Written By: Ryan Humphries on Twitter & LineStar chat @Ryan_Humphries

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NBA DFS & Props Shows w/ Shannon & Tyler

DFS Main Slate Rundown 📰

A seven-game slate on the seventh day of the year has to be a sign of good luck! There are some intriguing match-ups lined up this evening, culminating with a high-profile nightcap showdown between the Celtics and Nuggets. To no surprise, a few teams have a loaded injury report so, as always, stay on your toes when it comes to logging the latest news and starting lineup changes! Best of luck!

Today’s Key Injuries

• Suns: R. O’Neale - OUT

• Hornets: T. Mann - OUT, S. Curry - Probable

• Rockets: Ja. Green - Questionable, J. Smith Jr. - OUT, T. Eason - Doubtful

• Wizards: J. Poole - Questionable, B. Coulibaly - Questionable, M. Brogdon - OUT, C. Carrington - Questionable, M. Bagley III - OUT, J. Davis - OUT

• Lakers: A. Davis - Probable, L. James - Probable, C. Reddish - Probable, G. Vincent - Doubtful

• Mavericks: L. Doncic - OUT, K. Irving - OUT, D. Gafford - OUT

• Timberwolves: None

• Pelicans: D. Murray - Questionable, B. Ingram - OUT, T. Murphy III - OUT

• Hawks: T. Young - Probable, J. Johnson - OUT, B. Bogdanovic - Probable, L. Nance Jr. - OUT

• Jazz: L. Markkanen - Questionable, J. Collins - OUT, J. Clarkson - OUT, K. George - OUT, B. Sensabaugh - Questionable

• Celtics: D. White - Questionable, J. Walsh - Questionable

• Nuggets: A. Gordon - OUT

• Heat: T. Herro - Questionable, J. Butler - OUT, J. Richardson - Questionable

• Warriors: J. Kuminga - OUT, B. Podziemski - OUT, G. Payton II - OUT

Main Slate Match-Ups w/ Game Totals & Point Spreads

Top DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Plays

Note: NBA position designations are never going to perfectly align between the major DFS sites. For the purposes of these newsletters, positional designations will default to DraftKings.

Point Guards/Shooting Guards to Consider 🏀

PG Austin Reaves, LAL | DK: $7.3k, FD: $7.5k | at DAL

I don’t feel as if there is one spotlight-worthy guard at the top tier of pricing on this slate so we won’t force one in for the sake of it. Instead, we’ll drop down to the $7k range where we’ll find Austin Reaves, who has certainly been outperforming these current price points. Reaves is up to 1.30 FPPM over his last six games, and he’s playing a hair under 40 minutes per game in that stretch while averaging 24 PPG and over 10 APG. The exodus of D’Angelo Russell to Brooklyn seems to have only increased Reaves’ floor and ceiling, and he has firmly solidified himself as part of the Lakers’ “big three” alongside LeBron and AD. The Mavericks (8th in pace) provide a quality pace boost for the Lakers (21st in pace), and Dallas has also ranked 26th versus starting PGs L20Games. All-in-all, it’s a great spot for Reaves to continue his level of elevated play.

SG/SF Amen Thompson, HOU | DK: $6.6k, FD: $7.1k | at WAS

I don’t suspect this play will go overlooked by many as, due to injuries among the Rockets’ roster, Thompson should continue to land in the starting lineup where he has been excellent in an expanded role. Thompson recently served a two-game suspension as a result of an on-court altercation with Tyler Herro and the Heat last Sunday, but he returned to the starting lineup against the Lakers two nights ago and supplied a 23/16/3 stat line -- good for 49.0 DKFP/45.7 FDFP. Thompson posted a strong 29.5% USG% in that game, which was second on the team only to Jalen Green (35.5% USG%), who happens to be questionable to play tonight due to a knee injury. Regardless of Green’s availability, Thompson sets up nicely as he has averaged 1.13 FPPM, 37.5 Min/gm, and 42.50 DKFP/42.2 FDFP per game over his last five games as a starter. Finally, we have the obvious match-up boost. The Rockets (20th in pace) receive a major pace boost from the Wizards (4th in pace), who also check in at 28th in DEFRTG. He’ll garner plenty of ownership tonight, especially if Jalen Green is ruled out, but Thompson is simply a strong all-around play at his current price points.

PG Isaiah Collier, UTA | DK: $4.2k, FD: $4k | vs. ATL

The Jazz backcourt will be without both Keyonte George and Jordan Clarkson. Meanwhile, John Collins has been ruled out, and Lauri Markkanen is questionable. This should all lead to Isaiah Collier picking up another spot start at point guard and playing around 30 minutes or so. Collier has averaged a rather pedestrian 0.70 FPPM this season, largely due to some poor shooting woes (31.5% FG%, 14.3% 3P%). However, when he has snagged the occasional start, he has contributed some nice peripherals, averaging 6.3 RPG and 5.7 APG. If he can get some shots to drop, he could return considerable value but he still sets up as a worthy value play as is.

