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

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DFS Main Slate Rundown 📰

With the NBA Cup quarterfinals underway, we’re looking at another bite-sized DFS slate today: just two games on the board, a true Two-for-Tuesday. Regarding injury situations, the two biggest swing points revolve around Karl-Anthony Towns (calf/questionable for the Knicks) and Immanuel Quickley (illness/questionable for the Raptors) -- both of whom would shake up rotations and value across the slate if ruled out.

Miami–Orlando gives us the higher total at 235.5, while New York–Toronto should play a bit slower, but both games are expected to be competitive with spreads under five points. With such limited options, every minute and every usage shift matters more than usual, so keep a close eye on news right up until lock. Best of luck!

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

Today’s Key Injuries 🚑

^{Note: NBA injury reports can be fickle and often update throughout the day. Be sure to stay up-to-date on all injury news leading up to tip-off as the list below may be a bit outdated by the time you’re reading this.}

^{Additional Note: Players who have yet to play this season will be excluded from the injury report, unless they have either a probable, questionable, or doubtful injury designation, with some amount of chance to make their season debut. Injured players who have been out for an extended period of time and/or are not expected to play for a month-plus will also be excluded.}

• Heat: T. Herro - Probable, D. Mitchell - Probable, P. Larsson - Probable, D. Smith - Questionable

• Magic: F. Wagner - OUT

• Knicks: K. Towns - Questionable, M. McBride - OUT, L. Shamet - OUT

• Raptors: I. Quickley - Questionable, RJ Barrett - OUT, J. Shead - Questionable, J. Battle - Doubtful

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 🏀

SG Josh Hart, NYK | DK: $7.7k, FD: $7.5k | at TOR

Hart is forward-only eligible on FanDuel, but he’s SG-only eligible on DraftKings, so we’ll stick him in this guard section. Really, he’s a positionless player who can cover any guard/wing position, and he's even operated as a small-ball center at times. Since regaining a spot in the starting rotation, Hart has been a steady, productive force, contributing in all five categories and consistently delivering strong DFS scores. Hart has scored fewer than 36.8 DKFP just once across his last eight games (all were starts). Of course, many of those games were without OG Anunoby due to injury, but Hart should still log plenty of minutes tonight with Miles McBride out and Karl-Anthony Towns listed as questionable. KAT’s potential absence would be very impactful -- Hart has increased his production from 0.95 FPPM with KAT on the floor to 1.16 FPPM with him off. Hart also excelled in this matchup not too long ago, racking up a 20/12/7 stat line, with three steals, and 53.0 DKFP against the Raptors on Nov. 30th.

SG Desmond Bane, ORL | DK: $7.3k, FD: $7.3k | vs. MIA

With Paolo Banchero likely still working under some minutes restrictions after returning to the lineup last Friday and Franz Wagner ruled out for the first time this season due to an ankle injury, there should be some extra usage to go around for the remaining Magic players. Desmond Bane has some volatility attached to him, but Wagner’s absence should help stabilize his role. He has gone from a 23.6% USG% and 0.98 FPPM to a 29.7% USG% and 1.17 FPPM with Wagner on/off the floor. Bane has put up a couple of huge 37-point performances within his last five starts, and the Magic (12th in pace) receives a serious pace-up boost from the Heat (1st in pace). Miami also checks in at 28th in DvP versus starting shooting guards, so the individual matchup doesn’t get much better for Bane, even though he posted a massive dud (11.0 DKFP) against this same Heat team four days ago -- which boiled down to just an awful 2-for-16 shooting night.

PG/SG Anthony Black, ORL | DK: $5.4k, FD: $6k | vs. MIA

Anthony Black checks in as one of the best potential values on this two-game slate, as he should be another beneficiary of the Franz Wagner absence. In the Wagner on/off split, Black has improved from an 18.0% USG% and 0.76 FPPM to a 25.3% USG% and 1.08 FPPM this season. Wagner logged only seven minutes on Sunday before exiting, and Black stepped right into the void, delivering 35.75 DKFP in 30 minutes off the bench. He should remain in a similar role tonight, even if he continues to check in off the bench -- Black currently projects for 32.0 minutes in tonight’s game. It’s a strong matchup (MIA: 23rd versus backup PGs) and Black’s dual-guard eligibility on both DK and FD is useful on a slate this small.

