After two years of truncated seasons due to the pandemic, the NBA is set to tip off its first normal season in quite a while as Opening Night takes place on Tuesday, Oct. 19. The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks will host the Nets at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by Lakers vs. Warriors at 10 p.m. ET. There will be no shortage of stars on display with the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant and LeBron James in action. Thus, even with just two games on the schedule, the NBA DFS player pool is quite top-heavy with big names.
Antetokounmpo did have a knee injury which knocked him out a pair of preseason games, so can you confidently roster the two-time MVP into Tuesday’s NBA DFS lineups? As for James, he has a plethora of new pieces around him in Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and others. Will James continue to put up gaudy numbers and be among the top NBA DFS picks, or should you look elsewhere for value in the NBA DFS player pool? Before locking in any NBA DFS picks for Opening Night, 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 nearly $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.
Now, McClure has turned his attention to the Tuesday, Oct. 19 NBA DFS slate and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Tuesday, October 19
One of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks for Opening Night is Warriors guard Stephen Curry at $9,400 on DraftKings and $9,800 on FanDuel. Already with two MVP trophies on his mantle, Curry returned the finest scoring season of his career last year. He led the league with a career-high of 32.0 points per game, while also posting 5.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds per contest.
Curry picked up right where he left off last season as he dropped 41 points in the Warriors’ final preseason game. Curry’s role within Golden State’s offense may change once Klay Thompson returns but the other Splash Brother is still recovering from injury. Thus, the Curry we see on Opening Night should look similar to the one we saw last season and during preseason. The Warriors will need a huge night from Curry to keep up with the Lakers on the road, so you can confidently slot him into your NBA DFS lineups.
Part of McClure’s NBA DFS strategy also includes stacking Curry with guard Jordan Poole ($4,800 on DraftKings, $4,900 on FanDuel), who averaged 20.5 points per game over the last six games of the 2020-21 season. Entering his third season, Poole received some votes for Most Improved Player last year as he increased his scoring average from 8.8 PPG to 12.0 PPG.
Poole led the Warriors in scoring in three of their five preseason games as he averaged 21.8 points during the exhibition contests. He is turning out to be the biggest beneficiary of Thompson still being sidelined as Poole has elevated to the starting lineup and he’ll share the backcourt with Curry. He showed his worth in the two games vs. the Lakers in the preseason, averaging 23 points, four rebounds and three assists per game. Thus, you can see why McClure is high on Poole for Tuesday’s regular season game vs. Los Angeles.
How to set NBA DFS lineups for Tuesday, October 19
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.
So 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 almost $2 million in career winnings, and find out.