Other Guards to Consider

PG Trae Young, ATL at UTA

PG Steph Curry, GSW vs. MIA

SG Anthony Edwards, MIN at NOP

PG/SG CJ McCollum, NOP vs. MIN (Boost if D. Murray is out)

PG Fred VanVleet, HOU at WAS (Boost if Ja. Green is out)

PG Russell Westbrook, DEN vs. BOS

SG Jalen Green, HOU at WAS (Currently questionable)

PG/SG Collin Sexton, UTA vs. ATL

PG Jrue Holiday, BOS at DEN (Boost if D. White is out)

SG/SF Max Christie, LAL at DAL

SG/SF Svi Mykhailiuk, UTA vs. ATL

SG Buddy Hield, GSW vs. MIA

SG/SF Moses Moody, GSW vs. MIA

Small Forwards/Power Forwards to Consider 🏀

PF LeBron James, LAL | DK: $9.8k, FD: $9.6k | at DAL

Spending up at forward doesn’t feel like a necessity on this slate either, but if you can spare the salary, getting up to LeBron doesn’t feel like a bad way to go. The now 40-year-old Iron Man continues to play at a high level, scoring at least 55.25 DKFP/49.6 FDFP in five of his last seven games. The Lakers, who have won seven of their last 10 games, land in a quality spot to pick up another victory on the road as they are 6.5-point favorites over the Luka/Kyrie-less Mavericks, who are also on the second leg of a back-to-back. The Mavs have also ranked 26th versus starting power forwards L10Games, and as mentioned in the Austin Reaves spotlight, this is a fairly strong pace-up spot for the Lakers.

SF/PF Naji Marshall, DAL | DK: $4.6k, FD: $4.4k | vs. LAL

Marshall returned from a four-game suspension last night to play a key role for the shorthanded Mavericks, scoring 32.0 DKFP/31.7 FDFP across 33 minutes of action while taking on a solid 22.6% USG%. With both Luka and Kyrie off the floor this season, Marshall has handled a team-leading +9.6% usage rate boost, so it wasn’t a major surprise to see him return around 7x value on his DFS salaries. He should play a similar role tonight and it’s an outstanding individual match-up for Marshall as the Lakers check in at 25th against starting small forwards L20Games.

SF/PF Brice Sensabaugh, UTA | DK: $4.2k, FD: $4.7k | vs. ATL

We’ll need to monitor Sensabaugh’s status since he was a late addition to Utah’s injury report, currently listed as questionable due to an illness. Assuming he can suit up, he should operate as a key weapon off of the Jazz bench. Three of his best performances of the season have all come within the last five games, including combining for 61 points in his last two games alone. Sensabaugh has seen a +3.7% USG% increase and +6.6 FP per 32 minutes boost with J. Collins, J. Clarkson, and K. George off the floor this season -- both of those figures only rise when Lauri Markkanen (back/questionable) is on the sidelines. This is a 9 o’clock ET tip-off so we may not know Sensabaugh’s status until after the first four games have locked, so just be sure to have a late swap plan in place if you roll with him in any lineups this evening.

Other Forwards to Consider

SF/PF Jayson Tatum, BOS at DEN

SF/SG Jaylen Brown, BOS at DEN

PF PJ Washington, DAL vs. LAL

SF/PF Michael Porter Jr., DEN vs. BOS

PF Kyle Kuzma, WAS vs. HOU

SF/PF Dillon Brooks, HOU at WAS (Boost if Ja. Green is out)

SF/SG Christian Braun, DEN vs. BOS

PF/C Naz Reid, MIN at NOP

SF/PF Cam Whitmore, HOU at WAS

SF/SG Johnny Juzang, UTA vs. ATL

PF Peyton Watson, DEN vs. BOS

SF/SG Julian Strawther, DEN vs. BOS

Centers to Consider 🏀

C Walker Kessler, UTA | DK: $6.4k, FD: $6.9k | vs. ATL

A lot of Jazz love in today’s newsletter but, given the slate-high 238.5 O/U and the diminished state of the Utah roster, it’s not a bad idea to place focus on several of these players. Even without the injuries, Kessler makes for just a solid all-around player for DFS purposes, given his quality floor and ceiling upside. He’s not a high-usage player, but he is making 71% of his shots while averaging a double-double (10.4 PPG/11.3 RPG) and he remains one of the best shot blockers in the NBA (2.5 BLK/gm). Kessler is averaging 1.10 FPPM L20Games but he gets a match-up boost versus the Hawks, who are allowing 40.6 FPPG and 1.29 FPPM to opposing starting centers over their L20Games. As long as the depleted Jazz can keep this game close, Kessler makes plenty of sense at sub-$7k price points.

C Dereck Lively II, DAL | DK: $5.1k, FD: $6.3k | vs. LAL

Lively worked out well for us yesterday at fairly low ownership, securing 38.0 DKFP/38.9 FDFP across 33 minutes. He won’t quite be flying under the radar today. While averaging a quality 1.11 FPPM this season, Lively’s main hurdle this season has been a lack of minutes -- he has averaged only 24.3 Min/gm across 28 contests due to splitting the center minutes with Daniel Gafford (ankle/out). With Gafford out of the picture for the foreseeable future, Lively has a much easier pathway to 30+ minutes and is too cheap, particularly on DraftKings, given his elevated role.

Other Centers to Consider

C Nikola Jokic, DEN vs. BOS

C Anthony Davis, LAL at DAL

C Bam Adebayo, MIA at GSW (Boost if T. Herro is out)

C Mark Williams, CHA vs. PHX

C Rudy Gobert, MIN at NOP

C Kel’el Ware, MIA at GSW

PrizePicks NBA Power Play of the Day ⚡

Here is a two-pick “Power Play” I’m liking for today's NBA action over on PrizePicks! Nothing is ever a guarantee to hit but I put my own money on these bets so I don't just lightly throw these out there without believing they'll cash! If it hits, it will return 3x the wager.

Max Christie MORE than 14.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists

Naji Marshall MORE than 19.5 Points + Rebounds

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That will wrap us up with today’s “Daily Dribble” edition! Once again, you can find me on Twitter or in LineStar chat @Ryan_Humphries. Good luck everyone!