Tuesday, Jan. 4, brings a front loaded five-game main slate tipping off at 7:00 p.m. ET. Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. Do not forget to head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS home page for more great written daily fantasy basketball content.
NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Tuesday, Jan. 4
Yahoo Play of the Day — LeBron James: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Sacramento Kings
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 53.92 | DraftKings: 55.95
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 34.6% | FanDuel 46.6% | DraftKings 37.5%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $54 | FanDuel $11,400 | DraftKings $11,400
LeBron James continues to be an amazing fantasy option, as he has once again been forced to carry a team towards the playoffs. While the Lakers have turned things around with three victories in their last four games, this stretch was preceded by a five-game losing streak. James has surpassed 60 Yahoo points in 10 of his last 13 games, and in the other three he averaged 43.7 fantasy points.
Ja Morant: Memphis Grizzlies at Cleveland Cavaliers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 40.11 | DraftKings: 41.38
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 15.2% | FanDuel 10.3% | DraftKings 11.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $40 | FanDuel $9,800 | DraftKings $9,700
Since returning from his knee injury that cost him most of December, Ja Morant has been putting up some stellar numbers. Last night he led a shorthanded Memphis squad to a resounding 118-104 victory in Brooklyn over the Nets. While this is a back-to-back, it is just the second game in January for the Grizzlies. In his last three games, Morant has logged an average of 33.8 minutes and 22.3 field goal attempts, making them at an astounding 58.2% rate. This has culminated in 35.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, six assists and 1.4 combined blocks and steals. Some of his teammates have been trickling back from the health and safety protocol, though Kyle Anderson, John Konchar and Xavier Tillman are still out.
Awesemo’s expert projections have a Ja Morant player prop that is expected to win at a 78% rate. In the Awesemo projections Morant is coming in around 21.7 points, while his NBA player prop line sits at over/under 26.5. Morant has scored 30 or more points in each of his last four games, but he failed to surpass 26.5 in seven of the nine before his current stretch. Selecting the under on this Ja Morant NBA player prop tonight would be a way to hedge against a poor DFS performance.
Indiana Pacers at New York Knicks
The Pacers will be without Malcolm Brogdon, Caris LeVert, Chris Duarte, Jeremy Lamb, Goga Bitadze and Kelan Martin, who are all on the COVID reserve. That means big minutes are in store once again for Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner, with each likely to get 35 to 37 minutes as a baseline. Value options include Duane Washington and Justin Holiday, and deep punt plays are Oshae Brissett and Keifer Sykes. Torrey Craig is an absolute wild card who rocked a double-double with five assists in 32 minutes against Chicago, only to miss all five shots and get just one assist and one steal the next game in Cleveland despite playing 21 minutes. As the saying goes, your mileage may vary.
New York may get Mitchell Robinson and Julius Randle back from the health and safety protocol, though conditioning will be a question mark. Kemba Walker, Derrick Rose and Nerlens Noel are still out. It will be best to see the starting lineup before making decisions on which of the Knicks are the most appealing options tonight.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Tuesday, Jan. 4 Slate
Tonight is a frontloaded slate with four of the five games tipping off in the first hour, and then there is a 10:30 p.m. ET nightcap between the Kings and Lakers, which could lead to post-lock news. Keep in mind that salaries and scoring formats differ across the various fantasy sites, and a slam-dunk play on Yahoo may be a below-average NBA DFS pick on DraftKings or FanDuel
