NBA Daily Fantasy Picks Today: Decision Again Comes Down to Giannis or Jokic (January 1)

There are six games tonight, with both DraftKings and FanDuel removing the 10:30 p.m. ET island game from the slate. Despite only six games, there are plenty of stars in action. Let’s dive into the best NBA daily fantasy picks today such as Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

NBA Daily Fantasy Picks Today

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NBA Daily Fantasy Picks Today No. 1 – Luka Doncic

  • DFS Salary: DraftKings: $11,900/ FanDuel: $12,600
  • Stokastic’s Point Projections: DraftKings: 64.7/ FanDuel: 61.3
  • Stokastic’s Ownership Projections: DraftKings: 6.3%/ FanDuel: 9.0%

Doncic is questionable for tonight’s game, as is his teammate Kyrie Irving. Both players were at shootaround, and assuming they are both active, Doncic is a strong contrarian play but won’t stand out as the top option. His salary increased due to Irving’s extended absence, and his average production and playing time decrease with Irving active. Doncic has produced 1.68 DraftKings points per minute in 35 minutes per game in 16 games played alongside Irving this season compared to 1.77 DraftKings points per minute in 39.5 minutes per game in 14 games without Irving. He does have a favorable matchup against Utah, however, as the Jazz rank 14th in pace and 26th in adjusted defensive rating this season.

NBA Daily Fantasy Picks Today No. 2 – Nikola Jokic

  • DFS Salary: DraftKings: $11,300/ FanDuel: 12,100
  • Stokastic’s Point Projections: DraftKings: 61.0/ FanDuel: 58.5
  • Stokastic’s Ownership Projections: DraftKings: 10.0%/ FanDuel: 6.4%

Jokic has a favorable matchup tonight against Charlotte. The Hornets are 16th in pace but 29th in adjusted defensive rating this season. Aaron Gordon is expected to return for Denver, which means a little bit lower rebounding rate for Jokic than when Gordon is inactive. Still, Jokic has one of the highest ceilings on the slate, even with his team fully healthy. In 17 games with Jamal Murray, Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. all healthy this season, Jokic has produced 1.67 DraftKings points per minute in 34.4 minutes per game. Like Doncic, Jokic makes for a strong contrarian pivot if you can find the salary.

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NBA Daily Fantasy Picks Today No. 3 – Giannis Antetokounmpo

  • DFS Salary: DraftKings: $11,000/ FanDuel: $12,400
  • Stokastic’s Point Projections: DraftKings: 64.7/ FanDuel: 63.5
  • Stokastic’s Ownership Projections: DraftKings: 24.2%/ FanDuel: 16.2%

Antetokounmpo is the premier pay-up option tonight in a likely shootout against the Pacers. Indiana ranks last in adjusted defensive rating, and they have played at a faster pace than every team other than the Wizards. Antetokounmpo notably dropped 64 points against the Pacers a couple of weeks ago, leading to a postgame incident when the Pacers didn’t give him the game ball. We can’t expect a repeat performance tonight, but he still projects extremely well in a game with a massive 260.5-point total. Overall, he has produced 1.61 DraftKings points per minute in 35.5 minutes per game in the 24 games that he has played alongside Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton this season.

There are six games tonight and we are still waiting on important injury news. Be sure to check out Stokastic’s Deeper Dive and Live Before Lock shows.

Author
Adam "ShipMyMoney" Scherer has been playing and analyzing DFS full-time since quitting law school in 2016. He has qualified for the 2016 FanDuel MLB Playboy Championship, the 2016 DraftKings Fantasy Baseball World Championship (3x) and the 2019 DraftKings Fantasy Basketball World Championship. You can find him on Twitter at @ShipMyMoneyDFS or by emailing [email protected].

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