DFS NBA Full Court Press: FanDuel & DraftKings Main Slate - Dec. 16th, 2021

Main Slate Breakdown for NBA DFS 12/16:

Welcome to another year of the DFS Army NBA Full Court Press! Members had a ton of success using the Full Court Press along with various articles and tools that DFS Army provides last season, so we are glad to be back with another year of the all-inclusive article. You have to start your research somewhere, and oftentimes going game by game and breaking down every matchup and its key players is the first step in our process. My name is Mike aka @MadnessDFS on Twitter, make sure to give me a follow as I’ll occasionally make updates to the advice in the article. But, you’ll mostly find me in our VIP coaching forums where I provide detailed lineup maneuvers and answer all lineup questions. With that said, let’s get it started!

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Detroit Pistons @ Indiana Pacers

Vegas Total: 210.5

Vegas Spread: Ind -10.0

We’ll get this slate started with the biggest spread and the lowest implied total as the Pacers come in as 10 point favorites. Starting with the Pistons, Jerami Grant will continue to miss time for the Pistons which is going to open up minutes and opportunities in the frontcourt. The only issue with the Pistons is no one person really benefits from Grant being out. We saw Trey Lyles have a few nice games but then got only eight minutes of run last time out. I never love going to Saddiq Bey but due to the size of the slate, he’s going to be in play in this one against a bad Pacers defense. He’s extremely volatile, but we’ve seen him produce nicely on occasion. Cade Cunningham will be a guy I have an interest in for sure on this slate. With Grant and Olynyk off the court this season he has a 31.7% usage rate and 1.17 fantasy points per minute and gets an elite matchup here. Grant being out has locked in Isaiah Stewart’s minutes even more as well and looks like a solid big man option on this slate. You can make a tournament case for Hamidou Diallo, and maybe even Trey Lyles but only the deepest of tournaments with them. From the Pacers, Domantas Sabonis was a guy I liked a good deal last night and now we’ve seen his price skyrocket for no apparent reason on DraftKings. If you’re going to get exposure to him tonight I would do it on FanDuel where he’s still in the low-$9k range. Malcolm Brogdon had a down game last night, but also so his price climb here, it’s a nice matchup with the Pistons but it will be hard for me to go to him over Cunningham at a $200 difference on the other side of this one. DraftKings really priced up these Pacers as we keep going, Caris LeVert has been in good form as of late but came down to Earth last night, the nice thing with him is we know the minutes will be there. We know the deal with Myles Turner, he had a nice night last night and a guy I’ll have exposure to on a short slate.

5-star play: Cade Cunningham, Domantas Sabonis (FanDuel)

4-star play: Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart, Domantas Sabonis (DraftKings), Malcolm Brogdon, Caris LeVert, Myles Turner

Deeper Value: Trey Lyles

GPP Sleeper: Saddiq Bey, Trey Lyles, Hamidou Diallo, Chris Duarte

I need to give VIP Member “TTG2436” a massive shoutout for his $100k takedown earlier in the season, congrats man! Our NBA Domination Station lineup optimizer is Powered by DFS Army proprietary projections. The Domination Station will help you create 150 of the highest projected lineups in a matter of minutes. With features that allow you to Like  Love  or Dislike  a player, you can create a fully unique pool of players to generate your lineups from every day. Combine the power of the Domination Station with our VIP Only Articles and the NBA Research Station to really take your game to the next level.

Philadelphia 76ers @ Brooklyn Nets

Vegas Total: 213.5

Vegas Spread: Bkn -1.0

Starting with the Sixers, Joel Embiid returned last night to play 37 minutes and would assume he’s a go again tonight… a big assumption with him, I know. This is a nice matchup for him against a shorthanded Nets team and a guy I will have exposure to. Tobias Harris dropped 38.75 DraftKings points in this spot earlier this season and a guy I have no issue going right back to here. Tyrese Maxey has bounced back nicely over his last couple of games and is someone you can go back to in a nice matchup against the Nets. Seth Curry will continue to play massive minutes but is pretty scoring dependent which makes it hard to get to him at an elevated price tag especially on DraftKings. I keep stating that all these guys are priced up on DraftKings, but if everyone is priced up is anyone truly priced up relative to the rest of the slate? Then you can round the Sixers out with Danny Green and Shake Milton as GPP options if you’re going to MME the slate. From the Nets, they’re going to be shorthanded again here as they have a laundry list of guys out, it might be shorter just for me to name who’s all active, but James Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Bruce Brown, James Johnson, De’Andre Bembry, and Paul Millsap will all be out for this one. It’s going to be really hard to not like Kevin Durant here, he dropped 72 DraftKings points last time out and played a massive workload. With Harden and Aldridge off the court this season he has a 36.6% usage rate and 1.62 fantasy points per minute… he’s the top raw option on the slate for me. We saw David Duke Jr., Blake Griffin, and Nicolas Claxton all join the starting five last time out and would expect something similar tonight. All will be great options tonight at their price tags along with Kessler Edwards and Cameron Thomas off the bench… and the usual, Patty Mills. The fact that Brooklyn is favored tonight shows just how good Kevin Durant is.

