NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks: Anthony Davis vs. Grizzlies (March 7)

Tuesday’s NBA action takes shape with an enticing eight-game featured slate tipping off at 7:00 p.m. ET on both DraftKings and FanDuel. There are several options in the player pool worth analyzing to find the top NBA DFS building blocks and NBA DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel lineups, including defensive specialist Anthony Davis and several Memphis Grizzlies.

NBA DFS Picks Today: Tuesday, Mar. 7

Core Play of the Day — Anthony Davis: Los Angeles Lakers-Memphis Grizzlies

Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 57.73 | FanDuel: 57.63
Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 25.3% | FanDuel: 15.4%
DFS Salary: DraftKings: $10,800 | FanDuel: $11,500

The Lakers last played on Sunday and the next game is not until Friday; this means we are getting a rested Anthony Davis, who is going to need to carry the postseason hopes and dreams for the Lakers. There is a good chance that D’Angelo Russell (ankle) will return after a five-game absence, which should help take some of the defensive attention away from Anthony.

In his last four games, including one with LeBron James, Davis is averaging 35.5 minutes and 21.5 field goal attempts with a 54.7% success rate. This has translated to 33.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.5 combined blocks and steals. The Memphis defense has been abysmal without Steven Adams, and now they are without Brandon Clarke (Achilles) for the remainder of the season. Anthony is a priority play in all formats.

Turning our attention to the Grizzlies, though they will be getting Dillon Brooks back after he served a one-game suspension for reaching 16 technical fouls on the season, Ja Morant is still away from the team for an undetermined amount of time.

Tyus Jones received a salary boost across the DFS sites, though DraftKings ($4,900) is still behind the curve and the understudy is projected to be on two out of three tournament entries. While we should not expect another 60-fantasy-point outing, there is a reasonable chance that Jones flirts with the 40-fantasy-point plateau in this matchup against the Lakers. Jones has been assigned an appropriate salary on FanDuel ($7,500) and is projected to be on a sparse 15% of lineups.

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Jaren Jackson Jr. stands out on FanDuel, where blocks and steals are worth 3 fantasy points each. The first time All-Star has seven consecutive multi-“stock” games, scoring at least 15 points in six of these outings while also posting the lowest foul rate of his career.

Xavier Tillman should see around 30 minutes tonight, and he is a double-double threat that also is one of the better point-per-dollar power forward options on FanDuel. Desmond Bane had a mere 10 field goal attempts on Sunday, but that figure should be in the mid-teens most nights for the shorthanded squad.

Finally, Dillon Brooks is back, but he is a tournament wild card at best and feels like a player to leave for other gamers. Santi Aldama and Luke Kennard can be left off of FanDuel rosters, but they enter the fray on DraftKings, where they have not seen much of a salary adjustment for their new workloads.

Additional NBA DFS Building Blocks Pick – Sports Betting Opportunities

Kevon Looney is an intriguing player to target in the betting market, with an assists prop set at 1.5. Though he did not have a single assist in 20 minutes against the Lakers on Sunday, Looney has two or more in five of his last six games. On the season, the 27-year-old is averaging 2.5 assists per game and 3.8 per 36 minutes. This is a good matchup, and if the Warriors can take care of business, Looney could see a couple extra minutes with veteran Draymond Green heading to the bench.

NBA Bet Pro has Looney projected 21.8 minutes and 2.39 assists. This is likely to be a nip-and-tuck adventure, with a 57% win probability; however, BetMGM currently has this wager available at -105, giving it a stellar 10% expected ROI.

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Brooklyn Nets-Houston Rockets

Tonight a frisky Brooklyn squad is going into Houston to take on the Rockets. The Nets have won their last two games, including besting the Celtics in Boston, but they are going to need some luck to remain in contention for the Play-In Tournament.

The Rockets have allowed 120.9 points per 100 possessions over their last 10 games, which is the fourth-worst defensive efficiency rating in the league during this timeframe. In his last seven games with Brooklyn, Mikal Bridges is averaging 35.8 minutes and 17.9 field goal attempts with a 56.8% conversion rate. The stat line of 29.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.8 combined blocks and steals is worthy of a team leader, and there still is wiggle room left in his current DFS salary.

Cameron Johnson has found success as well, and while he is not as prolific as his former Suns teammate, he is looking like a strong point-per-dollar play tonight. In his last five games, he has averaged 22.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.8 combined blocks and steals. This includes one game where he dealt with heavy foul trouble and the last game where he lost some time with an ankle issue.

Nicolas Claxton and Spencer Dinwiddie also have seen a major increase in their responsibilities and workloads after the Kevin Durant trade and with Ben Simmons out indefinitely. This duo should be priority options on DraftKings, though on FanDuel only Claxton is worthy of that honor, and it will be tough to look to him with so many other center-only options on the Blue site.

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Jalen Brunson Status

If Jalen Brunson plays tonight, he is a strong option in a matchup against a depleted Charlotte squad. If he is out, there is a serious trickledown effect of minutes and opportunities. Immanuel Quickley is the direct beneficiary who will likely move into the starting lineup. Of course, he is not going to play 55 minutes and score 70 fantasy points again since this game is unlikely to repeat Sunday’s double-overtime affair. However, he will project for north of 35 minutes if Brunson is out, which is a steal at his current salary.

RJ Barrett will also be in line for another 10 to 12 minutes if Brunson sits, which moves him from a neutral option to a desirable play. Julius Randle is a tournament option with or without Brunson, but he too will get a slight efficiency boost in his fantasy production if the Knicks’ newest star misses a second consecutive game.

Alperen Sengun had a monster 47-fantasy-point game on Sunday. However, that was the first time he had reached that milestone in eight games, and six of those other outings ended with him falling below 30 fantasy points. He managed to accomplish this score in just 26 minutes, and considering he seems to have soft cap of 27 to 28 minutes, let other gamers assume the risk of this being an outlier performance instead of a new baseline level of production.

The rest of the Rockets are below-average options on FanDuel, with the team being at full strength. On DraftKings, Kevin Porter Jr., Jalen Green, KJ Martin Jr. and Tari Eason are viable point-per-dollar plays.

Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Building Blocks Today

Tonight there are a lot of question marks surrounding the Detroit Pistons, who have seen over half of the roster miss time in the last two games and have seven players awaiting final availability status. Fortunately, this is one of the first games to tip, so we should have actionable information between 15 and 20 minutes before lock.

Be sure to get all the latest analysis and information by tuning in to the Stokastic Deeper Dive and Live Before Lock shows at 5:00 p.m. ET on YouTube, brought to you by PrizePicks.

Author

Eric MacPherson

Eric "EMac" MacPherson won the 2007 Fantasy Baseball grand prize (trip for two to the MLB All-Star game) in the Roto format on ESPN. He won again in 2008, this time in the H2H format. As one of the early adopters of daily fantasy sports, EMac has been providing content for baseball and basketball as well as both professional and college football since 2012 for a variety of websites including DraftKings Playbook, FanVice, RotoWorld, Daily Fantasy Bootcamp, and RotoGrinders. He is well into his third decade of fantasy sports and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Follow him on Twitter @EMacDFS or contact EMac by emailing [email protected].