NBA daily fantasy picks: Five players who could help your lineup for Dec. 23
Wednesday’s slate is just a bit more robust than Tuesday’s. On Tuesday, we had four games and one player with a price tag heftier than $9,000. There are 13 games Wednesday with seven players carrying five-figure price tags, and four more (not including the injured Damian Lillard) crossing the $9,000 threshold. The paths to daily fantasy success are varied with 26 teams in action. We give you one possible roadmap below.
All prices are courtesy of FanDuel and based on a $60,000 budget.
PG: Tim Frazier ($3,800) @ NO: Chances are you’ll want to roster Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, John Wall or Rajon Rondo at one of your two point guard spots. Finding savings is imperative, so why not do it with a guy who could play 48 minutes? After all, that’s what Frazier did in his first game filling in for Lillard. Frazier had 12 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in that game, finishing with 31.9 fantasy points. The Pelicans have allowed the second-most fantasy points per game to point guards this season.
SG: Will Barton ($6,400) @ PHO: Barton has been on fire his last two games, averaging 28.5 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Over his last seven games, he’s putting up 20.4 points and seven rebounds on an average night. He remains a steal at $6,400, especially against a Phoenix defense that has surrendered the third-most fantasy points per game to shooting guards on the year.
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and their defense that has allowed the second-most points per game to small forwards. Middleton is shooting nearly 43% from behind the arc this season. He’ll bring that to bear in a game the
are expected to win comfortably.
PF: Thaddeus Young ($7,000) vs. DAL: Young has thrived while surrounded by wreckage in Brooklyn this season. He has seven double-doubles in his last 10 games, putting up 32.1 fantasy points per game during that stretch. He has a matchup he should exploit as well, with Dallas allowing the third-most fantasy points per game to power forwards this season. Dirk Nowitzki is still getting it done on the offensive end, but his defense has slipped from its already essentially non-existent level.
C: Karl-Anthony Towns ($7,600) vs. SA: Towns is the one player in our lineup who doesn’t have a great matchup on paper, but that shouldn’t matter with the way the rookie is playing. In his last four games, he’s averaging 22.3 points, 11 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. He has multiple blocks in 18 of his 28 games this season. It’s scary to think how good he might be at the end of the season, let alone in a year or two. For our purposes, however, we’ll just be happy with him continuing the hot streak against the Spurs on Wednesday.
