DFSGhost 
Happy New Year’s Eve to all. We have an all day NBA slate today, but we will be focusing on the main one beginning at 7pm EST since contest selection is much better and since the early one only features two matchups. It’s Fajita Friday’s edition of the Gems – let’s ride.
One thing I want to clarify based on the questions I have received over the past few years is that I will never list a player under the $5,000 price tag simply because I use the projection model to identify all targets in this range and below. While there are often plenty of options that I like at $5,000 and less, since I often find myself with not only one – but multiple – in my NBA DFS lineups, you all have access to the very model I use to make my own selections, so when asking yourself: “Should I use player X or player Y?”, make sure to check the model because that is how I make all of my own decisions and I truly ride or die by it on a daily basis.
Before running to the DraftKings, FanDuel, or Yahoo lobby to construct your NBA DFS lineup after reading this article, please make sure to utilize the abundance of tools we have at Win Daily:
Miami Heat @ Houston Rockets
While the Miami Heat did not have to play on Wednesday due to the unavailability of eight players in the rotation, they’ll be in action tonight versus a rebuilding Houston Rockets team, at least as of the time of writing. With Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson, PJ Tucker, Gabe Vincent, and Max Strus out having been placed on in health and safety protocols, in addition to Bam Adebayo, KZ Okpala, Markieff Morris, and Dewayne Dedmon out with injuries, the Heat will be awfully bare tonight and we need to take advantage. While analytics won’t do Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Omer Yurtseven justice given the circumstances – simply put, there are no minutes with all of these players listed out – let’s just say we need to roster at least one, if not two or three of them against a Houston team that ranks 4th in the NBA in pace and dead last in defensive rating.
On the flip side of this game, Kevin Porter Jr. was quickly priced up, and rightfully so, but came back from health and safety protocols with a bang in his last game, logging 35 minutes in a shootout versus the Lakers. Sporting a 27.9% usage rate, KPJ posted a 22/5/9 scoring line on 47.1% shooting, including going 5-for-9 from behind the arc, making him an intriguing NBA tournament play tonight.
Portland Trail Blazers @ LA Lakers
If you’ve been playing NBA DFS in the last week, you know who I’m about to talk about in this section. Truth be told, it will be tough to fit the targets I listed above with LeBron James, but that’s exactly what we have the model for – see link below the introduction to access it in case you have not been on a daily basis, and if you haven’t, you should be from now on. Lebron James just celebrated his 37th birthday yesterday, and he has been having quite the season thus far, only only leading the league in 30-point games, including six straight, where he’s posted a 34.8/10.3/6.5 scoring line on 57% shooting, and of course leading his team with a 32.4% usage rate in over 37 MPG. While we don’t necessarily need a Trail Blazer on the other side considering it will be impossible to fit Damian Lillard with LeBron James and Jimmy Butler, Larry Nance Jr. and Norman Powell make quite the case for tournaments tonight, especially if Nassir Little misses this one in addition to Jusuf Nurkic, Anfernee Simons, and Robert Covington.
Roster Construction
Ideally, our NBA lineups will begin with one, if not both of Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro. I am favoring the former strategy considering LeBron James will be a focal point for me tonight against the league’s 29th ranked defense. Should Jimmy Butler miss this game, I’ll begin with Herro, Yurtseven, and LeBron James, and should Butler be active, I’ll have one lineup as described above, while having a second lineup of LeBron James and Jimmy Butler as my studs.
Combinations
- Studs: Jimmy Butler/Lebron James
- If Jimmy Butler is out: begin with Tyler Herro, Omer Yurtseven, LeBron James
- If Jimmy plays: hedge a second lineup with option #2 while also having lineup #1
- NBA GPP Wildcard: Kevin Porter Jr. ($7,900 DK / $7,000 FD)
You can find us on Twitter @DFS_Ghost and @Bucn4life
