FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks for Friday's NBA Games

We're back!

As you recall, SBNation has partnered with FanDuel this season to give our readers a chance to see what is the latest breaking trend in the fantasy basketball industry, Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS).

Even though this is a sponsored post with affiliate links, all of the opinions in this post are my own. And as an FYI, FanDuel gave me some cash to play its daily fantasy games.

The excellent thing about daily fantasy sports, and especially fantasy basketball, is that it's a new game every day. No worries about injuries, deadbeat owners in your league, etc. It's just day after day of heart pounding, game following excitement.

I am taking you guys through a season of NBA games from the daily fantasy point of view, complete with tracking my every day wins and losses. When will I bust out and lose it all? Come back and find out!

What Happened Recently?

Was rolling until I broke my rule of Bankroll Management and went in on a live final qualifier ticket and the $25 Slam. Then I ruined it by playing Michael Beasley. Serves me right. Still, the total is $103.85, up almost $54 from when we started.

Going Broke Pace: Broke? Never!

Friday's Take:

I am playing the $2 Shot, $1 Dribbler and two single-entry Double Ups, one for $5 and one for $2. Total outlay is $10. See? I've learned my lesson......again.

It's a big slate tonight, too big for my liking, but I definitely like the Lakers/Raptors game for the matchups therein. Clarkson/Lin against a generous Raptors backcourt and DeMar DeRozan getting extra possessions from the absence of Kyle Lowry.

Also, Detroit/Orlando is a nice target, too, given that both teams create a lot of rebounds for each other. Both centers, Vucevic and Drummond are in play, especially for Andre since Greg Monroe is out again Friday night.

Loving Paul Millsap and Dennis Schröder for the Hawks at home against the Heat, who have been playing faster of late. Udonis Haslem isn't a bad tournament low cost play, either.

Out West, I can't get enough of the newest shot blocker to steal my heart, Rudy Gobert. Even though Gordon Hayward should be back, Gobert and Derrick Favors should be able to create enough havoc on that Nuggets defense to put up the numbers.

Of course, on the top line, I like Anthony Davis against the Kings, Stephen Curry in Memphis and James Harden against the Timberwolves, though that game could get out of hand and leave Harden without a fourth shift.

Good luck!

Quick Note: I've decided to forego the large group Double-ups for a while because the multi-entry nature of that made it hard for a single lineup guy like myself to escape the lineup trains some of the pros were using in there and cash. Sometimes the threshold for cashing was the same as GPPs. No thanks. The smaller groups, like the 558-entry contest I am in, is limited to one lineup per user, raising my chances. There is typically a lower rake percentage there as well, if that's important to you. UPDATE: This has been working well and a reason for more success lately.

As always, I am very interested in hearing from others in the comments area about what they are doing in DFS and if you have any questions, feel free to chime in! If you have a success story, get in there and shout about it!

Jason Walker is the Managing Editor for Peachtree Hoops and is an avid fantasy sports player in both seasonal and daily sports leagues. You can read other fantasy related items at his site dedicated to such things, RotoAdvice.com and hit him up on Twitter @JasonWalkerRoto. He is also providing strategy content for FantasyBasketball101 as well.

How to Play and The Rules of Engagement:

The way that FanDuel works is as follows:

1. Head over to FanDuel today, register and check out the NBA games they have running.

For example: You can compete against friends, family and total strangers by entering the $2 NBA Shot contest! Click this LINK TO JOIN THE CONTEST and get into the tourney!

2. Once you enter, you set a lineup based on a salary cap of $60K and enter 2 PG, 2 SG, 2 SF, 2 PF and a Center (yes, Horford is considered a center).

3. Once your cap-friendly lineup is complete, click Enter and BOOM!, the fun begins!

Now, a bit of bad news. Here are specific rules. They include this: "In order to deposit money to play paid entry games you must be able to represent and warrant that you are not a resident of any of the following states: Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana or Washington."

But there are still free games on the site, in which you can take part if you are from those states, and I know most of our readers don't fall into this category, but if you do, you can still have some fun!