Tuesday has a steady five-game slate locking at 7:30 p.m. ET on 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. Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Anthony Davis headline a top-heavy player pool, that also has several brewing value situations with so many teams on back-to-backs. Let’s dig into the NBA DFS picks and core plays.
NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Tuesday, December 12
Tonight should be a wild one with Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Sacramento and the Los Angeles Clippers are all played on Monday. Phoenix and the Los Angeles Lakers each have games tomorrow. Stay tuned for news as it is likely to be plentiful throughout the day.
Nikola Jokic: Denver Nuggets at Chicago Bulls
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 63.56 | FanDuel: 60.84
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 8.5% | FanDuel: 14.6%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $11,900 | FanDuel: $12,300
This is a back-to-back for both teams, with Denver pulling off a 129-122 victory in Atlanta and the Bulls losing in Milwaukee to the Bucks in a 133-129 effort, for the second consecutive overtime game between the two squads in a week. Jamal Murray tweaked his ankle, not the one that cost him two games at the beginning of December and he is currently listed as questionable. The Bulls will be without Zach LaVine for the next month and Alex Caruso is dealing with an ankle injury that kept him out of action on Monday.
Nikola Jokic continues to be amazing, while averaging over 60 fantasy points per game for the first time in his career. Currently he leads the league with 12.8 rebounds per game along with a personal best 28.2 points per game and his 9.6 assists per appearance trail only his 9.8 from last season. On FanDuel there will be a decision point between Jokic and rookie Dereck Lively II, but gamers can roster both on most other sites.
Luka Doncic: Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Lakers
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 63.21 | FanDuel: 59.71
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 12.7% | FanDuel: 12.6%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $11,800 | FanDuel: $12,400
Last night Dallas took the lead in Memphis just five minutes into the first quarter and never looked back with an average lead of 10.44 points for the remainder of the game. Luka Doncic did play 43.9 minutes, but this game was mostly in maintenance mode as the Mavericks pushed their lead to 20 points in the early third quarter and it was as high as 21 in the early minutes of the final frame. Derrick Jones Jr. was injured in the first quarter and he is doubtful for tonight, while Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, Grant Williams and Maxi Kleber are all out. Tim Hardaway Jr. is questionable with back spams and he did not suit up last.
The Lakers are favored by two points tonight, with this game in Dallas, so that would seem to indicate expectations are that Doncic takes the court along with both of the LA superstars. Los Angeles plays again tomorrow in San Antonio, which is where we would expect one of the dynamic duo to get a rest.
The Mavericks have some serious value options available as they continue to operate shorthanded. Jaden Hardy and Dante Exum are the most intriguing, along with Lively. Seth Curry got a spot start, though he only played 73 seconds after his first third-quarter rotation, with the game out of hand he was not needed. Exum and Lively each played 35 minutes as the starters and Hardy had 34 minutes off the bench, including the final 18:52 of the game. Those are reasonable proxies again for tonight, with Curry potentially getting up to 26-28 minutes after playing just over 20 on Monday.
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Los Angeles Clippers vs. Sacramento Kings
Pop Quiz: How many combined games have Kawhi Leonard and Paul George missed this season? The answer is a surprising, nada, zip, zilch, zero. Of course, that could change tonight after they played 39 and 41 minutes last night, with James Harden on the court for 37 minutes. Portland had a one point lead with two minutes to go in a game that was nip and tuck all night, which required the key three to play heavy minutes.
Currently the Clippers are tied with Phoenix for the eight best record in the Western Conference. Yes, they are just four games out of second place, but only three games in the standings from sliding out of the Play-In Tournament. The game tonight is a crucial one against the Sacramento Kings, who are also on a back-to-back.
This matchup is the final game of the night, with the Golden State at Phoenix game tipping off 30 minutes prior. We may not have any news about players sitting out in this one, though fortunately with a little planning, it is not hard to put in a two-player combo that includes Leonard or George, that can be swapped to the other or to Domantas Sabonis or De’Aaron Fox.
Additional NBA Building Blocks Pick — Sports Betting Opportunities
Jayson Tatum currently has a +132 line available for the under on his 2.5 made 3-pointer prop in the sports wagering market. Looking at OddsShopper, we can see that BetRivers and Unibet are currently offering the best number by a significant amount over the -100 line at the sharp book Pinnacle.Â
Per the +116 “True Odds” (how OddsShopper measures the potential expected ROI of a given wager), this wager does have an 8% expected ROI, resulting from the inefficient line. It is crucial to take advantage of OddsShopper to look at all the available lines, since that can easily be worth another 2-3% ROI, even on perfectly neutral bets, just based on how the different books value things.
NBA Bet Pro has Tatum projected for 35.9 minutes and 3.19 made 3-pointers. While his median projection is above the 2.5 prop-line, this does not take into account the expected range of outcomes. Though this wager has a 46% long term probability of success, the +132 line is still quite favorable.
In Tatum’s last 10 games, he has three or more made 3-points on just three occasions, despite averaging 2.5 during this stretch, while averaging 36.9 minutes and hoisting and average of 8.2 attempts from beyond the arc. During his first 11 games, he averaged 3.5 triples on 8.9 attempts, which is tremendous, but also a run of good marksmanship. When considering the matchup tonight against a strong Cleveland defense, as well as the favorable odds, taking the under on this wager is a worthwhile consideration.
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Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today
Six teams played yesterday and two play tomorrow, head’s need to be on a swivel tonight with all the pending information.
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