backcourt in a lineup to be from Milwaukee, per our projections. However, we'll discuss why we might want frontcourt guys, too.

Given Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's salary increase, I'd rather turn to Josh Giddey ($7,500), who is less dependent on scoring, in a tough matchup with Phoenix. Jordan Poole ($8,300) is also rating out well in this range entering his matchup with a Houston squad allowing the most FanDuel points to point guards.

Speaking of Houston's they'll have a value play for us, as well. It could be Daishen Nix ($4,300), Josh Christopher ($4,100), or TyTy Washington Jr. ($4,000), but I'd only roster who starts. Even then, they pale in comparison to Allen or Carter with the lack of guaranteed playing time.

Our projections also like Dejounte Murray ($8,500) and Mike Conley ($5,800) at this spot today, but Murray is an odd case. With no substantial role change, he's failed to eclipse 35 FanDuel points in five straight after posting at least 45 in five of six prior to this stretch. He's tanked in all categories.

Wings

Despite playing off the bench all season, Russell Westbrook ($7,200) averaged 62.9 touches per game for the Lakers. For context, that's more than DeMar DeRozan ($8,200) or Desmond Bane. The ball-centric force is expected to start for the Clippers, which personally squashes Kawhi Leonard and Paul George at their salaries today. At $8,600, George would certainly be the less risky play.

To me, the standout option at the top is Anthony Edwards ($9,400), who has erupted since his point guard, D'Angelo Russell, was dealt. He's eclipsed 31 points in three of the four games since the deal on a sizable 32.9% usage rate. The 241.0-point total in Minneapolis is also the highest of the day, and Gordon Hayward ($5,600) andKyle Anderson ($5,500) are other full-time wings to help access it.

The aforementioned DeMar DeRozan is back from injury for the Bulls, and he's a no-brainer over Zach LaVine with the two neighbors in salary. DeRozan (40.4 FanDuel points per 36) has comfortably outpaced LaVine (36.8) with Chicago at full strength all year.

Another game providing value wings is Rockets-Dubs. Houston likely will lean more on Kenyon Martin Jr. ($5,800) and Tari Eason ($5,100) with their top two scorers out, and Donte DiVincenzo ($5,300) should once again start with Wiggins out.

Others projecting well at the small forward spot today are Kyle Kuzma ($7,700), Cameron Johnson ($5,400), and Harrison Barnes ($4,600). Barnes posted 23.6 FanDuel points in just 23 minutes during last night's blowout; he's objectively undersalaried.

Bigs

In just 31 minutes last night, Domantas Sabonis ($9,600) posted a triple-double and 58.6 FanDuel points against a bottom-10 defense for centers in terms of FanDuel points allowed. He draws another with L.A. tonight.

Sabonis also pairs well with the marquee value play at the position today, Mason Plumlee ($5,800). Plumlee will face some of the minute concerns Ivica Zubac has when starting for the Clips this year, but he's also got a clear path to a 30-minute role if they stay big.

There are alternatives at the pivot, though. Rudy Gobert ($7,900) draws a Charlotte squad ceding the most FanDuel points to centers, and Mark Williams ($5,700) has eclipsed 32 FanDuel points in consecutive games since Plumlee vacated the Hornets' starting spot. Alperen Sengun ($7,500) also has splashed with triple-double efforts in games missing Porter Jr., Green, or both this year.

Sengun and Jabari Smith ($5,600) rarely pop together, so I might stick to the rookie in Houston's frontcourt. If the Rockets struggle and trail, Smith logged 29 minutes to Sengun's 21 in a blowout. That only increases his floor.

Evan Mobley ($7,400) barbequed Nikola Jokic for 31 points on Thursday, and he draws an Atlanta squad that's also bottom half in points and rebounds allowed to centers tonight. Teammate Jarrett Allen ($7,600) is also flashing through our projections -- likely for the same reason.

Finally, we'll see how far the Bucks are willing to push Bobby Portis ($6,400) as he returns from his 11-game absence tonight. I'd guess he starts in lieu of Middleton if forced to forecast the lineup.

It's also worth noting -- even though I absolutely won't get there given his low average production rate at this salary -- that Brook Lopez ($7,200) dropped in 33 points when Giannis got injured before the break. He'd be a contrarian way to target Milwaukee should he defy his historical averages again.