Luka Doncic has looked like an MVP frontrunner in 2022-23 and all eyes will be on him as the Dallas Mavericks take on the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night. Mavericks vs. Pistons is the only game on the NBA schedule and that means that NBA daily Fantasy players will be parsing every matchup in great detail. Unfortunately, the Pistons will be without former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham as he battles a shin injury that has already caused him to miss 11 games this season.
That means that Killian Hayes will remain in the starting lineup for Detroit and he's played well in that role. He's averaging 10.8 points and 6.0 assists while shooting 38.9% from the 3-point line during that 11-game span and that could make him a popular option for NBA DFS lineups. But how much exposure should you have to Hayes and who else in the NBA DFS player pool should you be targeting? 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 over $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, he highlighted Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo as one of his top NBA DFS picks on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The result: Antetokounmpo put up 37 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and a blocked shot to return 66.75 points on DraftKings and 63.1 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 NBA action on Thursday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Mavericks vs. Pistons
One of McClure's top NBA DFS picks is Mavericks center Christian Wood. Originally undrafted out of UNLV, Wood bounced between the NBA and the G-League for years before finally breaking through with a solid season with the Pistons in 2019-20 where he averaged 13.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game off the bench. That earned him a contract with the Rockets where he went on to average 19.1 points and 9.9 rebounds over 109 games.
Now Wood has taken on the role of primary bench scorer for the Mavericks and he's been absolutely thriving. He's shooting a career-best 54.2% from the floor and 40.3% from the 3-point line while averaging 16.3 points in just 25.6 minutes per game. Wood has scored at least 20 points in four of his last seven games and he's hit that mark in eight of his 18 games so far this season.
Another part of McClure's optimal NBA DFS strategy includes stacking Wood with Doncic. The 23-year-old has already matched Dirk Nowitzki for career 40-point games after putting up a 40-point triple-double in a win over the Warriors on Tuesday.
Doncic had 41 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists, four steals and a blocked shot in that contest to return over 80 points on both FanDuel and DraftKings. He's the NBA's scoring leader entering Thursday's action (33.5 ppg) and he's shooting a career-best 50.5% from the floor despite shooting a career-worst 31.5% from the 3-point line. He's an MVP candidate who controls the tempo almost single-handedly and he'll be a tough matchup for a Pistons defense that ranks last in defensive rating (118.6).
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Thursday, December 1
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.
