3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 3/21/23

Basketball is the most consistent sport for daily fantasy purposes.

A top slugger in baseball will have his fair share of 0-for-4 days, and an elite fantasy football player is at risk of having games where his team's offense is shut down.

A high-salaried NBA stud is generally going to get his, though. With so many possessions in a game providing opportunities to produce, top fantasy basketball options will post high scores just about every night.

While this consistency puts us in an excellent position to identify top plays, it also means you can't afford to miss when you're paying up for someone. Even with strong value plays in your lineup, paying up and getting a dud will likely leave your lineup drawing pretty close to dead.

Which top players should be the focal points of your lineups today?

Jayson Tatum, PF/SF, Celtics ($10,800)

The highest total of the day is in Sacramento between two of the best teams in basketball.

Oddsmakers are expecting 239.5 points as a median number tonight between the Celtics and Kings, which should imply some of the league's top scorers do some damage. For the C's, I'm incredibly intrigued by the prospects of Jayson Tatum in this one.

By his standard, Tatum's month of March hasn't been stellar. He's eclipsed 30 points just five times (again, by his standard), and he's struggled with his efficiency. He's shot below his season average from the field at 44.1%, and he's gone especially cold from three-point land (30.8%) during this time.

Sacramento's porous perimeter defense should help. The Kings are allowing the third-most three-point attempts per game (38.8) this month. That should give Tatum more -- and cleaner -- looks from deep in this shootout.

Jaylen Brown still has a pretty hefty salary from his work during Tatum's prolonged cold spell, but I love the idea of buying low on Tatum's team-best usage rate this month (31.7%).

De'Aaron Fox, PG, Kings ($9,200)

On the other side, this matchup is actually pretty pristine for De'Aaron Fox, too.

The Celtics' defense is largely elite. Their 111.2 defensive rating is the fourth-best mark in the NBA. There's just been one area that's been a bit leaky for Boston, and it's their entry points on the outside. They're allowing the seventh-most FanDuel points to opposing point guards over their last 30 games.

"Swipa" has quickly established himself as one of the superior floor generals in the league at scoring the ball. He's taken his game to another level in March, posting 45.7 FanDuel points per 36 minutes on a team-best 30.5% usage rate.

It's worth noting both his usage rate and FanDuel production have increased during this time with Kevin Huerter off the floor, and Huerter is likely doubtful for this one after missing Monday's contest in Utah.

It's a bit disappointing that Fox went off with 54.3 FanDuel points yesterday. Because of that outing, there will be a popularity tax as the masses chase the raw point total, but his outlook is still tremendous in the day's top fantasy game.

Kristaps Porzingis, PF/C, Wizards ($9,000)

There isn't a ton of high-level injury news on this slate, but the most significant confirmed absence so far is with Washington.

The Wizards have already ruled out Kyle Kuzma for Tuesday's game in Orlando due to an ankle injury. That drops Washington's count of studs from three to two, and it firmly puts Kristaps Porzingis and Bradley Beal on the table.

The upside of Kuzma's injury-prone month of March is that Beal and Porzingis have figured out their two-man game. With Kuz off the floor this month, Beal is averaging 46.7 FanDuel points per 36 minutes, and Porzingis is averaging a massive rate of 52.6 FanDuel points per 36.

Porzingis' salary is lower Beal's, his production is higher, and his matchup is better. The Magic allow the ninth-most FanDuel points per game to power forwards, but they cede the seventh-fewest to opposing two guards.

Therefore, K.P. is the higher priority of the two for me, but both he and Beal are absolutely viable as fantasy basketball beneficiaries of an injury, which is something few top stars can boast today.