Fantasy Basketball Picks: Top DraftKings NBA DFS Lineup Strategy for Blazers vs. Warriors Showdown on January 3

After Portland continued its hot streak at home on Friday night against Golden State, the Blazers will once again meet the Warriors in primetime, this time on the road. With plenty of great names in this one from Steph Curry to Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, we’ll dig into which of those guys you want to play, and the best ways to fit them in on this slate.

Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $60K Finger Roll [$15K to 1st] (POR vs GSW)

Captain

C.J. McCollum ($14,400 CP)

I’m not in love with many of the value options here and I think you’re going to want to get all three of the high-priced guys (McCollum, Curry and Lillard) in your lineup. The way to do that is to captain McCollum, who’s actually been Portland’s leading scorer in the early going with a whopping 28 points per game. Not only has he been on fire, shooting 45.9% from the field and 42.4% from behind the arc, he draws Andrew Wiggins, who’s allowing 117 points per 100 possessions this season to opposing shooting guards. There should be no reason McCollum can’t go for 50 here, and you get to save some money too.

Damian Lillard ($17,100 CP)

I do think that Steph’s first huge game in a while is coming very soon, but it’s hard to recommend him over Lillard here given the difference in the matchup. Golden State has allowed opposing point guards to score 27.3 points per game on 43.9% from the field, including 4.3 3-pointers per game. He’s also in better form at the moment and just went for over 55 DKFP against Golden State a couple of days ago. This would limit you elsewhere in your lineup, but it could be a nice way to bet on Steve Kerr focusing the defense’s attention on McCollum, leaving Lillard open.

Fades

Kelly Oubre Jr. ($7,400)

I will admit, I was super wrong about Oubre. Not only has his offense been laughable in the early going (he has hit one 3-pointer in 25 attempts this year), but he’s not even seeing the floor. I figured Steve Kerr would look to him a lot considering the Warriors had raved about his defense before the season, yet he’s averaged just 21.2 minutes so far. I really wanted to get excited about him as a contrarian play in a matchup with a team struggling to defend wings, but the price is too high and there’s legitimately no reason for optimism. I’ll continue to take a wait-and-see approach and be patient for the right spot to present itself.

Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball Millionaire lineups here: NBA Showdown $60K Finger Roll [$15K to 1st] (POR vs GSW)

Value FLEX Options

Robert Covington ($6,000)

Golden State has had the second-worst defense against power forwards this season and while Draymond Green is back, I don’t think the Dubs’ defensive woes will end there. Green has been struggling with conditioning after battling COVID-19 and clearly isn’t in tip-top shape yet for Golden State. He likely won’t be playing a full complement of minutes, meaning this matchup should be safe to attack. You could find worse guys than RoCo, also, who is coming off his best game of the season.

Carmelo Anthony ($4,600)

There’s a lot to like about this one; not only is Melo consistently seeing 20-plus minutes per game, but he’s hit four of his eight 3-point attempts on the young season. The combination of a player feeling and looking great and a soft matchup is a delicious way to attack this slate. He’s a great cash game option with what I see as a high floor.

Eric Paschall ($4,400)

Paschall is a skilled offensive player and has been getting pretty consistent run, and with Green likely not playing a whole lot in this one, I think Golden State will look to the sophomore forward in its small-ball lineups. The matchup isn’t the best, but the price really is, and Paschall has a great chance to deliver 5X value sitting north of 16 DKFP per game.

The Outcome

I expect the Warriors to keep this one closer than they did on Friday night, but ultimately Portland is on too much of a roll at the moment to project anything other than a win here. It should be high-scoring, but all the top performers should be wearing Trail Blazers jerseys.

Final Score: Trail Blazers 115, Warriors 107

Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $60K Finger Roll [$15K to 1st] (POR vs GSW)

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is jetsfan196) and I may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.