NBA Daily Fantasy Sports Strategy And Tips

Last week, we took a look around the league at each team’s state from a Daily Fantasy Sports perspective. While it’s good to always have an awareness of each team’s current situation, it’s also very important to be aware of the best and worst matchups around the league for each position.

This week, the goal is to identify and discuss some of the best and worst matchups at each position the league has to offer for someone playing NBA DFS.

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Point Guards

Best: Lakers, Kings, Suns

These three teams have a few things in common. One, they have the 30th, 27th and 23rd ranked defenses in terms of points per possession out of the 30 NBA teams. Second, they all play above the league average in pace, with the Kings and Suns both being in the top four. That combination will almost always lead to opposing point guards torching you in the box score.

Worst: Celtics, Heat, Raptors

Conversely, these three teams all sit in the top ten in terms of points allowed per possession on defense. The Raptors and Heat are both in the bottom five in pace. The Celtics are the huge anomaly here. While they rank second in both pace and defensive efficiency, they are the toughest team on opposing point guards by a huge margin. That speaks to them having elite on ball defending guards in Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley, and also just an elite defense.

Wings

Note: I’m lumping shooting guards and small forwards together for this exercise, as their production is hard to differentiate since they often play similar roles in offenses.

Best: Rockets, Wizards, Suns, Lakers, Kings

The Rockets and Wizards join our list. They’re both also in the top 10 in pace and have bottom half defenses. However, John Wall of the Wizards and especially Patrick Beverley of the Rockets are good defensive point guards who are able to contain their man one on one a reasonable amount. The team’s pace and defensive shortcomings thus show up on the wings. The Lakers and Kings are each just a mess on defense. The Suns are also a mess, but this is the last time you’ll see them here as they’ve actually defended opposing big men pretty well this year.

Worst: Spurs (by about 7 miles), Jazz, Pistons

Don’t ever play a wing against San Antonio. The Jazz appearance here is likely largely tied to them playing at the slowest pace in the league by a pretty good margin. The Pistons have been amazingly stingy against small forwards and somewhat stingy against shooting guards. Coming up with an explanation for their defense against small forwards is tough, but it’s strong enough that avoiding is probably best.

Power Forwards

Best: Rockets, 76ers, Hornets

While point guard and wing defense is largely a function of how each team plays from a pace and defensive efficiency perspective, big man defense is a little more nuanced. The Rockets, for one, have one quality defensive big man and that’s Dwight Howard, who plays center. Part of the reason for the 76ers showing up here is a soft defensive interior combined with an offense that gets an astronomical amount of shots blocked. The Hornets, finally, simply don’t have any big men who can say defense is their calling card.

Worst: Cavs, Heat, Spurs

The Cavs are a bit of a surprise here, given Kevin Love’s reputation as a sieve on defense. The Cavs are 6th in defensive efficiency, 28th in pace and 3rd in rebounding percentage, though, so you could see how they would be a tough matchup. The Heat have similar characteristics as a team and also have Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside, who form a great defense, shot blocking and rebounding combination at the big man spots. The Spurs are simply one of the best defenses ever and playing at a snail’s pace. Don’t play people against the Spurs and you’ll be fine.

Center

Best: Pelicans, 76ers, Lakers, Nets

The Pelicans, 76ers and Lakers all make the cut here thanks to a combination of pace, poor defense and very poor rebounding. The Nets most likely culprit is Brook Lopez, who is mediocre at best in the defense and rebounding department and is largely responsible for the Nets defense against centers due to the heavy amount of minutes he plays.

Worst: Cavs, Grizzlies, Thunder, Jazz, Spurs

The Cavs, Jazz and Spurs all have very similar traits as slow paced teams that play solid defense and are elite in the rebound department. The Thunder, while playing a fast pace and having a just above average defense, likely show up here because along with the Spurs, they are lapping the league in rebounding percentage. Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka also are strong in the middle. The Grizzlies, while being a poor rebounding and average defensive team, do play at a slow pace and have recent defensive player of the year Marc Gasol manning the middle for heavy minutes every night.

So many factors go into making selections in NBA DFS. Matchups are certainly an important one, so keep an eye out for the matchups and think about why they may be good or tough for the players you’re looking to use each night.

That’s it for this week. Remember to keep an eye on situations that you can exploit and to have an open and critical mind about what the fallout is for each injury situation. Thanks for reading, everyone. Find me on Twitter @IanJ300 with any questions.

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