NBA DFS Picks: FanDuel Lineup Plays and Strategy for Tuesday, January 2

NBA DFS Picks: FanDuel Lineup Plays and Strategy for Tuesday, January 2

This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.

We're set for a six-game slate Tuesday night that is not only a very appealing size for DFS purposes, but one that also appears to be relatively light on injuries. However, there are some competitive concerns, as on paper, there appear to be some mismatches that could lead to abbreviated minutes for star players.

Slate Overview

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In all, there are three games with double-digit lines on FanDuel Sportsbook as of early Tuesday, with the 16-point line attached to the Hornets-Kings game particularly concerning. In terms of projected totals, there are four games with figures of over 230 projected points, which is encouraging in terms of the potential for standout individual performances.

Injury Situations to Monitor   

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Terry Rozier, CHA (illness): GTD

If Rozier can't play Tuesday, Ish Smith should seen another start at point guard, while the rest of the starting five should see plenty of elevated usage.

Other notable injuries:

Zach LaVine, CHI (foot): OUT

Nikola Vucevic, CHI (hip): OUT

LaMelo Ball, CHA (ankle): OUT

De'Anthony Melton, PHI (back): OUT

Zach Collins, SAN (ankle): OUT

Gordon Hayward, CHA (calf): OUT

Draymond Green, GSW (suspension): OUT

Mark Williams, CHA (back): GTD

Elite Players

We have four players with five-figure salaries that have a chance to play on Tuesday's slate – Joel Embiid ($12,500), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($11,300), De'Aaron Fox ($10,000) and Domantas Sabonis ($10,000).

Embiid is off the injury report after missing the last four games with an ankle injury, and he should there be well-rested for a matchup against veteran Andre Drummond down low.

SGA had a down game by his standards on New Year's Eve against the Nets with 36.8 FD points, but he'd been at 56.5 or higher in six straight prior to that contest. 

Fox also had 36.8 FD points in his most recent contest, but he'd been at 53.7 FD points or more in three of the previous four games. He also could be facing an especially short-handed Hornets backcourt if Terry Rozier misses another game, but there is danger of a blowout as well given Sacramento is the largest favorite of the night.

Sabonis has scored 44 to 56.2 FD points in five consecutive games and has a very favorable positional matchup against the Hornets, but as with Fox, there's blowout risk involved.

Expected Chalk

Other likely chalk plays include:

Ja Morant, MEM ($9,900)

Morant his first down game since his season debut when he scored 25.1 FD points against the Kings on New Year's Eve, but he should be very popular for a highly favorable matchup against the Spurs.

Jayson Tatum, BOS ($9,800)

Tatum scored 66.4 FD points two games ago against the Pistons and put up 38.2 FD points in just 30 minutes against the Spurs on Sunday, and he should be in plenty of lineups in what could be a wire-to-wire affair against the Thunder.

Victor Wembanyama, SAN ($9,700)

Wemby posted 33.9 FD points in just 23 minutes against the Celtics on Sunday, so he should be both popular and well-rested for Tuesday's matchup against the Grizzlies.

Andre Drummond, CHI ($9,200)

Drummond has provided totals of 68.5 and 57.6 FD points in two of his last three games while starting for Nikola Vucevic, which should keep him very popular Tuesday.

Key Values  

Malik Monk, SAC vs. CHA ($5,800)

Monk enjoys a secure role off the Kings bench and could be in line for a particularly solid swath of minutes Tuesday with Sacramento heavily favored. The veteran guard comes in with a hot hand as well, having scored 31.8 and 40.5 FD points in his last two games while shooting 69.6 percent from the floor, including 60.0 percent from distance. Monk now has 10 tallies of 31.7 FD points or more in 30 games, excellent returns for a second-unit player. The Hornets make for very good targets Tuesday, as Charlotte could be particularly short-handed in the backcourt again and is giving up the third-highest offensive efficiency rating to bench players (48.8) and 38.3 percent three-point shooting to two-guards specifically.

Trayce Jackson-Davis, GSW vs. ORL ($5,800)

Jackson-Davis has been quite the revelation in the Warriors' frontcourt of late, averaging 28.7 FD points over his last seven games on the strength of 11.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks across just 22.7 minutes per contest. The rookie second-round pick has a trio of double-doubles and six double-digit scoring efforts overall in that span, and he drew a start in his most recent game Saturday against the Mavericks. Jackson-Davis should be well rested Tuesday for a matchup against a Magic squad that's giving up 52.8 FD points per contest to centers in the last seven, with that period almost exactly overlapping Wendell Carter's return to action at center for Orlando. It's also worth noting the Magic has seen an unwelcome surge in points in the paint allowed over the last three games – they're surrendering 57.3 per contest in that span, compared to a sub-47-point figure prior to that stretch – while Jackson-Davis is scoring 81.6 percent of his points in that part of the floor.

Day'Ron Sharpe, BKN at NOP ($5,400)

Sharpe is another young big that's very worthy of consideration Tuesday at a very appealing salary. The third-year pro has consistently been carving out additional opportunity behind Nic Claxton this season thanks to his strong all-around play, which includes averages of 9.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 blocks across 17 minutes over his last seven games. Sharpe has typically seen minutes in the high teens during that span, but he's impressively put together a pair of double-doubles and three double-digit rebounding tallies overall during the sample. The Pelicans are very good candidates to continue facilitating strong production, considering New Orleans is allowing 56.6 FD points per game to centers, as well as the fourth-most rebounds per contest to second-unit players (16.9). 

ALSO CONSIDER: Jonathan Kuminga, GSW vs. ORL ($5,800); Tre Jones, SAN at MEM ($5,000)

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Juan Carlos Blanco plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: DraftKings: jcblanco22, FanDuel: jc_blanco22, DraftPot: jc_blanco22, FantasyDraft: jc_blanco22, OwnThePlay: jcblanco22.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juan Carlos Blanco
Winner of the FSWA 2016 Newcomer of the Year Award, Juan Carlos Blanco has been playing fantasy sports for over 20 years and covers NBA, MLB, NFL, CFL and Arena Football for Rotowire.com, including serving as the beat writer for teams in multiple sports. He has previously written for KFFL.com and remains an avid season-long and daily fantasy player in multiple sports as well.
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