FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks and Helper: Christmas Day

Since NBA DFS is easier to predict than baseball or football, it would likely get plenty of votes as the best sport to play on FanDuel. Basketball players usually stick to the same minutes and produce at roughly the same rate. Sounds easy, right? Trust me -- it's not!

As a result, NBA daily fantasy is highly reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to ensure that you're up to date with key injuries. numberFire's projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news. numberFire also has player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

In addition to daily projections, numberFire also offers a matchup heat map and lineup optimizer to help give you an edge.

On top of all that, here at FanDuel Research, we'll come at you each day with this NBA DFS primer, which breaks down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's dive into today's main slate on FanDuel for the Christmas Day slate.

NBA DFS Picks for Christmas Day

Guards

Luka Doncic ($12,500) - Doncic stands out above the other guards in salary on Christmas Day in his matchup against the Phoenix Suns. Doncic has averaged 1.53 FanDuel points per minute and 40.3 minutes, 32.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 11.4 assists in games without Kyrie Irving this season. Irving's status is one of the most important to track throughout the day. Irving is very much in play if he can suit up, as well, but either way, Doncic is the top guard on the board. On the other side of that game, Devin Booker ($10,100) is very much in play himself, yet he's more of a stacking and differentiation play, as he rates out worse than other superstars on the slate.

Jalen Brunson ($8,300) - We can also prop up the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks rematch a bit given the elevated over/under (241.5). Brunson again faces the Bucks after squaring up with them on Saturday. In that game, Brunson went for 36 points on 15 of 26 shooting across 37 minutes. He added 7 assists and 3 rebounds in the lopsided loss. Another game stacking option, Damian Lillard ($9,200) went 6 for 16 for 19 points while also racking up 9 rebounds and 7 assists across 34 minutes. Stacking this matchup with those two could get lineups off to a nice start early in the day.

Others to Consider

Jrue Holiday ($7,100), A.J. Lawson ($3,700), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($5,000), De'Anthony Melton ($6,000)

Wings

LeBron James ($10,300) - The showdown between James and Jayson Tatum ($9,800) needs to draw our attention on the Christmas Day slate, but the better projection belongs to James, who numberFire's model anticipates netting 25.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 7.7 assists against the Boston Celtics. James, against top-10 defenses, has averaged 32.1 minutes, 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.8 assists for 43.4 FanDuel points per game and 1.35 per minute.

Michael Porter Jr. ($6,500) - Porter Jr. gets a great matchup with the Golden State Warriors in a pretty high-scoring game as a sizable favorite. Porter Jr. has taken advantage of non-elite matchups. Against teams ranked 11th to 20th in defensive rating, he has averaged 31.3 FanDuel points on the back of 16.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists.

Others to Consider

Jayson Tatum ($9,800), Tobias Harris ($6,200), Khris Middleton ($6,700), Marcus Morris ($4,100), Grayson Allen ($5,500)

Bigs

Nikola Jokic ($12,200) - Jokic remains pretty unstoppable and is averaging 1.74 FanDuel points per minute overall. His matchup with the Warriors is a plus one, and Jokic has one matchup against them already this season. In that game, he put up 67.1 FanDuel points over 36.6 minutes. His stat line? Insane: 25 field goal attempts, 35 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block. That was good for 1.83 FanDuel points per minute.

Others to Consider

Isaiah Hartenstein ($6,200), Jarred Vanderbilt ($3,800), Julius Randle ($8,700), Aaron Gordon ($6,400), Brook Lopez ($6,600), Giannis Antetokounmpo ($12,000)

Interested in playing NBA daily fantasy? FanDuel has plenty of contest options to make every moment more. Be sure to check out the NBA betting options, as well.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author’s advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.