Finding the right matchup to exploit in NBA DFS tournaments can be the difference between winning big or going home with nothing. And Sunday's main NBA DFS slate on DraftKings and FanDuel, which features three games and tips off at 6 p.m. ET, is offering contests with prizes like the $30K Fadeaway on DraftKings and the $5K Sunday NBA Shot on FanDuel. Whether it's a guard who has a favorable matchup against a porous defense, or a center who's capable of putting up a monster stat line, finding the right NBA DFS picks is key.
Which high-end players can you turn to as lineup building blocks for tournaments on daily Fantasy sites like FanDuel or DraftKings? And which undervalued players can give the salary cap flexibility needed to build stacked NBA DFS lineups? Before locking in 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 nearly $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 Saturday, McClure included Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as one of his top NBA DFS picks on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The result: Jokic finished as the top center on DraftKings and top-three on FanDuel after putting up his eighth triple-double of the season. His 17 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds returned 57 points on DraftKings and 50.9 points on FanDuel. Anybody that included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.
Now, McClure has turned his attention to the Sunday, January 16, NBA DFS slate and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Sunday, January 16
Jokic is one of McClure's top NBA DFS picks for Sunday once again at $12,000 on DraftKings and $10,900 on FanDuel. Denver's big man has been the top Fantasy scorer on both sites this season, and has been particularly strong in games following those in which he has scored fewer than 20 points. In four such starts this season, Jokic has averaged 31.5 points and 15.5 rebounds, and that is the scenario for him tonight at home.
Denver has a traditionally tough matchup against Utah on Sunday night, but the Jazz haven't looked much like themselves over their last four games. Jokic may not come away with as many boards on Sunday with Rudy Gobert's return to the Jazz after a five-game health and protocols stint, but Gobert didn't slow Jokic's offense when the two last matched up in October. In that meeting, Jokic finished with 24 points, six assists and six rebounds.
Another key in McClure's optimal NBA DFS strategy includes stacking Jokic with Nuggets swingman Will Barton ($5,900 on DraftKings and $5,700 on FanDuel). Barton missed a game against the Clippers last Tuesday (health and safety protocols), but was back in the lineup on Thursday to score 21 points. He played just 22 minutes in Denver's blowout win against the Lakers on Saturday, but scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Amongst Nuggets that have played in at least 30 games this season, Barton is third on the team in offensive usage rate, with 21.9 percent. On a team that is missing many of its familiar names this season, Barton is Denver's second-leading scorer at 15.2 points per game. Between the 12 teams that Denver has played twice this season, Barton's second-highest average point total has come against Utah, at 20.5 points per start.
How to set NBA DFS lineups for Sunday, January 16
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Sunday 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.
So who is DFS pro Mike McClure putting in his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Sunday? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NBA DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has almost $2 million in career winnings, and find out.
