Tuesday brings a robust NBA schedule with a 7 p.m. ET first tip on DraftKings and FanDuel. The player pool is packed full of exciting options, making this the ideal slate to spotlight the top NBA DFS building blocks and today’s must-have NBA DFS picks. Let’s dive into the day’s core plays, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jonas Valanciunas.
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NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Tuesday, Dec. 3
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NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: Thunder at Jazz
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 56.51 | FanDuel: 56.99
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 33.1% | FanDuel: 32.4%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $10,300 | FanDuel: $10,800
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has help this year, and even with Chet Holmgren out of commission, Oklahoma City (15-5) has the best record in the Western Conference.
In the 10 games since Holmgren fractured his hip, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 33.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.8 assists, and 3.1 combined blocks and steals.
The Jazz have been dreadful on defense with bottom-3 efficiency for the last 10 games and for the entire season. They are playing at a league-average pace, but now that everyone is healthy (save for Jordan Clarkson and rookie Kyle Filipowski), the team has been much improved on offense. This makes the Jazz a great team to pick on in DFS because they have the ability to push their opponents into the fourth quarter, meaning strong minutes for the regulars. Over the last dozen games, Utah has three victories, but in the nine losses, half have been by 8 points or fewer.
Isaiah Hartenstein has been outstanding in his five games with the Thunder, averaging 15.2 points, 13.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.0 combined blocks and steals. He is setting career highs across the board, and he should see 30 minutes a night until Holmgren returns at some point near the All-Star Break.
Jalen Williams has also picked up his game since Holmgren went down, averaging 23.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 3.3 combined blocks and steals. Though his salary continues to tick upwards, he is looking like a strong play on FanDuel tonight and worthy of being a differentiation play on DraftKings.
For the Jazz, John Collins is a secondary option for the featured slate on DraftKings, while Collin Sexton draws that distinction on the blue site. The starters are all viable for the evening sub-slate, but pretty much everyone is neutral or an avoid for the full slate.
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Jonas Valanciunas: Wizards at Cavaliers
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 29.95 | FanDuel: 29.21
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 44.5% | FanDuel: 10.1%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $5,200 | FanDuel: $5,700
There is a caveat with this recommendation in that Jonas Valanciunas needs to be in the starting lineup.
Kyle Kuzma is out, and with Cleveland having a large frontcourt, we could see JoVal getting something close to the 30.8 minutes he saw against the Bucks in Milwaukee.
Valanciunas is always a strong offensive player, and he can hold his own on the boards. The main issue is that he is a defensive liability, though that should not be an impediment while he is with the Wizards. In the second game of the season, Valanciunas just missed out on a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds in 21.1 minutes. He should reach that milestone tonight, and a 20-10 game is a possibility as well.
Charlotte is hosting Philadelphia tonight with both teams missing key players. The Hornets will be without LaMelo Ball (calf) for the next two weeks, which led to Brandon Miller launching a ridiculous 25 and 30 shots in the last two games. Rookie Tidjane Salaun is a wild card with his inconsistent play. In his last four starts, he failed to make a bucket twice but averaged 15.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals in the two middle games. Caveat Emptor.
Philadelphia will be without Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond, which makes Guerschon Yabusele a key frontcourt contributor by necessity. He started next to Drummond during the last two games, so it will be interesting to see how the 76ers reconfigure the first five. Hopefully, it will be with rookie Jared McCain, but there are no guarantees.
Today’s Top Sports Betting Pick
Scottie Barnes has been ramping up his minutes over the six games since returning from his orbital injury. In the last four, he has averaged 35.4 minutes with 20.3 field goal attempts and most importantly 8.3 from 3-point range.
That has the over on his 1.5 made 3-pointers prop standing out as an intriguing wager.
Looking at the screen shot of Portfolio EV, we can see this wager is likely to come to fruition 46% of the time, and with a +130 payout, that brings a strong 5.9% expected ROI.
BetRivers and SugarHouse are offering the +130, which, which far exceeds the “True Odds” of +117 and the -108 of the next “best” book.
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Stokastic’s Advanced NBA Statistical Projections have Barnes projected for 33.9 minutes and 1.13 made 3-pointers. While that is below the two needed for the over, it is not hard to envision Barnes dropping a pair of troikas against the Indiana Pacers tonight.
In his six games since returning to action, Barnes has converted two, one, three, two, three and two triples. Let’s live a little tonight and ride with an over for once!
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today
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