NBA PROJECTIONS: SHOWDOWN & SINGLE-GAME

Reliable NBA DFS Projections

Daily Fantasy Fuel factors in a huge amount of variables to come up with our NBA projections. Minutes are key in NBA DFS, so we look at projected game scores, historical points per minute played, and who is likely to pick up minutes whenever injuries are announced. Not to mention a ton of other factors like rivalries and back-to-back night fatigue. We also believe in being fully transparent with our projections, so you can look back at previous weeks and see how accurate we were.

NBA Projection changes throughout the day

Injury news is critical to NBA projections, whether its for NBA DFS or for player props. Projections will change constantly throughout the day, with the biggest news and changes usually happening in the 60 minute leadup to the start of a slate. It's not uncommon for us to do 50+ updates in just the final 30 minutes before slate start alone. You have to stay on top of injury news to be succesful at NBA DFS and player props. Our projections always show the "last updated" timestamp at the top of the screen, so you can tell when we last refreshed our projections. Keep an eye on this timestamp to know how fresh the NBA player projections are. Sometimes during the day it might be there's no meaningful updates to report for hours, while as the day goes on they'll come fast and furious.

What factors go into NBA Player Projections?

While our exact algorithm and weighting is proprietary, there's a few key factors that go into our NBA Player projections. We start with a baseline that looks at player historical performance, usage, minutes, and fantasy points per minute. Layered on top of that, the matchup becomes key. Projected game score, pace, and defensive rankings are variables which nudge a players typical performance up or down. A game with a 238 total and a 1.5 spread is going to be high scoring and fast, while a game with a 216 total and 11.5 spread suggests a blowout and one-sided game. A slow paced game between two top-rated defences will typically result in lower relative projections compared to a fast-pace one.

Perhaps the most impactful to NBA DFS projections are going to be same-day injury announcements and starting lineup news. Having a key player like LeBron, Luka, or Jokic scratch out for the night with a suprise illness means that their usual 50+ FPTS are going to be up for graps among the rest of the team. It also means that someone who usually doesn't get the start is getting promoted to starter and is going to get that bump in minutes. Those $3000 price point guys who get called up for a big injury might end up having an 8x value night, put down 27 FTPS, and be the chalk play of the night. Our projections algorithm combined with statistical analysis techniques factors all of the above into our daily projections.

Optimize Online or Download Cheat Sheets for Later

All of our DraftKings and Fanduel projections can be downloaded in CSV format for free, including all of the stats you see listed in the table above. Want to get started right away cranking out perfect lineups? Try our free NBA lineup optimizer and start winning at DFS Basketball today!