NBA DFS Picks: Saturday Nov 2 gives us an eight-game main slate on Yahoo, DraftKings, FanDuel and FantasyDraft. Before you lock in your NBA DFS lineups and NBA DFS picks, make sure to check out check out Awesemo’s DFS basketball NBA rankings and projections. We have you covered for all your daily fantasy basketball needs, for DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo, FantasyDraft and more! Let’s dig into some NBA DFS Picks, including Ben Simmons and Al Horford with thoughts the absence of Joel Embiid and Karl Anthony Towns.
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Welcome to our DFS series, which focuses on foundational plays to help you get started by suggesting some NBA core players to target. From there, we’ll update and augment our advice and lineups as inevitable news breaks leading up to contest lock.
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NBA DFS Picks: Prime Time Player
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Ben Simmons – PHI at POR – DraftKings $8,700, FanDuel $9,500, Yahoo $39 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 8.0%, FanDuel 17.0%
With Joel Embiid and Karl Anthony Towns both serving two game suspensions for their not so subtle tête-à-tête the focus is going to be on the ‘Sixers and the Timberwolves. Last season in 264.6 minutes with Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris on the court, Simmons had a 19.0 USG% and a 1.10 fantasy point per minute rate. Without Embiid those rates were 23.6 USG% and 1.22 fppm. This query also had Jimmy Butler in for about half of those minutes which is a reasonable proxy for Al Horford.
Philadelphia is playing at the third fastest pace this season and Portland is eleventh. Portland does have the fourteenth best DEF EFF at 103.3, meaning they allow 103.3 points per 100 possessions. On the other hand Philadelphia has the twenty-second OFF EFF at a 101.1 rate. We will not be alone in looking to Simmons as a cornerstone of our “cash” lineups, but that is just fine. There is a very good chance that Simmons messes around for a triple double tonight.
Al Horford – PHI at POR – DraftKings $7,000, FanDuel $6,900, Yahoo $25 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 28.0%, FanDuel 40.0%
We can also look to off season acquisition Al Horford in this same matchup which is a solid one as Philly will need him to battle with Hassan Whiteside (knee). While we do not have decent comparative numbers through four games with/without Embiid, Horford should easily be flirting with the forty fantasy point plateau tonight. Tobias Harris and Mike Scott are also options at their respective price points. Noah Vonleh is your #YOLO #FOMO dart throw for tournaments as an extreme punt play.
Good Value
Jeff Teague – MIN at WAS – DraftKings $5,900, FanDuel $5,700, Yahoo $19 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 19.0%, FanDuel 31.0%
So far this season we have seen the Twolves offense flow through Karl Anthony Towns. That is not going to be an option for the next two games while he is serving his suspension. That means we can look to Jeff Teague as a solid value option across the board in a matchup with the second highest implied point total of the night. The Wizards are hemorrhaging points allowing 111.9 per 100 possessions for the third worst DEF EFF rating in the league. Andrew Wiggins and Robert Covington are also very much in play on Saturday night.
Risky Value
Anthony Tolliver – POR vs. PHI – DraftKings $3,300, FanDuel $4,100, Yahoo $10 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 17.0%, FanDuel 10.0%
Yes, the twelfth year veteran is at a bargain price and he should remain in the starting lineup for the injured Zach Collins. Just keep in mind that in 669 career games for nine different teams, Tolliver has started only 94 times. He has an uninspiring 6.3 points with 3.4 rebounds in 19.9 minutes per game in the NBA.
FantasyCruncher NBA DFS Tip of the Day
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With the incredibly user-friendly and flexible rules creation feature on FantasyCruncher, we can take our lineup construction to the next level.
Today’s highlighted feature is the ability to import data in our own customizable fields which can then also be utilized with rules for our NBA DFS Crunches.
By using the “Add/Remove” Column feature, we can bring in different data elements to help inform our “Crunches” with just a little pre-planning in Excel or Google Sheets. In the example below, Awesemo Projections and Player Ownership have been added as new columns in the upload template and Awesemo Value Grades are being added.
Final Thoughts
Keep in mind that game stacks will be popular tonight with PHI at POR and MIN at WAS leading the way. Check out yesterday’s FantasyCruncher tip of the day for how to let your optimizer do game stacking work for you.
As always, you can reach out to me in Awesemo.com Premium Slack or on Twitter @EMacDFS if you have any NBA DFS questions about DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo or FantasyDraft.
Good Luck NBA DFS Gamers! ~ EMac
