Thursday’s NBA action brings a four-game featured slate tipping off at 7:30 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 Jayson Tatum, who is in the midst of a career season.
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NBA DFS Picks: Thursday, Jan. 19
Core Play of the Day — Jayson Tatum: Boston Celtics-Golden State Warriors
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 52.73 | FanDuel: 50.27
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 14.1% | FanDuel: 9.2%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $10,800 | FanDuel: $11,000
Jaylen Brown (adductor) is getting close to a return after a three-game absence. Even with him on the sidelines, Boston is racking up the wins, bringing a seven-game streak into this matchup and having an 11-2 record in the last 13 tilts.
Jayson Tatum is averaging just over 50 fantasy points per game for the first time in his career. The 24-year-old has seen a dramatic improvement in his field goal success rate, converting 47.1%, which is well above his 45.8% career rate. Golden State has been above average with its defensive efficiency over their last 10 games, but with their high pace of play, the Warriors have allowed 117.5 points per game for the season, which is the fifth most in the league.
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Pascal Siakam: Toronto Raptors-Minnesota Timberwolves
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 50.26 | FanDuel: 48.32
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 18.4% | FanDuel: 35.8%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $9,700 | FanDuel: $9,300
The only knock against Pascal Siakam tonight is that he only has center eligibility on DraftKings. Fortunately, we are able to play two centers with the utility position; however, the pivot position is crowded once again. Siakam is likely to see 38 minutes in most scenarios, and he still has upside, as he is essentially tied with Luka Doncic for the most minutes per game this season at 37.5. Teammates O.G. Anunoby (36.9) and Fred VanVleet (36.8) both rank near the top of the list, with the aforementioned Tatum (36.8) rounding out the top five.
Siakam is averaging just over 46 fantasy points per game, and he has 50 or more fantasy points in one-third of his appearances. There is a good chance tonight that Rudy Gobert (groin) is out again for a second consecutive game, and the Stifle Tower could be out through the weekend in an effort to get him back to full strength.
That makes this a very appealing matchup for Siakam, as he will be battling Naz Reid and rookie second-year center Luka Garza. The Minnesota duo is also worthy of our attention in the DFS world, as their salaries are not yet capturing their new workloads. This, along with the presence of Joel Embiid and Jusuf Nurkic, make center a wildly crowded position with only four games on the docket.
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Additional NBA DFS Building Blocks Picks – Sports Betting Opportunities
While it is never fun betting against Embiid, he is popping up on the radar with a 10.5 total for his rebound prop tonight. This season, the Cameroonian is averaging 9.8 rebounds per game, which is his lowest output since his inaugural 2016-17 campaign when he averaged 7.8 boards. Even his per-36 rate of 10.1 rebounds is not particularly what most fans expect to see. Portland is an above-average rebounding team with Nurkic, Josh Hart and Jerami Grant.
The NBA Bet Pro projections have Embiid slated for 9.4 rebounds and 33.2 minutes of action. In his 33 games, Embiid has 10 or fewer rebounds in half and another seven games with 11. Though this is going to be a nip-and-tuck wager, it works out to a 64% probability of falling under the 11 rebounds needed for the over. The bet can be found for -125 on BetMGM, which gives it a solid 6% expected return on investment. It can also be incorporated as part of a parlay for a higher payout potential.
Did you know that you can get two free months of Stokastic+ Platinum for signing up and making your first bet at BetMGM? Claim here today!
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Brooklyn Nets-Phoenix Suns
Kyrie Irving is expected to play after missing Tuesday’s game with a sore calf. Kevin Durant is still out, and that leaves behind a major void that needs to be filled. Joe Harris has been in an awful slump basically for the entire season, and he is producing the worst numbers of his seven seasons with the Nets.
Ben Simmons, Nicolas Claxton and Royce O’Neale are the best options in the starting lineup, and they can be trusted for solid minutes. T.J. Warren and Seth Curry can be mostly trusted off the bench; however, we can skip Edmond Sumner and Yuta Watanabe, as they have proven to be fantasy detriments more often than not.
Phoenix is expecting Cameron Johnson to return after being out since early November, and it will be interesting to see what his workload looks like after such a long layoff. Chris Paul is also nearing a return after missing five games, but there has been nothing definitively announced about tonight. Cameron Payne, Landry Shamet and Josh Okogie all remain out, so this is a situation to monitor for potential value options or overlooked tournament plays, as it is unlikely there will be confirmation about Paul prior to the main-slate lock.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Building Blocks Today
Tonight is a split slate with two games tipping off in the first 30 minutes, then a two-hour respite until the twin West Coast nightcap. Get all the latest analysis and information by tuning in to the Stokastic Deeper Dive and Live Before Lock shows at 5:30 p.m. ET on YouTube, courtesy of No House Advantage.
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