Hittin' The Nuts with Squirrelpatrol - Thursday, February 22nd
Want to hit the nuts and take down 1st place in these massive contests posted by FanDuel and DraftKings? Who better to walk you through their favorite NBA DFS picks than Squirrelpatrol! Undoubtedly one of the best DFS players in the game today, Squirrelpatrol has accumulated 90+ Live Final seats, won the FanDuel 2021 World Fantasy Basketball Championship for $500,000, and most recently, took down the NFL Milly Maker in Week 2.
The NBA returns from the All-Star Break with a big 12-game night, but we only have to worry about 10 of the games for the main slate on both FanDuel and DraftKings as both sites have removed the two 10:00 PM ET games. It’s the biggest Thursday night slate of the season, even at 10 games, but mercifully, we don’t have much injury news, with most teams having a week to rest before tonight’s action.
It is the NBA, however, so we do have some injuries to consider and players listed as questionable. In the CLE-ORL matchup both Donovan Mitchell and Paolo Banchero are questionable with illness, but with that game starting at 7:00 PM ET we should have confirmation of their status prior to slate lock. Bradley Beal is listed questionable for the Suns in their 7:30 PM ET matchup with Dallas, however with the players in that game already priced up, it shouldn’t make a big impact on the slate whether Beal plays.
The biggest question mark for the slate may be the status of Brandon Ingram, who is questionable for New Orleans in their 8:00 PM ET game against Houston. Thankfully, we have five games tipping off at 8:00 PM ET or later, so I’ll tentatively build my lineups assuming Ingram is in, and we should have options from multiple games to rearrange things should he end up sitting.
Let’s sort through the slate and figure out what to do with our DFS lineups.
NBA DFS Lineup Advice: Squirrelpatrol’s ‘Hittin’ The Nuts’ (February 22nd)
High Flyers
Who are the players I’m picking first for my squad? These guys are the first selections for both my cash game and tournament lineups, and I’ll sacrifice elsewhere, if need be, to ensure I get them in:
Tyrese Haliburton
FanDuel: $9,900
DraftKings: $9,400
Tyrese Haliburton had an extended ramp-up period after coming back from injury in late January, playing under 30 minutes in 6 straight games. He’s played over 30 minutes in his 3 games since then, averaging 18.7 points and 12.0 assists per game. Tonight, the Pacers face a Detroit team that has allowed the 4th-most points per game in the NBA, and Indiana has the highest implied point total (129.0) on the slate. We were paying over $11,000 on both sites for Haliburton at one point this season, so if he is back to full strength and full minutes tonight, this is a bargain price.
Myles Turner
FanDuel: $9,400
DraftKings: $9,600
The stars on the Pacers didn’t have to travel much with the All-Star festivities taking place in Indiana this week, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the high-scoring games continue with the Pacers matchup against Detroit. In addition to allowing the 4th-most points in the NBA per game, the Pistons allow the 5th-most points in the paint, and Myles Turner ranks second on the team (after Pascal Siakam) with 8.5 points in the paint per game. Detroit is also the 4th-most blocked team in the NBA this season, something that could spell trouble against Turner tonight.
Site Specialists
Just like a good 3-and-D small forward, sometimes a player fits the specific need we have on the specific site we’re playing on. These are the guys that stand out on one particular site:
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