NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks: Tyrese Haliburton Leads The Way on Thursday (March 9)

Thursday’s NBA action takes the form of a frontloaded six-game main slate locking at 7:00 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 Tyrese Haliburton, who has taken his game up a notch from last season.

NBA DFS Picks Today: Thursday, March 9

Core Play of the Day — Tyrese Haliburton: Indiana Pacers-Houston Rockets

Tyrese Haliburton has been stellar, with four games of 52 or more fantasy points in his last five games since coming out of the All-Star Break. Indiana has won three of these games and still has a puncher’s chance at the Play-In Tournament, as they are just two games out with 16 games remaining on the schedule.

Tonight the Pacers are 9.5-point home favorites, though we should not worry about blowout potential, as in the event this is a lopsided game heading into the final frame, Haliburton will likely be the main driving force and already have 40 fantasy points. The rest of the Indiana rotation is currently healthy, but if anyone is ruled out prior to lock for any reason, this could become a new source of value.

For those not enthralled by Haliburton, Julius Randle, Stephen Curry and Domantas Sabonis were on the short list as Core Play of the Day options and remain excellent building blocks in all formats.

bet365 promo

 

Charlotte Hornets-Detroit Pistons

This is a good matchup for the Hornets, as the Pistons are running shorthanded and really not interested in playing defense. LaMelo Ball is out for the season with a fractured ankle and in the 10 days he has been out so far, the Charlotte rotation has become mostly predictable.

Terry Rozier and Kelly Oubre Jr. are the primary fantasy producers with Gordon Hayward always in the mix for a 30-fantasy-point night, with uber-efficiency helping him flirt with the 40-fantasy-point plateau on occasion.

Mark Williams has seen his salary tick up and his production slide somewhat, as he is getting 28-ish minutes per night, but this is the perfect spot for a double-double with a couple of combined blocks and steals.

Dennis Smith Jr. and PJ Washington are tournament fliers, and both are differentiation options, with their popularity residing in the 10% to 15% range across FanDuel and DraftKings. Nick Richards is an extreme punt play, though better options are likely to be available throughout the day.

Bojan Bogdanovic, Isaiah Stewart, Alec Burks and Hamidou Diallo are out with injuries. Guards Killian Hayes (hand) and Jalen Duran (ankle) are game-time decisions, though trending towards playing. If one of this duo is out, the other would see a surge in their median fantasy projection.

Marvin Bagley III, James Wiseman and Jaden Ivey are the desired targets from the Pistons. Cory Joseph and Isiah Livers really need Hayes or Duran to be out before entering the conversation.

Additional NBA DFS Building Blocks Pick – Sports Betting Opportunities

Santi Aldama is intriguing as a player to target in the betting market, with a points prop set at 10.5. Even with Ja Morant, Brandon Clarke and Steven Adams out, Aldama has not been a consistent producer. In his last four games, Aldama has played 20 to 26 minutes but only exceeded 9 points in one matchup.

NBA Bet Pro has Aldama projected for 19.5 minutes and 8.1 points tonight. This gives the 22-year-old a 56% probability of falling below the 11 points needed for this prop to lose. Currently this wager has a -105 line at BetMGM, which works out to an excellent 11% expected ROI.

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!

Brooklyn Nets-Milwaukee Bucks

Brooklyn is on the frontend of a back-to-back and they will be playing tomorrow night in Minnesota. Currently they have listed most of their key players as unavailable, including: Nicolas Claxton, Spencer Dinwiddie, Cameron Johnson and Royce O’Neale, with Ben Simmons out indefinitely. One name inconspicuously not on this list is Mikal Bridges, so we will want to keep tabs on his actual availability and any potential minutes cap. If he is not in the starting lineup, then assume he is unlikely to play much, if at all, and likely will be “dressed and active” but not leave the bench.

Cameron Thomas has fallen out of the rotation, but it would be a surprise if he did not start tonight, and we saw him author three consecutive 50-fantasy-point performances just after the trade deadline when Brooklyn was running a similarly thin rotation.

