Sunday’s NBA action jump starts with a 10-game featured slate tipping off at 1:00 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 Jaren Jackson Jr.
NBA DFS Picks Today: Sunday, Mar. 5
Core Play of the Day — Jaren Jackson Jr.: Memphis Grizzles-Los Angeles Clippers
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 42.46 | FanDuel: 44.12
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 32.8% | FanDuel: 47.3%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $7,700 | FanDuel: $8,000
Memphis will be a popular team tonight with Steven Adams missing a 17th consecutive game due to a knee injury, Brandon Clarke lost for the season with a torn Achilles, Dillon Brooks serving a one game suspension for reaching 16 technical fouls, and Ja Morant away from the team for at least the next two games. Los Angeles is in flux as well having lost five in a row, though they should have Kawhi Leonard (rest) back tonight. This is a bit of a prove it game as the Clippers are seven-point home favorites, but with only two victories in their last nine tilts, we can remain somewhat dubious.
Both the Grizzlies and Clippers are in the upper-third of the league from a pace perspective over the last 10 games, with Los Angeles also having the fifth worst defense. Memphis has the best defensive efficiency during this stretch, however, with so many key contributors unavailable, that is a mirage. Finally, Los Angeles is also a bottom-five rebounding squad in this timeframe, which bodes well for Jaren Jackson Jr.’s fantasy prospects.
Jackson has taken a major step with his all-around performance and was rewarded with his first appearance in the NBA All-Star Game. This season he is posting career highs with 16.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.3 blocks, while enjoying the lowest per 36 minutes foul rate (4.5) of his career. Both DraftKings and FanDuel have granted him center and power forward eligibility which makes it easy to construct lineups around the 23-year-old.
Tyus Jones will be the DFS darling today and somehow the DraftKings salary algorithm assigned him his lowest cap hit of the season at a ridiculous $3,100. Lineups should just be preloaded with him in the point guard slot. FanDuel at least got ahead of the Morant news, but he is still one of the best plays on the slate at $6,100 and is worthy of being in the majority of lineups on the Blue site.
Desmond Bane was narrowly edged out by Jackson for top play of the day honors, however, he is yet another option who deserves to be on most rosters tonight. In five games this season without Morant, Bane has averaged 31.1 minutes with 24.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.2 combined blocks and steals for just shy of 40 fantasy points. Considering Brooks is out as well, Bane should approach 20 field goal attempts and if he is finding the bottom of the net, he could flirt with the 50 fantasy point plateau.
Xavier Tillman, Luke Kennard and Santi Aldama can be sprinkled in as additional discount dandies, though they look a little better on FanDuel than DraftKings. Kris Dunn was signed to a second 10-day contract and he should see mid-20s minutes off the bench, though his point per dollar potential pales in comparison with Jones.
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Utah Jazz-Oklahoma City Thunder
Utah is another team that will be providing value plays with Lauri Markkanen (back) and Collin Sexton (hamstring) out until early next week. Jordan Clarkson and Talen Horton-Tucker should see mid-30s minutes and form the one-two combination of offense and facilitation.
Walker Kessler is a strong play at center and keep in mind he, along with the rest of the starting unit, barely saw the court in this same matchup on Friday with Oklahoma City authoring a convincing 130-103 victory at home. Kelly Olynyk lost his power forward eligibility on FanDuel, but he still has it on DraftKings, keeping him in the mix there.
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is back after missing five games with an abdominal strain and also landing in the health and safety protocol with COVID. There is no need for the Thunder to push him as it seems they may be content to slide out of Play-In Tournament contention. Even if the first-time All-Star plays 30 instead of his typical 35 minutes, he still has tournament appeal in this matchup.
If Gilgeous-Alexander ends up not starting or we get word he is going to have a minutes restriction, Luguentz Dort, Josh Giddy and the Williams duo of Jaylen and Jaylin are all in play. Otherwise, this motley crew has seen their salaries increase enough during the absence of Gilgeous-Alexander and now Kenrich Williams, that they are just neutral tournament options, even in this fantasy friendly matchup.
Additional NBA DFS Building Blocks Pick – Sports Betting Opportunities
Cameron Johnson is a player to target in the betting market this afternoon. His points + rebounds + assists prop, set to 24.5, and much like we saw on Friday, is too good of a matchup to pass up. Even with three fouls in his first seven minutes on the court, the birthday boy was able to recover down the stretch with 20 points, five rebounds and three assists before fouling out in 31 minutes.
In his eight games as a starter since joining the Brooklyn Nets, Johnson has averaged 29.1 minutes with 13.9 field goal attempts. This has culminated in 19.1 points, 3.8 rebound and 1.5 assists or a 24.4 PRA. In his last four starts, those averages are even better with 31.1 minutes, 15.3 field goal attempts, 24.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
NBA Bet Pro has Johnson projected for 18.48 points and 5.26 rebounds and 1.74 assists for a 25.48 PRA. Though this has a lowish 57% likelihood that Johnson surpasses the over, BetMGM currently has this wager available at -110, giving it a solid 5% expected ROI. If alternate lines are available on your sportsbook of choice, this is an interesting combination to “ladder” up to 29.5 points + rebounds.
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San Antonio Spurs-Houston Rockets
This is a rematch of last night’s battle that saw the Rockets top the Spurs 122-110 in San Antonio. Houston is favored by a bucket at home and there is a good chance that some of the San Antonio players get tonight off. Tre Jones and Romeo Langford are considered doubtful after returning from injury last night and Keldon Johnson may sit this one out with a sore foot. Devin Vassell did not play last night, but he is expected to take the court tonight and he should get mid-20s minutes as he too is recovering from a long injury layoff. Doug McDermott was out Saturday and listed as questionable with a sprained thumb and rookie Malaki Branham is dealing with a sore back. Once the dust settles, we should have several targets from the Spurs, but until the injury reports come out it is too speculative to go into any further if-then scenarios.
UPDATE: Jones, Sochan, Collins, McDermott and Langford have been ruled out with the back-to-back and three games in four nights. Johnson, Branham, Graham, Charles Bassey are good plays. Sandro Mamukelashvili and Keita Bates-Diop are neutral options, Vassell is a wild card with unknown minutes and Dominick Barlow and Blake Wesley are desparation punts for differentiation.
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Alperen Sengun continued to disappoint his fantasy supporters with just 33 fantasy points last night. He has surpassed 30 fantasy points in just two of his last eight games and the team is content to keep him under 30 minutes a game as the season winds down. Kevin Porter Jr., Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason should all see 28-30 minutes and they are worthwhile tournament plays. KJ. Martin Jr. saw 38 minutes last night and he continues to look like the one Houston option who will consistently get above 30 minutes.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Building Blocks Today
There is a lot of uncertainty with regards to San Antonio, along with Milwaukee and Washington who are all on back-to-backs, with a history of resting players. Be sure to get all the latest analysis and information by tuning in to the Stokastic Live Before Lock show at 5:00 p.m. ET on YouTube, brought to you by NoHouseAdvantage.
