The 2021-22 NBA season is off to a roaring start and four more teams will begin their year on Thursday, while the Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks will both be playing their second game. Warriors vs. Clippers has the highest total of the night at Caesars Sportsbook with the over-under set at 227.5. However, the two teams combined to score 220 points or less in two of their three games last season, so should you be avoiding them as you set your NBA DFS lineups on Thursday?
Luka Doncic and Trae Young were selected two picks apart in the 2018 NBA Draft and were involved in a draft-day trade for each other. They’ll go head-to-head to begin their seasons on Thursday night. Both will be popular options in the NBA DFS player pool given their enormous upside, but could trying to upstage each other erode their value? Before locking in any NBA DFS picks for Thursday on sites like FanDuel or DraftKings, 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 point guard Tyrese Maxey among his top NBA DFS picks. The result: Maxey had 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists, returning over 9x on DraftKings and nearly 8x 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, Oct. 21 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, October 21
One of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks for Thursday is Warriors guard Stephen Curry at $10,000 on DraftKings and $10,000 on FanDuel. Curry and the Warriors struggled for most of three quarters against the Lakers on Tuesday night but they kicked it into high gear in the fourth quarter and Curry provided his eighth career triple-double in a 121-114 win.
It was a poor shooting night for the superstar but he still returned 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, producing 58 points on DraftKings and 53 points on FanDuel. Curry is coming off a season where he shot 48.2 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from the 3-point line, so he’s a good bet to rebound from his 5-for-21 shooting night on Thursday.
Part of McClure’s NBA DFS strategy also includes rostering Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo ($10,300 on DraftKings, $11,300 on FanDuel). After winning back-to-back MVPs, Antetokounmpo saw a drop in points and rebounds last season, but he was still dominant and went on to win his first championship and was named NBA Finals MVP.
Antetokounmpo began the season with 32 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks on Tuesday in just 31 minutes during a win over the Nets. He’ll take on the Heat on Thursday and Antetokounmpo averaged 23.5 points, 15.0 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.8 steals against the Heat during a first-round playoff series last season despite going 1-for-16 from the 3-point line.
How to set NBA DFS lineups for Thursday, October 21
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.
