NBA DFS: Top DraftKings, FanDuel daily Fantasy basketball picks for Friday, Dec. 29 include Trae Young

The Boston Celtics nearly suffered by far the biggest upset of the NBA season on Thursday. The Celtics, who entered with a 14-0 home record, hosted a Detroit Pistons team on a 27-game losing streak, tied for the longest losing streak over a single season in NBA history. Maybe the Celtics fell victim to looking ahead to hosting the Raptors on Friday as Boston escaped with a 128-122 overtime victory after outscoring Detroit by 19 points in the second half. Can daily Fantasy basketball players expect a better performance from Boston and options like Jayson Tatum and Derrick White from the NBA DFS player pool tonight?

Or, could this be an opportunity to stack Raptors like Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes after Celtics key scores had to play extended minutes despite being 17-point favorites? With 10 games on Friday’s NBA schedule, how should you form an NBA DFS strategy on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings with variance in NBA DFS lineups? Before making your NBA DFS picks, 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 more than $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 Thursday, McClure highlighted Nuggets guard/forward Peyton Watson as one of his top picks in his NBA DFS player pool on both sites. The result: Watson had 20 points, five rebounds and two assists, returning 31.25 points on DraftKings and 29 points on FanDuel. He added great value to NBA DFS lineups at the price of $3,800 on DraftKings and $4,400 on FanDuel. Anybody who included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day. 

McClure has turned his attention to NBA action on Friday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.

Top NBA DFS picks for Friday, December 29

For Friday, one of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks is Hawks point guard Trae Young, who is listed at $9,900 on DraftKings and $10,200 on FanDuel. Young has been one of the most dominant and consistent scorers over the last month, averaging 31.3 points over 12 games since November 30. The 25-year-old is coming off his worst shooting performance over this stretch, scoring 21 points on 35.3% shooting against the Bulls on Tuesday. However, he’s averaging 40 points over his last two games immediately following being held to below 22 points in the previous contest.

The Hawks play the Kings, who are allowing the ninth most ppg (117.9) in the NBA this season. The Kings are coming off a 140-113 loss to the Trail Blazers, who have the second-worst scoring offense in the NBA this year. Meanwhile, the Hawks have the third-best scoring offense in the NBA (122.3 ppg), led by Young’s 28.1 ppg. Portland guard Anfernee Simons had 29 points against the Kings on Tuesday, which could signal another huge performance from Young.

Another part of McClure’s optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering 76ers center Paul Reed ($5,300 on DraftKings and $5,900 on FanDuel). With Joel Embiid (ankle) out, Reed should receive another huge workload. Reed had 15 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a steal in a 112-92 win over the Magic on Wednesday with Embiid out.

Reed played 32 minutes in that game, breaking the 30-minute barrier for the first time this year. He’s often one of the biggest beneficiaries of Embiid missing time and capitalizes on his opportunities. Reed, in his fourth season with the 76ers, averages 15.3 points and 11 rebounds in three career games playing at least 30 minutes. He averages 12 points and eight rebounds per game over 18 career contests playing at least 20 minutes, and he could easily be an option from the NBA DFS player pool to outperform his price point on Friday while leaving money to spend on higher-priced players. See McClure’s other NBA DFS picks right here.

How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Friday, December 29

McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Friday 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.

Who is DFS pro Mike McClure putting in his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Friday? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NBA DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has over $2 million in career winnings, and find out.