NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 2/5/15

If you’ve never played daily fantasy basketball before, it’s time to start. Unlike traditional leagues, you’re able to select the players you want on that specific day only, giving you a different squad to root for each and every NBA night.

And while there are many platforms to play daily fantasy basketball on, one of our favorites is from our partners over at DraftKings.com. Never played over there before? It’s time for that to change. Sign up now and use our optimal lineups here at numberFire.com to crush the competition. You won’t regret it.

As for today's lineups -- those can be found here. The information below is to help you understand why particular players are being picked, because we don't want you going into the night completely blind. We want to help you. Keep in mind, however, that things often change up until tip-off, so make sure you're refreshing the optimal lineups as close to the start of games as possible.

Let's get to it.

Note: Players mentioned here may not be part of some of our daily lineups because of particular sites' cost analysis. Always look at our optimized lineups to see what our algorithms say.

The Best of the Best

DeMarcus Cousins - Boogie has been an unstoppable force so far this season. He's averaging 23.7 points, 12.5 boards, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.6 blocks per game and has truly been on of the few matchup-proof players in the entire league. Tonight, he draws a plus-matchup against the aging Tyson Chandler who is playing on the second night of a back to back in what is expected to be a very high scoring game. Cousins is our highest projected player on the board tonight on a night where there simply isn't much value to be had.

Blake Griffin - What makes Griffin such an elite play on a nightly basis is his ability to fill up the stat sheet. The Clippers' big man doesn't just average 22.6 points per game, but he also grabs 7.6 rebounds and dishes out 5.1 assists per game. He has also amassed an elite 28.9% usage rate and draws an excellent matchup against Kevin Love and a Cavaliers squad who has allowed the 12th-most fantasy points per game to opposing power forwards this season. Trying to decide whether to spend your money on Griffin or LaMarcus Aldridge at power forward will be tough, but given his high floor due to his ability to fill up the stat sheet and matchup against Love, Griffin is my favorite power forward on the board tonight.

Top Mid-Range Values

Jamal Crawford - With J.J. Redick out due to back spasms, Crawford will draw his second consecutive start for the Clippers tonight. In three starts this season, Crawford is averaging 17 points, 2 rebounds an assist and a steal per game in 36.5 minutes of action with a 24.3% usage rate. He's also averaging 21.5 points, 3.6 assists and 2.8 rebounds on a per-36 minute basis this season. The Clippers guard draws a spectacular matchup against a Cavaliers team who has allowed the eighth most fantasy points per game to opposing shooting guards and should see plenty of action tonight. Do not hesitate to plug Crawford into your lineups in all formats tonight.

Wesley Matthews - Matthews has really stepped his game up as of late, averaging 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.5 steals per game over his last nine outings. He draws a plus matchup against a Suns team who has allowed the 12th-most fantasy points per game to opposing shooting guards in a game with the highest over/under on the board at 213. What really makes Matthews such a preferred play tonight is the fact that he costs only $5,900 on FanDuel and $6,000 on DraftKings on a night where there are very few viable options at shooting guard. The Blazers' guard should provide solid value at a position where there just aren't many choices.

Basement Ballers

J.J. Barea - Barea has started each of the past two games with Rajon Rondo out. Over that span he is averaging 10 points, 6.5 assists and 4 rebounds in 28.5 minutes per game. The Mavericks guard has averaged 15.7 points, 7.1 assists and 3.9 rebounds per-36 minutes this season and should continue to see close to 30 minutes a night as long as Rondo remains sidelined. Barea gets the pleasure of facing off with a Kings team who has allowed the fourth most fantasy points per game to opposing point guards and should reach value easily at just $3,900 on FanDuel and $3,400 on DraftKings.

Brian Roberts - After struggling to find his place in the Hornets offense after Kemba Walker went down with a knee injury, Roberts is finally starting to look good as Charlotte's starting point guard. Roberts is averaging 10.8 points, 4.5 assists 2.8 rebounds and a steal per game over his last four and has played 31.8 minutes per game over that span. Despite playing starter minutes for several games now, Roberts is still priced as a backup at $4,300 on FanDuel and $4,500 on DraftKings and should have little trouble reaching value tonight against the Wizards.