Saturday, November 5 brings an injury-laden seven-game featured slate tipping off at 7:00 p.m. ET on DraftKings and FanDuel. Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks today for DraftKings and FanDuel lineups. As always, you can head over to the Stokastic NBA DFS & Fantasy Basketball home page for all the fantasy basketball content you need for any given slate. Now we shall dive into our NBA DFS Building Blocks.
NBA DFS Building Blocks Today: Saturday, November 5
Core Play of the Day — Kevin Durant: Brooklyn Nets-Charlotte Hornets
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 58.28 | FanDuel: 57.56
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 29.3% | FanDuel: 35.7%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $10600 | FanDuel: $10600
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more. For the second consecutive day we will be turning towards Kevin Durant as the core play, even with this game being a back-to-back and the third game in four nights for Brooklyn. Ben Simmons (back) and Kyrie Irving (idiocy) are both out tonight, though it sounds like Seth Curry may return from a three-game layoffs as he is working through an ankle issue. Joe Harris has been getting some games off as part of his injury management program, but he is not currently carrying any untoward designation.
Regardless of the status of the tertiary rotation options, Durant should thrive in tonight’s matchup against Charlotte. The Hornets are merely average on defense and they are playing at a top-seven pace with 104.1 possessions per 48-minutes. Last night Durant played just 33.2 minutes and if the game had not been in his home city of Washington, DC it is likely he would have not played his four minute stint to open the final frame.
When sharing the court with Irving over the last season and change, Durant is averaging 1.27 fantasy points per minute. When he is running solo, he see a 10% boost to his efficiency and anything less than 50 fantasy points tonight in the Queen City will be a disappointment.
Dejounte Murray: Atlanta Hawks-New Orleans Pelicans
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 45.66 | FanDuel: 45.53
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 8.5% | FanDuel: 21.1%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $9,600 | FanDuel: $9,100
Regardless of Trae Young’s status as he is questionable with an eye injury tonight, Dejounte Murray is well positioned as a top play. When they are on the court together, Murray has been taking the tougher defensive assignments and Young is taking the lead on offense. In 198 minutes alongside Young, Murray is averaging nearly 1.3 fantasy points per minute. When Young is off the court, the former University of Washington stalwart sees a 10% boost, in a limited sample size. Last season in his breakout campaign in San Antonio, Murray averaged just over 1.4 fantasy points per minute. That is a reasonable expectation tonight if Young is out and in the event he is able to play, then that will help keep The Masses away from Murray.
Additional NBA DFS Picks Today – Sports Wagering Opportunities
Jayson Tatum has a 7.5 over/under rebound prop for his matchup against the Knicks tonight. The Stokastic NBA player projections have him for 9.1 rebounds which works out to a 69% win rate, though just a steady 16% xROI. Tatum is averaging a career best 8.6 rebounds this season and 8.1 per 36 minutes. He gets a boost with Robert Williams (knee) still out due to injury and with Mitchell Robinson unlikely to go for New York tonight. This looks like a prop best used as part of a straight or same-game parlay.
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Houston Rockets-Minnesota Timberwolves
Houston is running a little shorthanded as key rotation members Jabari Smith Jr. (illness) and Jae’Sean Tate (ankle) are out tonight along with reserves TyTy Washington (knee) and Bruno Fernando (knee). This helps solidify the minutes and potential production for KJ Martin Jr., Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. This morning on the Stokastic NBA Strategy Show, Adam “ShipMyMoney” Scherer points out that Tari Eason is a potential pivot off the rest of the more popular Rockets, click here to watch.
Minnesota looks good with their four key contributors all healthy. Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert should not have much competition in the paint and of course with Houston preferring to play up tempo, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell should have ample touches. The Timberwolves are on a three-game slide and while they should not be embarrassed by losses to Milwaukee last night and in Phoenix on Tuesday, they have already dropped two of three games to a tanking San Antonio squad. There is no reason for the T-wolves to take their foot off the gas tonight in securing what should be a straightforward victory. UPDATE: Rudy Gobert is in the health and safety protocol. This gives everyone a boost who does take the court tonight for Minnesota, particularly KAT and likely fill-in Naz Reid. Kyle Anderson also sees a bit of a boost as he can help cover the frontcourt positions in various matchups as well alongside Towns or Reid.
Milwaukee Bucks Value
There is a decent chance that Giannis Antetokounmpo gets the night off tonight as the Bucks are undefeated and he has been averaging the highest minutes per game of the last five seasons. If Antetokounmpo ends up sitting, whichever of the remaining Milwaukee options are taking the court should be top targets tonight. We have seen in the past that the Bucks are willing to rest multiple starters, but since they are going against a tanking Thunder team, they could still handily win even without Giannis if Jrue Holiday, Bobby Portis and Brook Lopez suit up.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Today
Tonight things are spread out with three games in the first hour, two in the second and then the final two tipping off at 9:00 p.m. ET and 10:00 p.m. ET, respectively. Be sure to keep tabs on the breaking news and one easy way to do that is to follow the Stokastic NBA Twitter handle. Plus if you are a premium member, be sure to check out the Stokastic Discord for all up to the minute analysis.
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