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NBA daily fantasy picks: Five players who could help your lineup for Jan. 26

Looking at the best targets in NBA daily fantasy for Tuesday night's slate. 

An unusually busy Tuesday greets the daily fantasy player with eight games and five guys priced at $10,000 or more. One of those is the impossibly hot DeMarcus Cousins. After his 56-point, 12-rebound outburst against the Hornets in double overtime on Monday, Cousins is now averaging 56.9 fantasy points per game in his last 10 contests. Still, the question remains, can you fit enough production in alongside his $11,200 salary, even if he gives you 60-plus fantasy points? The bet here, at least for Tuesday, is no.

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All prices are courtesy of FanDuel and based on a $60,000 budget.

PG: Deron Williams ($5,900) @ LAL: Williams is coming off one of his worst games of the season, but a matchup with the Lakers should provide the perfect bounceback remedy. They’ve surrendered the most fantasy points per game to point guards this season. In two games against the Lakers this year, Williams has put up an average of 12 points, 7.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals.

SG: Khris Middleton ($7,400) vs. ORL: Middleton continues to pour it in for the Bucks, posting 22.9 points per game in his last 10. He is developing into a genuine go-to scorer, with nine 20-point games in that same timeframe. Add it all up, and he has given fantasy owners an average of 35.5 fantasy points per game. Orlando is indeed a tough matchup, but Middleton’s game has ascended to a new level this season.

SF: Chandler Parsons ($6,400) @ LAL: It appears that Parsons is finally back to being his old self. After missing the beginning of the season due to injury, then dealing with the ups and downs that so frequently accompany a return to the floor, Parsons has turned a corner in the last week. He has two 30-point games in his previous three, averaging 29 real points, 6.3 rebounds and 42.3 fantasy points. The Lakers, which have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points per game to small forwards, aren’t likely to slow him down.

PF: Willie Cauley-Stein ($4,300) @ POR: FanDuel quickly took notice of Cauley-Stein’s presence alongside Cousins and moved the rookie out of Kentucky to power forward. The change came just in time for him to exploit a matchup with a Portland defense that has allowed the eighth-most fantasy points per game to power forwards. In his last four games, Cauley-Stein has averaged 9.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, one block, 1.8 steals, and 28 fantasy points per game.

C: DeAndre Jordan ($7,800) @ IND: As dominant as Cousins has been for the last three weeks or so, I’m more comfortable paying $7,800 for Jordan rather than going all the way up to $11,200 for the prime rib on Tuesday’s menu. Jordan’s performance with Blake Griffin on the shelf certainly makes that easier. In 12 games played without Griffin, Jordan has an average of 35.8 fantasy points. The over/under on Clippers-Pacers is 208.5, and the latter rank 20th in the league in fantasy points allowed to centers.