PrizePicks NBA Predictions Today: Top Plays for November 1
Wednesday’s NBA slate features a whopping 13 games, so there’s a little something for everybody. As always, there’s significant money to be made if you play your cards right on DFS pick’em sites. PrizePicks, of course, is no exception.
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So, where should we put our money on PrizePicks tonight?
NBA PrizePicks Predictions Today
Below are a few of our favorite PrizePicks plays for the November 1st slate.
D’Angelo Russell More Than 27.5 Fantasy Points
Last year’s playoffs taught us that D’Angelo Russell is subject to being benched at any time, but I wouldn’t expect Darvin Ham to have such a quick hook for him in a November regular-season clash against the Clippers. In fact, Ham committed to D-Lo as the team’s starting point guard well before the season got underway.
And, based on the minutes he’s been playing, Russell has this job locked down for the time being. He’s played at least 33 minutes in each of the Lakers’ first 4 games, and he’s topped 36 in 3 of them. Russell still generates some usage (21.9%) despite playing as the third option offensively when he’s sharing the floor with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. On the year, he’s still averaging a healthy 0.92 FanDuel fantasy points per minute.
PrizePicks’ fantasy scoring system is similar to the one FD employs. Tonight’s matchup against the other LA team is a difficult one on paper, but 27.5 fantasy points is a weirdly low number for him here. As of this writing, we have Russell projected for about 34 FD points this evening in 36 projected minutes.
Jaren Jackson More Than 38.5 Fantasy Points
Speaking of the FanDuel scoring system, it suits Jaren Jackson perfectly. You get 3 points for blocks and steals, and Jackson happens to have led the NBA in rejections a season ago. He’s a little off the pace early this season, but he still enters tonight’s game third in the league at 2.8 swats a night.
The winless Grizzlies will look to crack the win column for the first time this year when they take on the Jazz in Salt Lake City. We’re working with a tiny sample as we’re just a week into the campaign, but the Jazz have been getting blocked a lot. Utah is allowing 7.3 blocks per game to this point, which is tied for the second-highest average in the Association.
JJJ only played against Utah twice last season, but he averaged a healthy 4.5 obstructions in those games. Of course, he does a lot more than block shots while he’s out there. Jackson led the Grizzlies in usage (29%) with Ja Morant on the bench last season, and Ja is obviously still out of the lineup as a result of his league-mandated suspension.
Jackson’s usage rate so far this season is down to around 22%, though he did take a season-high 20 shots on his way to a season-best 30 points in the last game. Jackson is also averaging 7 rebounds per game, while his current average of 2.8 assists per night is easily the highest mark of his career.
Jackson has plenty of paths to racking up fantasy points. Foul trouble is always a concern, but here’s hoping we see a full complement of minutes in what should be a competitive game. Our FanDuel projections have JJJ at about 45 FPTs in this one.
Chet Holmgren More Than 5.5 Rebounds
The Thunder were a trendy pick to make the playoffs outright this season, but we haven’t heard much hype about them over the first week of the season. They’re off to an impressive 3-1 start, and they’re slight favorites to pick up a fourth victory at home tonight over the visiting Pelicans.
Chet Holmgren is off to a nice start in his semi-rookie season. He’s finished with at least 11 points in each of his first four games, while he’s tied with JJJ at 2.8 blocks per game. However, Chet’s rebounding has been a bit lackluster. He went off for 13 boards in the second game of the season, but he’s finished with exactly 4 caroms in each of his other three outings.
Holmgren does spend lots of time on the perimeter offensively, but there’s no real excuse for a 7’1” center to have a rebound rate as low as his current 13.4% mark. Deandre Ayton is currently leading the league in that category at a hefty 29%. League leaders typically finish the season in the 20-21% range. In Holmgren’s lone collegiate campaign at Gonzaga, he averaged 9.9 rebounds a night.
I’d expect a surge in boards for Chet tonight against a Pelicans team that has been among the worst rebounding teams in the league. New Orleans’ team rebound rate early on is the third-worst mark in the NBA. For what it’s worth, Holmgren’s 13-rebound explosion came against a Bulls team currently ranked 24th in rebound rate.