The Minnesota Timberwolves have taken a big step forward this season, but didn't make a move during an otherwise active NBA trade deadline. Minnesota has held steady above the postseason play-in threshold, but chose to finish the season with the players that got the team this far, including D'Angelo Russell, who was the subject of trade speculation leading up to this week's deadline. Since missing four games with a shin injury, Russell's efficiency has fluctuated in his last four starts, but could he be a name to add to NBA DFS lineups with just two games on Sunday's schedule?
Russell has averaged 20.8 points and seven assists over his last four starts, but has hit just 43.9 percent of his shots, and Minnesota takes on a re-vamped Indiana on Sunday afternoon. The Pacers made one of the biggest deadline moves to acquire Tyrese Haliburton from Sacramento, but in his first start on Feb. 11, Indiana allowed the Cavaliers to hit 53 percent of their shots. Will Russell get hot and emerge as one of the top performers in Sunday's NBA DFS player pool? Before finalizing any NBA DFS picks for Sunday, 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 Spurs guard Dejounte Murray as one of his top NBA DFS picks on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The result: Murray put up his 28th double-double of the season and finished with 31 points and 12 assists to go with seven rebounds and two steals. His performance returned 63.75 points on DraftKings and 62.4 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, February 13, 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, February 13
One of McClure's top NBA DFS picks for Sunday is new Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, who is listed at $8,200 on DraftKings and $9,000 on FanDuel. In his debut for the Pacers during that 120-113 loss to Cleveland, he played 40 minutes and scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting. He also dished out six assists, snagged three steals, and made four of his six 3-point attempts.
In his last three starts for the Kings prior to the move to Indiana, Haliburton shot just 33 percent, and made an even lower 21.4 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. After a promising first appearance for the Pacers, he'll make his next start against a Timberwolves team whose opponents have made a league-high 54.8 percent of their shots over their last three games. During that sample, Minnesota has allowed its opposition to drain 40 percent of their 3-point attempts as well.
Another part of McClure's optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns ($9,700 on DraftKings and $10,300 on FanDuel). Towns has been remarkably efficient over his last four starts, in which he's averaged 24.3 points and nine rebounds per game. During that stretch, he has shot 61.8 percent from the field, and made six of his 13 total 3-point attempts.
Without Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis in the mix for Indiana, the Pacers showed little resistance in the key against Cleveland. The Cavaliers scored 60 points in the paint on Friday, which looks promising for Towns on Sunday. Indiana has also struggled defending the perimeter over its last three games, and has allowed others to hit 41.6 percent of their shots from deep. Lock Towns in your NBA DFS lineups and look for a big return against the Pacers.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Sunday, February 13
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.
