The Milwaukee Bucks play the second half of a back-to-back on Thursday after allowing 142 points in a 142-130 loss to the Pacers on Wednesday. Indiana shot 55.6% from the field and knocked down 14 3-pointers at a 40% clip in the win. With the Bucks having fewer than 24 hours to recover and traveling to San Antonio for Thursday, should daily Fantasy basketball players find some Spurs as value options from the NBA DFS player pool to include in NBA DFS lineups on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings?
The Spurs play at the third-fastest pace, and while the Bucks play at the fourth-fastest pace themselves, a track meet may not favor Milwaukee in a back-to-back. Should you consider rostering Spurs like Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan and Tre Jones to outperform their price tags as a part of your NBA DFS strategy? With only two games on Thursday with the Warriors vs. Nuggets playing in the second contest of the evening, how can you find variance in NBA DFS lineups? Before making your NBA DFS picks, be sure to check out the NBA DFS advice, player rankings, stacks, and top daily Fantasy basketball picks from SportsLine's Mike McClure.
McClure is a DFS professional with more than $2 million in career winnings. He's also a predictive data engineer at SportsLine who uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every minute of every game 10,000 times, taking factors like matchups, statistical trends and injuries into account.
This allows him to find the best NBA DFS values and create optimal lineups that he shares only over at SportsLine. They're a must-see for any NBA DFS player.
On Wednesday, McClure highlighted Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell as one of his top picks in his NBA DFS player pool on both sites. The result: Mitchell had 22 points, three rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals, returning 40.75 points on DraftKings and 41.6 points on FanDuel. Anybody who included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.
McClure has turned his attention to NBA action on Thursday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Thursday, January 4
For Thursday, one of McClure's top NBA DFS picks is Bucks power forward/center Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is listed at $12,000 on DraftKings and $12,100 on FanDuel. Antetokounmpo ranks in the top 25 in the NBA in scoring (30.8 points per game, fourth), rebounding (11.3 per game, sixth) and assists (5.8 per game, 24th). His 60.6 shooting percentage is sixth in the NBA as he's an integral part of everything the Milwaukee offense does. He has the third-highest usage rate in the NBA, behind only Joel Embiid and Luka Doncic.
The two-time NBA MVP is averaging 31.3 ppg over his last seven contests with six double-doubles over that span. Antetokounmpo comes with a hefty price tag but is in a position for a huge performance against the Spurs. San Antonio is allowing the fourth-most ppg, including at least 130 points in four of its last six games. Antetokounmpo had 16 assists in his last game against the Spurs, so whether it comes from scoring, rebounding or assists (most likely a strong combination of all three), McClure expects a huge performance from Antetokounmpo to carry NBA DFS lineups.
Another part of McClure's optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga ($5,300 on DraftKings and $6,000 on FanDuel). Kuminga had 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks in a 121-115 win over the Magic on Tuesday. He's averaging 15.4 points and six rebounds over his last seven games, shooting at least 42% in all seven contests.
The No. 7 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft has been extremely efficient this year, resulting in himself earning more playing time. He's averaging a career-high 22.2 minutes per game this season, including 28.1 minutes over his last seven contests. He had 13 points and five rebounds against the Nuggets over just 23 minutes on Christmas Day, and McClure expects Kuminga to build on his recent success as a value play in a limited NBA DFS player pool. See McClure's other NBA DFS picks right here.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Thursday, January 4
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Thursday because of a dream matchup. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.
Who is DFS pro Mike McClure putting in his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Thursday? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NBA DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has over $2 million in career winnings, and find out.
