Sunday NBA DFS action begins at 6:00 p.m. ET on FanDuel, with DraftKings locking one hour later. Given the packed collection of games and pivotal decision points, it’s a great time to spotlight the best NBA DFS building blocks and picks for the day. Let’s break down Sunday’s standout picks, where Malik Monk, De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis look like top options against the Washington Wizards, while there are some intriguing tournament targets in Milwaukee as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Tyrese Maxey square off.
NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Sunday, Jan. 19
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NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks
Malik Monk: Kings vs. Wizards
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 38.75 | FanDuel: 37.72
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 38.5% | FanDuel: 21.8%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $7,300 | FanDuel: $8,000
Last night the Wizards were unable to best the Warriors, so what hope do they have against Kings and a Malik Monk (cwidt)?
Monk missed Tuesday’s tilt against Milwaukee, with a sore groin, though the logged 37.3 minutes on Thursday. Over his last six games, he is averaging 37.0 minutes, 19.8 field goal attempts, 24.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 8.3 assists, and 2.1 combined blocks and steals, reaching the 40-fantasy point plateau in each appearance.
The 11th overall selection in the 2017 NBA Draft is having a breakout campaign, with the 26-year-old authoring career highs in every statistical category. Add in a terrific matchup against a lackluster defense, and we have one of the best foundational plays of the slate right in front of us.
Washington did push Golden State for most of yesterday’s game, despite being double-digit underdogs. Sacramento is favored by an absurd 16.5 points tonight, even with Washington missing only Malcolm Brogdon. The Wizards are clearly tanking and lost the last 10 games, and they only have six victories on the year. Eleven of the last 20 games were decided by 12 or fewer points, so the hope tonight is that Washington is able to keep pressure on the Kings, ensuring their key contributors get mostly regular run.
De’Aaron Fox returned after missing three games with a sore glute, playing heavy minutes. He should be in line for 40-plus fantasy points, though expect him to be one of the first regulars to hit the bench if this game gets out of hand. Domantas Sabonis is once again the Rebound King, taking over the league lead with 14.1 per game. If he is able to hang on, this will be his third consecutive crown, which is an impressive feat. He is basically a lock for a double-double, reaching that milestone in all but two games this season, though he has “only’ five triple-doubles after posting 26 last year. Part of that is due to the ascension of Monk but also due to having DeMar DeRozan in the mix over Harrison Barnes, with the high-touch veteran scorer always willing to make the extra pass.
The aforementioned quartet of Kings is joined by Keegan Murray on DraftKings, where he projects to be on one-in-four lineups. Similar to Sabonis, he too should feast against an overmatched Washington frontcourt, and Murray is live for a second-straight double-double.
Considering that the Wizards played last night, maybe someone will pop up on the injury report Sunday. Until then, Kyle Kuzma is a tournament target on both sites, with Kyshawn George and Carlton Carrington III tertiary options on DraftKings, and do-a-little-of-everything Bilal Coulibaly a secondary play on FanDuel.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo: Bucks vs. 76ers
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 59.11 | FanDuel: 57.99
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 21.8% | FanDuel: 27.7%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $11,600 | FanDuel: $11,700
Giannis Antetokounmpo has the highest median fantasy projection on DraftKings, though he trails Nikola Jokic on FanDuel, which is including the 6 p.m. ET game in their featured tournaments.
This is a back-to-back for the 76ers, who are a dysfunctional mess. Joel Embiid is likely out for the rest of this month, while Caleb Martin, Kyle Lowry and KJ Martin are all dealing with injuries and have missed time.
Both Paul George (ankle) and Guerschon Yabusele (knee) were sidelined on Saturday, and each is questionable for tonight. That is leading to a lot of backups trying to play defense, which has not been pretty by any stretch of the imagination. The Bucks are favored by 13.5 points, but we know they are not likely to secure a victory without at least 50 fantasy points from Antetokounmpo. If George and Yabusele are able to play, it will at least keep the game closer, which would likely mean more fantasy production from Giannis.
Damian Lillard is a pivot away from Fox or Tyrese Maxey, depending on where the final projected popularity shakes out for the top guards. Orlando is without Jalen Suggs, Goga Bitadze and Gary Harris, which has Cole Anthony and Tristan da Silva as two of the most popular FanDuel options.
Ricky Council IV is the punt du jour on DraftKings, even with George and Yabusele currently in the projections. The second-year wing had a career game with 38 fantasy points in 36.2 minutes. We should not expect that again, though at $3,800 on DraftKings, he can start to return value with 25-plus fantasy points.
Maxey had a rough game, falling below 40 fantasy points for the first time in his last six appearances. He is a strong option tonight, particularly with the incorrect sentiment that he is a “bad play” without Embiid. Check out yesterday’s detailed breakdown of his on/off-court production with Embiid.
Today’s Top Sports Betting Pick
Rui Hachimura is an interesting option in the sports wagering market for the under on his 17.5 points + rebounds + assists (PRA) prop.
The screenshot of Portfolio EV shows that this wager projects to win 61% of the time. That combined with the -130 odds leads to a stellar 7.6% expected value when accounting for the -155 “True Odds.”
Hard Rock is currently offering -130, which presents solid value compared to the “True Odds” of -155. This is well below the -173 from sharp book Pinnacle and we can see that ESPN BET has dropped the threshold all the way down to 15.5 PRA.
Stokastic’s Advanced NBA Statistical Projections have Hachimura projected for 29.1 minutes, 10.39 points, 4.36 rebounds and 1.13 assists, which works out to 15.88 PRA.
LeBron James is available, and it sounds like Anthony Davis (calf) will be as well when the Los Angeles teams square off tonight at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
