NBA Expert Picks Preview: Sunday, Jan. 18
Glean insight from the best minds in the industry as they list picks they’ll actually be targeting in their tournament games, along with detailed analysis and reasoning.
Author Disclaimer: Please remember, these picks are not necessarily safe for your 50/50-H2H games. They are intended to separate yourself from the herd in an attempt to be contrarian and different. The most logical outcomes don’t always play out on a given NBA slate, so we are looking for the guys that may surprise, that few will roster.
Sunday, January 18th
Point Guard
Russell Westbrook – OKC at ORL – $10,600 – On the short slates you want to do what you can to get the top plays in your lineup and Westbrook definitely qualifies for that category. Though Orlando has been better recently against point guards, they are still a bottom five team for fantasy points allowed for the season. Westbrook is coming of a virtuoso performance where he had 17 points, 15 rebounds and 17 assists in 36 minutes against the Golden State Warriors on Friday. Even with the Thunder being nine point road favorites, it is hard to leave Westbrook off your Sunday lineups and miss out on his nearly unlimited upside.
Kyle Lowry – TOR vs NO – $9,700 – Most gamers today are going to stretch and get Russell Westbrook in their rosters, this combined with the return of DeMar DeRozan will artificially suppress Lowry’s ownership, even on a three-game slate. The Pelicans have struggled against point guards all season and with Jrue Holiday a good bet to sit out another game, the express lanes will be wide open for Lowry to drive or dish to his scorers. He makes for a nice differentiation option today.
Shooting Guard
Tyreke Evans – NO at TOR – $7,700 – Yes, he let everyone down Friday with just 18.4 FanDuel points in 32 minutes, however, if Jrue Holiday is again out, we will just have to dust ourselves off and jump right back on the ‘Reke Bandwagon and pray he doesn’t drop another stinker.
Victor Oladipo – ORL vs OKC – $7,100 – If Tobias Harris (ankle) misses his fifth straight game, I will be rolling with Oladipo in the majority of my tournament lineups. I know he will be incredibly popular once again, but I don’t want to get steamrolled at this position. Over the last three weeks, OKC has allowed the second most fantasy points to opposing shooting guards, which is nice. On the flipside, if Harris does return, I am going to fade the mighty Victor and take my chances that he has a subpar game and that I can make up some ground at other positions.
Small Forward
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