FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Friday 10/28/22

Since it's much simpler to predict than baseball or football, basketball daily fantasy would get plenty of votes as the best sport to play on FanDuel. Players usually stick to the same minutes and produce at roughly the same rate. Sounds easy, right?

Well, as a result, NBA daily fantasy is extremely reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to make sure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

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.

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 break down today's main slate on FanDuel.

The Slate and Key Injuries

Well, it was Dame Time.

Unfortunately now for a while, the Blazers will be without Damian Lillard, who missed most of last season, due to a new calf injury, per today's injury report. Alperen Sengun (illness) is questionable for the visiting Rockets.

We're also watching Dame's old teammate in New Orleans. C.J. McCollum (finger) is questionable for the Pels tonight, and so are teammates Zion Williamson (hip), Jose Alvarado (back), and Herbert Jones (knee). Brandon Ingram (concussion) has already been ruled out.

Curiously, Joel Embiid (knee) is listed as questionable for Philadelphia. It might be a maintenance day heading into the weekend.

Terry Rozier (ankle) is doubtful again for the Hornets, and the opposing Magic will now be without all three of their top point guards: Cole Anthony (oblique), Jalen Suggs (ankle), and Markelle Fultz (toe).

The Cavaliers will be without Darius Garland again in Boston due to an eye injury.

Zach LaVine (knee) might sit again tonight for the Bulls, who continue to manage his injury. They're playing the lowly Spurs, who have already ruled out Devin Vassell (knee) and Joshua Primo (glute).

The Lakers are listing Russell Westbrook (hamstring/not very good at basketball anymore) as probable tonight.

Jaden Ivey (illness) is questionable for Detroit.

It could be a long season again for Michael Porter Jr., who is questionable with his same back issue from last year. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (ankle) is in the same boat. Denver is hosting Utah, and the Jazz also might be without Collin Sexton (oblique) and Walker Kessler (illness).

Guards

Replacing Lillard, Shaedon Sharpe ($4,200) is the star of the slate here despite his salary.

The rookie out of Kentucky has posted a modest 0.85 FanDuel points per minute thus far, but he's primed for a full role next to Anfernee Simons ($7,400). Both should see lifts in a great matchup with Houston.

In an identical matchup to Wednesday, our model is good with chasing the points of Cade Cunningham ($7,500). His role could get a bump, too, if Jaden Ivey sits.

I'm interested in Bradley Beal ($7,800) in a god-tier matchup with the Pacers given he's off the injury report. Indiana has the fourth-worst defensive rating so far.

With a minuscule 15.9% usage rate, Chris Paul ($7,400) has pumped out a hearty 1.11 FanDuel points on the back of 10.99 assists per 36 minutes. He won't be prone to cold spells shooting so little, so he's a solid bring-back to the likely value we'll see from the Pels tonight.

That includes Devonte' Graham ($3,900). I'm a bit wary of Jose Alvarado ($4,000) fighting a back injury given a bulk of his value comes from 1.79 steals per 36 minutes. It's hard to hustle with a bad back.

As you'd expect on a full slate, we have plenty of full-time guards projected fairly well on numberFire, including Marcus Smart ($5,600), Beal's teammate Monte Morris ($4,900), and the perpetually frustrating Patrick Beverley ($4,900), who has yet to make good on plenty of minutes in L.A.

Wings

It's fine that guard doesn't have any standout stars. Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,800) is virtually unfadable at this point. With nine real-life points at halftime last game and Bobby Portis exploding off the bench, Giannis still posted 72.3 FanDuel points with seven turnovers.

There are several decent options in the upper mid-range to pair him with. DeMar DeRozan ($8,500) is phenomenal if LaVine sits, but he's passable in a revenge spot against San Antonio if he doesn't. DeRozan's averaging 1.44 FanDuel points per minute with LaVine off the floor this year.

For the Spurs, Josh Richardson ($4,800) should be in a full-time role again without Vassell. He's not the slam dunk at salary he was Wednesday, but he posted a team-high 10 assists. It's still a great role for $4,800.

Paolo Banchero ($8,000) is due for a clunker, but with all of his point guards out, his 32.2% usage rate could stay. Franz Wagner ($6,600) had an even higher usage rate (33.7%), but remember the overall talent gap between them.

RJ Barrett ($5,900) needed overtime to eclipse requisite value on Wednesday, but he's still one of numberFire's top-projected wings today. Others are Lonnie Walker ($5,200), Cameron Johnson ($4,300), Jeremy Sochan ($4,200), and Grayson Allen ($4,200).

Bigs

You'll want to get to Montrezl Harrell ($3,600) if Joel Embiid is ruled out. Harrell posted 1.06 FanDuel points per minute last year and shouldn't be faded in that full role.

That'll be easier given that Nikola Jokic ($11,500) is a tough sell just a few dollars short of Giannis' salary. Jokic needed four steals to eclipse value on Wednesday, and Porter is potentially back in the fold tonight. His role just isn't close to Giannis' for the small gap in salary.

Jokic did gobble down 13 boards against the Lakers on Wednesday. Los Angeles remains the worst estimated rebounding team (44.9%) in the NBA. That firmly brings Rudy Gobert ($8,000) into play after a tough set of games against Jakob Poeltl ($6,600). Karl-Anthony Towns ($8,400) could also benefit if you need a forward next to Harrell.

If I don't get to Beal, Kristaps Porzingis ($7,200) is also at a great salary. Porzingis posted 1.49 FanDuel points per minute, and outside of blowouts, he's cruised past 30 minutes in every game this season. He's primed to destroy a slate before too long.

Evan Mobley ($6,400) and Wendell Carter Jr. ($6,400) remain two of the top projected values overall on this slate. It's hard to beat full-time centers at this salary who averaged over 1.10 FanDuel points per minute a year ago.

Jerami Grant ($6,500) might be another sneaky beneficiary from Lillard's absence, and he's projected well by numberFire. Other top projected bigs in full-time roles are Jusuf Nurkic ($6,800), PJ Washington ($5,800), Kelly Olynyk ($5,800), and Al Horford ($5,600).