The 2021-22 NBA season is off to a thrilling start and the Suns are riding high after blowing out the Lakers on Friday night. The final score was 115-105, but Phoenix was up 30 in the fourth quarter and was able to take its foot off the gas late. The Suns will be back in action against the Trail Blazers on Saturday and they’ll be all over the radar of NBA daily Fantasy players with the over-under for that game at 231.
Chris Paul had a big game against the Lakers with 23 points, 14 assists, five rebounds and two steals, but should you have the 36-year-old in your NBA DFS lineups on the second night of a back-to-back? The NBA DFS player pool is loaded on Saturday with stars like Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Paul George and Karl-Anthony Towns all in action, so you’ll want to make sure you nail every decision. Before locking in any NBA DFS picks for Saturday on sites like FanDuel or DraftKings, 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.
On Friday, McClure listed Rockets forward Christian Wood among his top NBA DFS picks. The result: Wood had 31 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, returning nearly 9x on DraftKings and over 7x on FanDuel. Anybody that included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.
Now, McClure has turned his attention to the Saturday, Oct. 23 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 Saturday, October 23
One of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks for Saturday is Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas at $7,200 on DraftKings and $6,300 on FanDuel. Without Zion Williamson (foot) in the lineup, the Pelicans need supplemental scoring and Valanciunas is a solid option because he’s a solid compliment to Brandon Ingram.
The 29-year-old Lithuanian plays predominantly with his back to the basket and he’s coming off an extremely efficient night offensively against Chicago. Valanciunas went 8-for-11 for 18 points and also snatched eight rebounds, while dishing out three assists and blocking a shot. After an uncharacteristic 3-for-19 night to begin the season, expect Valanciunas to stay hot from the field as a career 56.5 percent shooter.
Part of McClure’s NBA DFS strategy also includes rostering Heat forward Jimmy Butler ($8,500 on DraftKings, $8,900 on FanDuel). Butler didn’t have to do much during Miami’s opener against the Bucks because the Heat bench scored a staggering 75 points.
However, he still put together an efficient night by shooting 6-for-10 and scoring 21 points with six assists and four rebounds in just 29 minutes. Butler continues to prove that he’s willing to fill whatever role Miami needs of him in a given night, be it as a lockdown defender, scorer or distributor and usually it’s a combination of all three. There’s inherent NBA daily Fantasy benefit to someone who can stuff the stat sheet like that and that’s why you’ll want to roster him on Saturday.
How to set NBA DFS lineups for Saturday, October 23
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Saturday 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 Saturday? 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.
