NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 4/9/19

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes hugely on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

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

We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each price point.

Let's take a look at who you should target on today's main slate.

Best of the Best

James Harden ($11,800): On a slate that's mostly shaped by who isn't playing and which teams aren't going to be pushing their starters. it's worth getting some certainty with your high-priced plays. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets are still playing for playoff seeding, and this game's got a 230-point over/under with only a two-point spread. It may look like the Rockets are resting Harden, as he's averaging only 29.5 minutes per game over his last four. Those games were all decided by at least 24 points though, and his last five games decided by fewer than 15 have all seen him play at least 36, so we can expect a full (or at least near-full) workload from him tonight. Ranking third in the NBA with 1.60 FanDuel points per minute, getting that workload at a $200 discount from Russell Westbrook, who should see similar minutes but is less efficient, makes Harden a strong pick as the top play in all formats.