DraftKings & Fanduel NBA Daily Fantasy Picks: DFS Lineups 3/09/19

We made it through the week, and here we have a nice 5 game slate! This article only focuses on the main slate, which starts at 7. We only have the Washington Wizards and the Charlotte Hornets who are on their second night of back to backs. Most of these games are projected to be high scoring as we have 4 games with a 226.5 point over/under or higher. The only game total we do not have is the Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers game because of all of the injury questions in that game, but that game should also have a higher game total.

DK Salary: $4,800 / FD Salary: $5,900

“Are the Atlanta Hawks on this slate?" That is the first question I ask myself when breaking down a slate. And if they are, there is a high possibility that I will stack the other team. On this Saturday slate the other team is the Brooklyn Nets, who have the second highest implied team total at 121. The next logical question is “Who are the players with the best matchups?" That answer is quite simple, everyone! The Hawks rank 28^th in defense rating on the season, just ahead of the Phoenix Suns and the Cleveland Cavaliers. You add that to the incredibility fast pace the Hawks play at and it makes for great fantasy numbers for opposing team. My favorite play on the Nets due to ownership is center Jarrett Allen. He should only be in your tournament lineups as his minutes are very inconsistent, but Allen has a good matchup as the Hawks rank 18^th vs the center position. We are projecting him to play 24 minutes and score 27.87 fantasy points. That is more than one fantasy point per minute and if he gets in a groove, we can see him play 27 minutes and score 35+. At his $5,900 price tag, he could end up being one of the top values on the slate.

DK Salary: $10,400 / FD Salary: $11,600

As I said above, we have the Washington Wizards on their second day of a back to back. They already are a bottom 5 team in terms of defensive rating so we should always target them. Now they are coming off of a back to back, so that is just another reason to target them! The Wizards rank 22nd vs the center position, so we should be rostering Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl Anthony-Towns. He has been on a tear since he got into a car accident in late February that had him miss two games. He has been nothing short of amazing scoring the basketball, as he has averaged 34 points per game in his last 6 games. Towns has an incredible 32.29 percent usage rate on the season, but yet I still expect that to see a slight increase because of this awesome matchup on Saturday. Towns has scored 52.6 fantasy points or more in 5 of his last 6 games, and we should expect to see the same on Saturday. This game has a massive over/under at 243, and the Wolves have the highest implied team total at 125. So we definitely want to have plenty exposure to this team and this game!

DK Salary: $6,700 / FD Salary: $7,400

On Saturday there will be a new chapter written to the historic Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers rivalry. In this game we have two teams who aren't living up to the expectations we all gave them prior to the start of the season. The Lakers are all but eliminated from playoff contention and the Celtics were the favorite to win the Eastern conference, but now are sitting 5^th in the standings. This is another game we want exposure to and some of the best value on the slate. The Lakers have a few injures we need to keep an eye on. Brandon Ingram is questionable with a shoulder injury, Kyle Kuzma is questionable with an ankle injury, Lance Stephenson is questionable with a toe injury and Lonzo Ball may get shut down for the rest of the season. That usually means more minutes and usage for LeBron, right? But on Friday the Lakers came out and said LeBron will be on a minutes restriction and most likely will be held out of back to backs. So we have to turn to Rajon Rondo who may be chalk on Saturday. Rondo has had a great floor since he reentered the starting lineup. He's played 34 or more minutes in 4 of his last 5 games, and scored 35 or more in 4 of those 5 games. The Celtics rank 2^nd vs the point guard position this year, so Rondo doesn't have the best matchup, but due to all the injures the Lakers have, his 18.93 usage rate should see an uptick. In cash games he should be a lock in your lineups, in tournaments I would try to pivot off of him in a few of my lineups because of his ownership, and if he disappoints you will be ahead of the field!

DK Salary: $7,200 / FD Salary: $7,900

I always stack against the Atlanta Hawks as I said above, and in this case a game stack is in play on this slate. The Brooklyn Nets vs Atlanta Hawks game has the second highest over/under at 235 with a 3.5 point spread. These are the games we want to stack, high scoring, fast pace games that will be tightly contested. Hawks point guard Trae Young is an awesome play, but like Rondo, he will be chalky. I will have exposure to Young but I will pivot to John Collins in some of my lineups. His last game he only played 25 minutes because he missed the previous two games due to illness, but I expect him to be fully healthy and get his full allotment of minutes on Saturday. I believe some people will fade him because his reduced minutes in his last game, so we may get him at lower ownership. Collins has a great matchup against the Nets who give up 46.1 fantasy points per game and rank 25^th vs the power forward position.

DK Salary: $10,800 / FD Salary: $11,400

LeBron James may have the highest ownership on this slate, but I believe this is a time where we need to eat the chalk. As I said above, he will be on a strict minutes restriction, but even with that news we have him projected to play 36 minutes. The Celtics rank 6^th against the small forward position, so LeBron doesn't have the greatest matchup, but with all the injuries the Lakers are dealing with, LeBron will be asked to do more in this offense. This season, LeBron has a 29.77 percent usage rate, but that will see a huge increase as the Lakers may be without a few of their ball handlers. So even if he were to play 30-34 minutes, he could get us 1.7 points per minutes and that would crush value at his salary at $11,400 on FanDuel. We currently do not have a game total because of all the question marks, but we have a 3 point spread, so we are projecting this game to be tightly contested. This all lines up for an awesome game for LeBron. We are projecting him to score 54.70 fantasy points, but we shouldn't be surprised if he were to score 60+, as he reminds us who the best player in the world is!

This slate has enormous game totals, so game stacking the right game may be the way to win all the money today. When stacking, try to pivot off of the obvious plays to differentiate your lineups. Keep an eye on the injury news because that will change the whole slate. Let me know who you guys think are the top value plays tonight. Let's win big…together!