The NBA scene changes 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 bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.
Daily fantasy NBA is very reliant on opportunity, so you'll need to make sure that you're up-to-date with key injuries and COVID-19 situations. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news and we also have player news updates.
We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.
Let's take a look at who you should target for tonight's matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks, which tips off at 8:30 PM Eastern.
All injury updates are via the NBA's official injury report or numberFire's player news.
Read this piece by Brandon Gdula for some excellent in-depth analysis on how to attack a single-game slate in NBA DFS.
MVP Considerations
Giannis Antetokounmpo ($16,500) - As will be the case for the entire series, the choice at the MVP slot will come down to Giannis and Trae Young. While Young's real-life performance in Game 1 was nothing short of astonishing, the fact that he was outscored by Antetkounmpo on FanDuel might go overlooked. The Greek Freak dropped 70.9 fantasy points to Young's 69.9, which means the two-time MVP has now eclipsed 59 in three of his last four games. Our algorithm favors Giannis in a big way once again tonight, as we have him outscoring the 22-year-old by 11.9 FanDuel points.
Khris Middleton ($12,000) - Rostering both Giannis and Young at their game-high $16,500 salaries is doable, but it would severely limit your flexibility in your other three spots. Instead, we can fade one of those two -- in this case, Young -- and stack the other spots with studs. Despite shooting a dismal 6 for 23 from the field, Middleton still racked up 32 fantasy points, and chances are that he won't play so poorly in back-to-back games. numberFire's models have Khash projected for 43.2 fantasy points tonight, which would make him the second-best point-per-dollar play behind Giannis.
Clint Capela ($11,500) - For a large portion of the second half in Game 1, the Bucks chose to go small and switch everything, which helped them slow down the Trae Young barrage a bit. However, it also led to Clint Capela (and others) feasting on the boards and having their way in the paint. If Milwaukee chooses to go that route in Game 2, Capela could be in for an even better performance than the 43.8 FanDuel points he dropped in the opener.
Other Players to Consider: Trae Young ($16,500), Jrue Holiday ($13,500)
Utility Considerations
John Collins ($12,500) - Fading one of Giannis or Young lets us get a "stud" into one of our non-multiplier slots if that's the way you choose to go. Collins totaled 23 points, 15 rebounds, and 40.5 FanDuel points in Game 1, and it was the fourth time in his last five games that he'd put up a double-double. Depending on your build, it might also be possible to fit Jrue Holiday in. Holiday amassed a whopping 58.8 fantasy points on Wednesday night.
Bryn Forbes ($6,500) - The Hawks were able to hide Young definitively in the opener by having him guard P.J. Tucker or Pat Connaughton, so one potential adjustment we can see in Game 2 would be more of Forbes. The sharpshooter got a lot of run in the final three games against the Miami Heat in Round 1 and garnered 26.0, 17.6, 24.4 FanDuel points in those efforts. A performance in that range would make him a top value play in the utility spots.
Other Utility Options: Kevin Huerter ($10,000), Pat Connaughton ($7,500)