Other Guards to Consider

PG Jalen Brunson, NYK at TOR (Boost if KAT is out)

PG/SG Tyler Herro, MIA at ORL

PG Jalen Suggs, ORL vs. MIA

PG Jamal Shead, TOR vs. NYK (Currently questionable - Huge boost if Quickley is out)

PG AJ Lawson, TOR vs. NYK (Preferred if both Quickley and Shead are out)

Small Forwards/Power Forwards to Consider 🏀

PF Scottie Barnes, TOR | DK: $8.9k, FD: $9k | vs. NYK

Scottie Barnes enters tonight coming off a strong outing versus Boston, and he has now scored at least 48.25 DKFP in four of his last six games. With RJ Barrett still out, Barnes continues to shoulder a larger offensive load -- his usage climbs from 21.9% to 27.8% with Barrett off the floor, and he leads the team with a strong 1.34 FPPM in that split. An additional boost would fall toward Barnes if Immanuel Quickley (illness/questionable) is also ruled out. With both Barrett and Quickley off the floor this season, Barnes has bumped up to a 30.9% USG% and 1.45 FPPM. The matchup isn’t a cakewalk, but the Knicks have struggled away from Madison Square Garden (3-6 on the road), and Barnes’ role is as secure as it gets on this slate. He carries the second-highest LineStar and consensus projections on the board (trailing only the questionable KAT) and profiles as the most reliable stud to build around on a two-gamer where raw points matter more than anything.

PF OG Anunoby, NYK | DK: $5.9k, FD: $6.6k | at TOR

OG Anunoby looked great in just his second game back from a nine-game hamstring absence, putting up 38.25 DKFP in only 28 minutes vs. Orlando. His workload should trend upward tonight -- especially with this being an NBA Cup quarterfinal -- and this DK salary is a season-low discount for a player who typically lives in the mid-$6k range when fully ramped. Anunoby has been a steady 1.00 FPPM producer this season and projects for 32.0 minutes this evening, and he’s viable regardless of who suits up. But if Karl-Anthony Towns sits, every Knicks starter gets a bump, Anunoby included. In 107 minutes with Towns off the floor this season, Anunoby has handled a +5.9% usage bump and averaged a stout 1.20 FPPM.

SF/PF Tristan da Silva, ORL | DK: $4k, FD: $4k | vs. MIA

Tristan da Silva was the interim starter during Paolo Banchero’s 10-game injury hiatus, and he should be back in the starting lineup in place of Franz Wagner tonight. da Silva posted some nice stat lines in his first several starts this season, but fizzled out in recent weeks as Banchero approached his return. But value remains thin on this two-gamer, especially if both KAT and Quickley shed their questionable designations and suit up tonight. So we can’t fully turn our noses up at a $4,000 player (on both sites) who should start and play close to 30 minutes. Over his last 20 games as a starter, da Silva has averaged 22.8 DKFP/gm, which, if he matches that average, isn’t great value… but decent value nonetheless.

Other Forwards to Consider

PF/C Karl-Anthony Towns, NYK at TOR (Currently questionable)

SF/SG Norman Powell, MIA at ORL

SF Mikal Bridges, NYK at TOR (Boost if KAT is out)

PF Andrew Wiggins, MIA vs. ORL

PF/C Guerschon Yabusele, NYK at TOR (Preferred if KAT is out)

Centers to Consider 🏀

C Bam Adebayo, MIA | DK: $7.9k, FD: $8.2k | at ORL

With Karl-Anthony Towns carrying a Q-tag, Bam Adebayo leads the way (among fully healthy players) at the center position on this two-gamer. He just torched this same Magic team for 55.25 DKFP last Friday (Herro was out for that one), and while expecting another 50+ wouldn’t be wise with Herro back, Bam’s role remains rock-solid. He’s produced 1.24 FPPM on a 24.4% usage rate this season and has averaged strong volume across both meetings with Orlando. He’s bumped up to 1.31 FPPM over the last five games, while averaging a double-double (19.2 PPG, 10.6 RPG). The Magic have also allowed the 7th-most opponent blocks per game, so this is a good spot for Adebayo to pick up multiple rejections at the rim. The Magic have also ranked 23rd versus starting centers over their last five. This game should stay competitive, and Bam’s minutes tend to spike in high-leverage spots. He’s the safest blend of floor and ceiling at the position tonight, and anything north of 40 DKFP is firmly within range.

C Goga Bitadze, ORL | DK: $3.9k, FD: $4.1k | vs. MIA

If you’re hunting for value at the center position, Bitadze stands out as the best option… at least until we know whether KAT is playing or not. The minutes aren’t always going to be steady with Bitadze coming in off the bench, but he has cleared 20+ DKFP in six of his last eight games while averaging a very respectable 1.10 FPPM on the season. Bitadze’s production also picks up at home, where he has averaged +21.2% more FPPG, and in two previous meetings with the Heat this season, he has put up 28.0 DKFP and 21.5 DKFP. A similar result would be perfectly acceptable at these price points.

Other Centers to Consider

C Wendell Carter Jr., ORL vs. MIA

C Jakob Poeltl, TOR vs. NYK

C Mitchell Robinson, NYK at TOR (Preferred if KAT is out + Robinson starts)

🔥 Props AI 🔥

In LineStar’s ongoing mission to improve, innovate, and help you reel in some cash, we have rolled out Props AI for NBA – available for LineStar Premium users! This tool can help you find value and mispriced odds on player props from sportsbooks and, more specifically, for PrizePicks, UnderDog Fantasy, and other prop apps/sites!

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