First off, a quick introduction, though if you don’t know what FanDuel is, well, you’re missing out. FanDuel is a site that offers daily fantasy sports games. Participants are given a chance every day to select new players, fill out a lineup and, most importantly, win some cash. If you choose poorly Monday you can come back Tuesday and try again. Essentially, it’s sports gambling but 100 percent legal. So yeah, you should be signing up.
Fantasy basketball advice: NBA FanDuel lineup advice for Sunday, Feb. 1
The Feb. 1 schedule features just two games Sunday, but that’s more than enough for some NBA FanDuel action. Sign up at FanDuel to start earning a deposit bonus.
Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
As for what we're going to be doing in this space: The goal here will be to help you fill out your lineup. This post will be for the games on Sunday, Feb. 1, also known as Super Bowl Sunday, which is why there are just two games on the schedule, Celtics-Heat and Knicks-Lakers. That's going to make this process a bit more difficult, since there are very few choices to actually make. Still, there is some strategy that can be used and to differentiate yourself from other players. So, with that being said, here's the lineup I'll be going with for Feb. 1 (the player I'm using in bold).
The stars
I've got $60,000 to spend on nine players. For the math-challenged, that comes out to an average of $6,667 per player. Only four available players for Sunday cost more than that -- Carmelo Anthony ($9,400), Chris Bosh ($8,100) and Dwayne Wade ($7,700). Wade is out so there's really no reason to not to snatch up Anthony and Bosh. Even with them on my team I'm probably end up with having money left at the end anyway, so these are the first two players I'll choose.
With Wade out, Bosh should see his touches and numbers go up a bit, and Carmelo Anthony is still Carmelo Anthony. Both players are also facing weak defenses. The Celtics have a defensive rating of 112.2, the seventh worst in the league. The Lakers, at 110, aren’t far behind. Going with these guys is step one.
The mid-tier guys
Adding Bosh and Melo leaves me with $6,000 per player left. The options in that range are Jared Sullinger ($6,700) Hassan Whiteside ($6,200), Jordan Hill ($6,100) Luol Deng ($6,000) and Even Turner ($5,900). The first guy in this group that I'm going with is Whiteside, who's been a monster over his past five games, averaging 15 points, 18 rebounds and 4 blocks. The Celtics have also been killed by centers all year (you can check out the numbers here, via HoopsStats.com) which is why I'm riding with Whiteside and not Jordan Hill. The upside with Whiteside is just better.
Deng has been good of late, but is also dealing with a strained calf and is questionable for Sunday’s game. I’m going to go with him anyway since most of the other available small forward stink, but be sure to check his status tomorrow.
I’m also playing Sullinger. He’s been the Celtics’ best player over the team’s last 10 games, averaging 17 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. I don’t love the matchup against Miami, who have been great on defense since Whiteside started getting major minutes..But again, there aren’t many options here and someone on Boston has to get some numbers. That someone will most likely be Sullinger, who’s been Boston’s most consistent player all year.
The rest
At this point I have $5,920 left to spend per player, and no player left who costs that much. That means cost no longer matters. Now it’s just about picking the guys I think will do best. Here are my choices:
Mario Chalmers, PG, Heat ($5,400): With Wade out, Chalmers is going to his see minutes, touches and scoring opportunities go up. His numbers should rise as well. Miami has no choice but to play him and put the ball in his hands. In a FanDuel lineup, efficiency is irrelevant; all that matters are numbers and totals, and Chalmers should be able to put some good ones up Sunday.
Wayne Ellington, SG, Lakers ($5,200): This is pretty simple. Since Kobe Bryant went down for the year, Ellington is averaging a team-high 18 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game.
Tim Hardaway Jr, SG, Knicks ($5,200): Simple reasoning behind this one, too: Hardaway has been hot of late, averaging 15 points and shooting 48 percent from behind the arc in his last five games. On a normal day, this is not something I’d buy into, but with just two games on the schedule this is not a normal day.
Langston Galloway, PG, Knicks ($5,300): My last point guard spot essentially comes down to a choice between three guys: Clarkson, Jeremy Lin and Langston Galloway. Pretending like I know who to go with here would be dumb. What I do know, though, is no team in the league is allowing opposing point guards, and backcourts, to score more points per game (via HoopsStats) than the Lakers. Does this mean Langston Galloway is going to go off for 30 Sunday? Probably not. But Galloway has been playing close to 40 minutes per game over his last five. Clarkson has also been playing really well, and Lin in the Garden is always a fun bet. But to me the combination of the Lakers' awful defense and Galloway's playing time makes the Knicks' guard the one to go with here.
*I'll be going with Tayshaun Prince ($3,900) at SF if Deng is not able to play. He's averaging 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists over his last three games.
See More:
