NBA DFS: Top DraftKings, FanDuel daily Fantasy basketball picks for January 13 include Zach LaVine

After their surprisingly hot start to the season, Lauri Markkanen and the Utah Jazz appear to be losing steam after losing seven of their last 10 games. On Friday, the Jazz host Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic, who have won three of their last five games and are coming off of a 109-106 win at Portland on Tuesday. Franz Wagner finished with his third-highest offensive output of the season against the Blazers with 29 points. Should you ride the hot hand and go with Wagner in your NBA DFS lineups?

Meanwhile, Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. has been more consistent over his last four games, averaging 16.5 points with 8.5 rebounds and he’s knocked down 57.1% of his 3-pointers during that run. On the other side of the floor, Jordan Clarkson looks like a strong option in the NBA DFS player pool following his 32-point performance on Tuesday against Cleveland. Before you make your NBA DFS picks for Friday, 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 Thursday, he highlighted Bucks guard Jrue Holiday as one of his top NBA DFS picks on DraftKings and FanDuel. The result: Holiday scored 24 points, dished out 11 assists and snagged six rebounds to return 51.5 points on DraftKings and 47.7 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 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, January 13

One of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks for Friday is Bulls guard Zach LaVine, who is listed at $9,200 on DraftKings and $8,600 on FanDuel. LaVine has been on an absolute tear over his last four games. In Wednesday’s matchup against the Wizards, LaVine recorded 38 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals. During this recent four-game sample, he’s averaged 35.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, four assists and 1.3 steals.

On Friday, the Bulls host the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are coming off one of their biggest wins of the season against Philadelphia on Thursday. However, the Thunder are playing in the second game of a back-to-back. Chicago has already faced Oklahoma City once this season and LaVine was solid in that Nov. 25 matchup. He played 45 minutes, scoring 27 points and finishing with a 27.6% usage rate.

Another part of McClure’s optimal NBA DFS strategy includes stacking LaVine with Chicago center Nikola Vucevic ($8,500 on DraftKings and $8,100 on FanDuel). Vucevic scored 15 points to go with 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocks in his last start on Wednesday against Washington. Over his last five games, he has averaged 18.2 points and 14 rebounds, while draining 47.4% of his 3-point attempts.

Despite a number of frontcourt injuries, the Thunder have been pretty effective at limiting opposing centers at the basket on offense over their last five games. However, Vucevic is one of the top 3-point shooting centers in the league, knocking down 38% of his attempts this season. When OKC has been the visiting side this year, the Thunder have allowed opponents to hit 35.2% of their 3-pointers.

How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Friday, January 13

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.