In a story that sounded more likely to come from the playground than the NBA hardwood, the Boston Celtics had a players-only meeting to address Marcus Smart’s comments about Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum not passing as much as he believes they should be. Among the three, Brown has the lowest assist rate at 13 percent, but he also leads the team in scoring with 26.9 points per game which has made him a popular NBA DFS pick. Regardless of assist totals, Tatum has routinely been priced higher than Brown on sites like DraftKings or FanDuel, only to be out-produced by his teammate.
Both players are available in a lighter Thursday night schedule, but the Celtics play at Miami, who has allowed the third-fewest assists in the league this season. Tatum has made just two of 15 three-point attempts over the last three games, and the Heat have also held opponents to the third-lowest three-point percentage in 2021 (30.6). Before you finalize your NBA DFS lineups for Thursday, make sure you 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 Wednesday, McClure listed Raptors guard Fred VanVleet as one of his top picks on both sites. The result: VanVleet had 33 points, six assists, a steal and a block to return 49.6 points on FanDuel and 50.25 points on DraftKings. Anybody that included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.
Now, McClure has turned his attention to the Thursday, November 4 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 Thursday, November 4
Leading McClure’s top NBA DFS picks for Thursday is Cade Cunningham ($4,000 on DraftKings and $4,600 on FanDuel). The first overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft missed the first four games of the season and is easing into the flow of things. However, in the two games that he’s played, he’s had the second-highest usage percentage on the team behind veteran Jerami Grant.
Cunningham has been hampered by the fact that he hasn’t made a single one of his 14 attempted three-pointers so far in 2021. He’s only attempted 22 shots at all so far this season and has been finding his rhythm after starting the year with an ankle injury. Detroit hosts Philadelphia on Thursday, who will be on the second game of a back-to-back, and let the Chicago Bulls‘ combination of Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan score 64 points on Wednesday. So, Cunningham should have a chance to break out.
Another key in McClure’s NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Thunder guard Josh Giddey, at $5,800 on DraftKings and $6,000 on FanDuel. The 19-year-old Australian has the highest assist rate on the team, and it’s not close. He has assisted on 34.3 percent of OKC’s made field goals when he’s been on the floor, which comes out to 9.7 assists per 100 possessions.
Defensively, Giddey leads the team in steals, with 10, and he’s second on the team in blocks with five. The Thunder play the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night, who they beat on October 27, 123-115. Giddey had the second-best scoring night of his young career in that game as he finished with 18 points and 10 assists. The Lakers have won three consecutive games, but are still a banged-up team coming in, and Giddey should be able to make an impact yet again.
How to set NBA DFS lineups for Thursday, November 4
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Thursday 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 Thursday? 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.
