Hittin' The Nuts: Squirrelpatrol's NBA Lineup Advice for Tuesday, November 21st

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. Should we roster the chalk picks? How off-the-board should we get in large-field tournaments? Squirrel answers all of these questions and more below!

The NBA season continues on Tuesday with a very interesting 5-game slate where the IND/ATL game has a 251.5 total, higher than the other 4 games on the slate combined. OK, that math doesn’t quite add up, but the IND/ATL game is dominating the slate with its high projections and will be very difficult to get away from. The other 4 games – Toronto at Orlando tipping things off at 7:00 PM ET, the Cavaliers at Philadelphia at 7:30 PM ET on TNT, Portland visiting Phoenix at 9:00 PM ET, and Utah visiting the Lakers at 10 PM ET on TNT – all have totals at least 14 points lower than the IND/ATL game.

There are some injury situations to be aware of, with Caris LeVert listed as questionable for a Cleveland team that has already listed Donovan Mitchell as out, Malcolm Brogdon listed as questionable and possibly going to return for the TrailBlazers, and LeBron James listed as questionable for the Lakers. The UTA/LAL game has the 2nd-highest total of the night, so while it doesn’t jump off the page like the IND/ATL game, it’s worth considering a plan to play either LeBron or Anthony Davis along with various Utah value pieces and late swapping depending on whether LeBron plays. Let’s sort through the slate and figure out what to do with our DFS lineups.

NBA DFS Picks: Lineup Advice for Squirrelpatrol’s ‘Hittin’ The Nuts’ (November 21st)

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:

Trae Young
FanDuel: $9,200
DraftKings: $9,100

The Hawks are playing at home, where Trae has averaged 2.2 points per game and 0.5 assists per game more than on the road over the course of his career, and they have a 127.75 implied team total in a game with a 251.5 total. Most pieces of NBA DFS content today will start with Trae Young, this piece included. Trae should draw plenty of ownership listed at $9,200 or below on both sites, but I won’t look to get under the field.

Tyrese Haliburton
FanDuel: $10,300
DraftKings: $10,400

On the other side of the IND/ATL game, Tyrese Haliburton is a bit too easy to fit in alongside Trae in what quickly becomes a highly-projected game stack. Haliburton leads the league in assists per game (11.6), and Trae is 2nd with 11.1. No other player in the NBA averages above 9.3. Haliburton is easier to fit on FanDuel, where we play two PGs, but he is worth strong tournament consideration on both sites.

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:

Bruce Brown – FanDuel
FanDuel: $5,300
(DraftKings: $6,100)

The price tag on Bruce Brown is $800 cheaper on FanDuel, where we are required to play two SFs, and the positional requirements combined with the high game total mean Brown should see plenty of ownership in both cash games and tournaments on that site compared to DraftKings. Brown gains PG-eligibility and is still playable on DraftKings, particularly if you are stacking the IND/ATL game, but I’ll have much more exposure on FanDuel.

Talen Horton-Tucker – DraftKings
(FanDuel: $5,500)
DraftKings: $4,600

Talen Horton-Tucker had his biggest scoring game of the season on Sunday, putting up 25 points against the Suns in a double-overtime game. Horton-Tucker has seen his price drop on both sites since moving to the bench a couple of weeks ago, but he is still a bit too expensive on FanDuel. I’ll use him on DraftKings, where a late swap of Horton-Tucker and LeBron James can become Lauri Markkanen and Austin Reaves if LeBron gets ruled out after lock.

Glue Guys

Stars shine bright in the NBA, but every team also needs some role players to fit everything together. Here are the guys I’m eyeing to make my squad work as a team:

Clint Capela
FanDuel: $6,200
DraftKings: $5,700

The high-paced game between Indiana (1st in the NBA in pace) and Atlanta (3rd in the NBA in pace) means there could be plenty of rebounds up for grabs as well, and Indiana has the 9th-worst rebounding differential in the league. Capela is coming off his best game of the season on Friday against Philadelphia, putting up 17 points and 11 rebounds, and he played a season-high 29 minutes in that game as well.

Jalen Johnson
FanDuel: $6,500
DraftKings: $6,100

Are we at an aviary? Because there are Hawks everywhere today. Jalen Johnson is having a breakout season for Atlanta, putting up 15 points per game compared to 5.6 last season, along with a 60.8% FG%, a 44.1% 3P%, and 7.9 rebounds per game. Johnson has been too cheap all season, and he still isn’t expensive enough on either site for his production this season. He’s another piece that fills out IND/ATL game stacks.

Bench Mob

Every team needs some contributions off the bench, and particularly on smaller slates, we may want to look at some guys outside the starting lineup to provide a spark for our DFS lineups:

Onyeka Okongwu
FanDuel: $5,700
DraftKings: $4,700

Okongwu has generally been playing all of the back-up center minutes for the Hawks this season, playing most of the minutes that Clint Capela is not on the floor. He’s been showing up as an excellent value all season, and if Capela gets into foul trouble, he can put up big numbers quickly, with games of 17 points and 14 rebounds so far this season. I’ll likely avoid playing Okongwu and Capela together in the same lineup on DraftKings, and with both players center-only, that’s not a possibility on FanDuel.

Jaden Springer
FanDuel: $3,500
DraftKings: $3,300

Like Jalen Johnson, Jaden Springer is another player showing improvement in his third season. He has now played at least 20 minutes each game for 3 games in a row, averaging 9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in that span. Springer is getting increased opportunity with Kelly Oubre out and has been taking advantage, but he is still available for near minimum price on both sites.

It should be another fun night of NBA action with lots of offense potentially on display. Let’s hope one of us hits the nuts tonight!

Image Credit: Getty Images