The Lakers went 3-1 against the Pelicans this season as they prepare to go head-to-head in the first game of the 2024 NBA Play-In Tournament on Tuesday. Los Angeles defeated New Orleans, 124-108, in the final game of the season to help the Lakers move into the No. 7 vs. No. 8 game, which will be played in New Orleans. Zion Williamson struggled with 12 points in the season finale after averaging 27.1 points over his previous 10 contests. Brandon Ingram scored 13 points over 23 minutes for the Pelicans after missing three weeks with a knee injury, so should you include him in NBA DFS lineups?
Ingram's return shakes up the entire Pelicans' NBA DFS player pool. Williamson took advantage of his expanded role without Ingram, so will Ingram's return hurt his value as a potential NBA DFS pick? The Kings host the Warriors in the second play-in game on Tuesday, and although Domantas Sabonis led the NBA with 26 triple-doubles, none came over his four matchups against the Warriors. Should this make daily Fantasy basketball players avoid using Sabonis in NBA DFS lineups on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings? Before making your NBA DFS picks, be sure to check out the NBA DFS advice, player rankings, stacks, and top daily Fantasy basketball picks from SportsLine's Mike McClure.
McClure is a DFS professional with more than $2 million in career winnings. He's also a predictive data engineer at SportsLine who uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every minute of every game 10,000 times, taking factors like matchups, statistical trends and injuries into account.
This allows him to find the best NBA DFS values and create optimal lineups that he shares only over at SportsLine. They're a must-see for any NBA DFS player.
On Tuesday (when McClure last made picks), McClure highlighted Raptors forward RJ Barrett as one of his top picks in his NBA DFS player pool on both sites. The result: Barrett had 23 points, four rebounds and four assists, returning 33.5 points on DraftKings and 31.8 points on FanDuel. Anybody who included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.
McClure has turned his attention to NBA action on Tuesday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Tuesday, April 16
For Tuesday, one of McClure's top NBA DFS picks is rostering Kings point guard De'Aaron Fox, who is listed at $8,600 on DraftKings and $9,900 on FanDuel. Fox averaged career highs in points (26.6), rebounds (4.6) and steals (2.0) this season and led the league in steals per game. He added 5.6 assists per game while making 2.9 3-pointers per contest, more than one full 3-pointer above his previous career-high. Fox wasn't just chucking from beyond the arc either. He converted 36.9% of his triples, the second-highest over his seven-year NBA career.
Fox finished with 33 points in two of his final four games of the regular season and was extremely efficient in his final contest. The 26-year-old was 10 of 14 from the field for 24 points over 26 minutes in Sacramento's final game. Fox averaged 32.3 points in three contests against the Warriors this season while shooting at least 45% from the field in all three games while making 10 of 24 3-pointers (41.7%). McClure expects Fox to build off the best season of his career and have another strong performance against the Warriors in a win-or-go-home scenario on Tuesday.
Another part of McClure's optimal NBA DFS strategy includes stacking Fox with forward Keegan Murray ($5,500 on DraftKings and $6,400 on FanDuel). Murray averaged 15.2 points and 5.5 rebounds this season, including averaging 17.8 points over his final nine games. He had 14 points and six rebounds in his most recent contest against the Warriors on Jan. 25 and has scored at least 10 points in five of seven career games against Golden State.
Murray, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, increased his scoring total by nearly three points in his second season after averaging 12.2 ppg as a rookie. Murray has continued to see additional minutes with Kevin Huerter (shoulder) and Malik Monk (knee) both out since the end of March. Tuesday's NBA DFS player pool is filled with many of the top options in the sport, and to fit multiple stars into NBA DFS lineups, you'll need to include some role players in NBA DFS picks. Murray averaged 36.6 minutes over eight games in April, making him a prime candidate to be one of the winning pieces to NBA DFS lineups. See McClure's other NBA DFS picks right here.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Tuesday, April 16
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Tuesday because of a dream matchup. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.
Who is DFS pro Mike McClure putting in his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Tuesday? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NBA DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has over $2 million in career winnings, and find out.