5-star play: Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant

4-star play: Tobias Harris, Seth Curry, Patty Mills, Blake Griffin, David Duke Jr., Kessler Edwards, Nicolas Claxton

Deeper Value: David Duke Jr., Kessler Edwards, Nicolas Claxton

GPP Sleeper: Tyrese Maxey, Seth Curry, Shake Milton, Danny Green, Cam Thomas

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New York Knicks @ Houston Rockets

Vegas Total: 215.5

Vegas Spread: Nyk -6.0

Starting with the Knicks, we’ll need some news on who they’ll have missing tonight. We know Kevin Knox has already been ruled out but keep an eye on the Breaking News Feed for updates on guys like RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes, and Obi Toppin. I’m going to operate under the assumption that they’re out, but obviously, something to monitor. Julius Randle bounced back nicely last time out and looked good in this matchup earlier in the season. With Christian Wood out for the Rockets, he should do whatever he wants down low in this one and a guy I like getting exposure to. Alec Burks hasn’t been in the best form as of late but still getting a ton of playing time, so he’s a guy I’ll have interest in here. Derrick Rose has at least 31 DraftKings points in back-to-back games and is a guy I’ll go right back to here as well. Immanuel Quickley is more of a tournament option and my interest in him will likely depend on who’s all out for the Knicks, but when he gets hot, watch out. I wish you luck if you want to play Evan Fournier, he’s just out there getting cardio at this point. From the Rockets, I misspoke earlier in my breakdown that Christian Wood would be out… it sounds like he has a “slim chance” of playing tonight. Keep an eye on the Breaking News Feed, but I’m going to assume he’s out for this one. We saw Daniel Theis start in his place last night, but the guy I want is Alperen Sengun off the bench. He dropped 46.7 FanDuel points off the bench last night and would be a guy I go right back to here. KJ Martin would be a guy that seems some run in the frontcourt as well and has played nice minutes as of late and we know he can be a nice fantasy producer. Jae’Sean Tate is never a sexy option, but he’s solid at the very least and would be a nice cash option here. It sounds like Eric Gordon will return for this one which will force DJ Augustin back to the bench. He’s been a nice producer over the past week or two and would be a guy I like again here.

***The below assumes Christian Wood is OUT***

5-star play: Julius Randle, Alperen Sengun

4-star play: Derrick Rose, Alec Burks, KJ Martin, Jae’Sean Tate, Eric Gordon

Deeper Value: Daniel Theis, KJ Martin

GPP Sleeper: Immanuel Quickley

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Washington Wizards @ Phoenix Suns

Vegas Total: 215.0

Vegas Spread: Pho -8.5

We’ll round out the slate starting with the Wizards, Bradley Beal was a guy I had a lot of interest in last night and dropped 45 DraftKings points. This is a more difficult matchup, but I think there’s a chance we get news that Dinwiddie will be out here, and with him off the court this season Beal is looking at a 31.4% usage rate and 1.16 fantasy points per minute. Speaking of Spencer Dinwiddie, we’ve seen him rest on the back end of a back-to-back quite a bit this season which leads me to believe we see the same thing again tonight but keep an eye on the Breaking News Feed for updates. Kyle Kuzma came down to Earth last night as well, but getting a ton of minutes so he’s a guy I’m good with going back to here. Then you can round this team out with Daniel Gafford and Montrezl Harrell as GPP options, I may even have a little Gafford exposure in cash games. From the Suns, they’ll continue to be without Devin Booker which will open up some shots on the outside for this team as well as more ball-handling for Chris Paul. Paul had a massive night last time out where he dropped 60 fantasy points and will be a guy I go right back to in this spot. Deandre Ayton returned last game to play 45 minutes, so it’s pretty clear he’s not limited at all. I like the matchup quite a bit for him in all formats. Mikal Bridges will continue to be just a meh play for me, he’s going to play a ton of minutes but always struggles to do much with them. Cameron Payne got his minutes over 30 last time out which was obviously aided by overtime, but it’s nice to know that they’re willing to give him that kind of run due to how good of a per-minute guy he can be. Cameron Johnson has been really good as well with at least 25 DraftKings points in four straight games and is benefitting quite a bit from Booker being out. Then you can round this team out with GPP guys like Jae Crowder and Landry Shamet.

5-star play: Bradley Beal, Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton

4-star play: Kyle Kuzma, Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Cameron Payne

Deeper Value: Landry Shamet

GPP Sleeper: Daniel Gafford, Montrezl Harrell, Jae Crowder, Landry Shamet

I wanted to give a quick shoutout to VIP member “GhostfaceKillaa” on his $30k win earlier in the season. A pivot to Curry off the chalky Doncic was the key for him, congrats man!

NBA Lock of the Day: Cheat Sheets/Coaches Notes

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