Seth Curry, Day’Ron Sharpe and Edmond Sumner should also pick up additional run, with the priorities being the players landing in the starting five. Nerlens Noel is on a 10-day contract, and he can still be a fantasy-point-per-minute player when given free reign. Dorian Finney-Smith is a secondary option, though this would be the perfect situation for him to display some offense and he does have 25-fantasy-point ability, with upside to 30-ish if he is adding blocks and steals.


Latest NBA DFS Content


Joe Harris, Yuta Watanabe and Patty Mills are unlikely to see much if any boost to their minutes and opportunities as the old guard.

Milwaukee is the wild card, as the next time the Bucks take the court will be on Saturday in Golden State against the Warriors in the featured ABC NBA Game of the Week. It would not be a shock to see one or more of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday or Khris Middleton ruled out. If one of this trio is, then the others become excellent fantasy options. However, a more likely scenario is that we see the regulars and they put this game away early before giving way to the understudies.

Denver lost to the Bulls in Chicago last night, so Milwaukee now has a 1.5-game advantage for the best record in the league, and they are 2.0 ahead of Boston. Winning this game should be a high priority for coach Mike Budenholzer, so we will need to keep tabs on his starting lineup plans.

UPDATE: Antetokounmpo has been ruled out, Holiday and Jae Crowder listed as available. Target the Milwaukee starters once officially announced.

Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Building Blocks Today

Tonight four of the six games are tipping off in the first 30 minutes, then there is the 8 p.m. ET matchup between a Brooklyn squad resting for Friday’s matchup against a Milwaukee team that could respond with a night off for one or more of their key players. Finally, we have the West Coast nightcap at 10 p.m. ET where we will likely be awaiting news on the availability of Jalen Brunson.

Be sure to get all the latest analysis and information by tuning in to the Stokastic Deeper Dive and Live Before Lock shows at 5:00 p.m. ET on YouTube, brought to you by Sorare.

Eric "EMac" MacPherson won the 2007 Fantasy Baseball grand prize (trip for two to the MLB All-Star game) in the Roto format on ESPN. He won again in 2008, this time in the H2H format. As one of the early adopters of daily fantasy sports, EMac has been providing content for baseball and basketball as well as both professional and college football since 2012 for a variety of websites including DraftKings Playbook, FanVice, RotoWorld, Daily Fantasy Bootcamp, and RotoGrinders. He is well into his third decade of fantasy sports and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Follow him on Twitter @EMacDFS or contact EMac by emailing [email protected].

Stokastic +

Premium Data and Tools
PREMIUM TOOLS
Lineup Generator
Stokastic Sims MLB
PREMIUM DATA
Projections
Top Stack %s
MLB Data Central
FREE DATA
SoRare MLB Rankings
DraftKings Night Owl
FANTASY CRUNCHER (ADD-ON)
MLB Lineup Study
COMMUNITY
MLB Discord Server
PREMIUM DATA
Projections
Ownership Projections
PREMIUM TOOLS
Fantasy Cruncher (ADD-ON)
NHL Lineup Study
COMMUNITY
NHL Discord Server
PREMIUM TOOLS
Lineup Generator
Stokastic Sims PGA
PREMIUM DATA
Ownership Projections
Top Golfers Tool
PGA Tournament Models
FANTASY CRUNCHER (ADD-ON)
PGA Lineup Study
COMMUNITY
PGA Discord Server
Ownership Projections
Top Drivers Tool
NASCAR Discord Server
NASCAR Fantasy Cruncher
USFL Projections
USFL Discord Server
Ownership Projections
Top Fighters Tool
MMA Discord Server
MMA Fantasy Cruncher
NFL Betting Tools
Stokastic Discord Server
Best Ball
Best Ball Rankings
Best Ball Stat Projections
Stokastic Discord Server
Season Long Fantasy (Coming Soon)

DFS Winners from the Stokastic Community

Subscribe to the Stokastic newsletter

DFS advice, exciting promos, and the best bets straight to your inbox

Stokastic.com - Daily Fantasy Sports and Sports Betting Data, Tools, & Analytics

Please play responsibly. Only customers 21 and over are permitted to play. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.