When the Sacramento Kings traded Buddy Hield and Tyrese Haliburton to the Indiana Pacers, much of the conversation revolved around the latter. Five games ago against Atlanta, both Hield and Haliburton scored 25 points, but since then, the argument could be made that the former has been more valuable in NBA DFS lineups. Over the last five games, Hield has averaged 15.8 points with 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals to Haliburton’s 9.3 points, 9.3 assists and 1.5 steals. Hield has also come at three-quarters the cost of his teammate on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel.
Both are in action tonight after playing against their former team on Wednesday. Although Hield has been more productive in recent games, Haliburton has been better in the second games of back-to-backs and against Memphis this season, who they play on Thursday. Before you make your NBA DFS picks for Thursday, 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 Wednesday, McClure listed 76ers center Joel Embiid as one of his top NBA DFS picks on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The result: Embiid scored 30 points with 10 rebounds, three steals and three blocks to return 59.5 points on DraftKings and 62.5 points 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 Thursday, March 24, 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, March 24
One of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks on Thursday is Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is listed at $11,700 on DraftKings and $11,400 on FanDuel. After five consecutive games of scoring at least 30 points, Antetokounmpo took a night off against Minnesota to rest a bothersome knee before coming back strong against Chicago. Against the Bulls, he scored 25 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and had three blocks in a 28-point Bucks win.
Milwaukee hosts Washington on Thursday, and the last time he faced the Wizards, Antetokounmpo had an equally impressive performance to the one he turned in against the Bulls. On February 1, he scored 33 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and had 11 assists in a 14-point Bucks win. In two starts against Washington this season, he has shot 55.3 percent from the field and had just five total turnovers.
Another part of McClure’s optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Nuggets center Nikola Jokic ($11,400 on DraftKings and $11,800 on FanDuel). Since missing a game against the Houston Rockets on March 4 with a non-COVID illness, the reigning league MVP has come back strong. Over his last 10 starts, he has averaged 30.1 points, 12.5 rebounds, 8.1 assists and shot 58.7 percent from the field.
Denver hosts Phoenix on Thursday night, which is playing in the second game of a back-to-back and is coming off of a grueling game against Minnesota. Jokic didn’t play against Phoenix in the Nuggets’ last meeting with the Suns on November 21, but he was sharp when Denver opened the season against them. In that game, he scored 27 points with 13 rebounds and two steals.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Thursday, March 24
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.
