FanDuel Best NBA DFS Picks: Lakers vs. Mavericks 1/7/25

The NBA presents FanDuel basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers. Let’s take a look at this game from a FanDuel perspective.

Before we dive into the Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Lakers game let’s review the rules for the FanDuel single game showdown contest.

FanDuel Single Game Contest Rules

Here are the single game contest rules. You have $60,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team MVP. The MVP accumulates 2x times the standard FanDuel fantasy points value.

The remaining four players in your lineup will be the star, pro, and flex plays. The star player will receive 1.5x the standard fantasy points value. The pro player will accumulate 1.2x the standard fantasy points value.

The final two flex positions will receive the standard points value. Having stated that, it is important for you to identify the correct player for your MVP position if you hope to win a FanDuel single game contest.

If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game contest, I highly recommend that you check out the FanDuel website for more details.

*I recommend that all readers review the starting lineups for both teams prior to setting your DFS lineup for this one game slate.

Here are my FanDuel picks for this evening’s Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks matchup.

FanDuel NBA DFS Picks

MVP-LeBron James, Forward, Los Angeles Lakers $15,500

Los Angeles forward LeBron James has been the leader in the paint that the Los Angeles Lakers have needed to win games this season. Having stated that, how has James performed a statistical perspective in 2024? Let’s examine LeBron James game statistics from the 2024 NBA regular season answer this question.

In the 32 games that LeBron James has played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2024 NBA regular season, James is averaging a robust 23.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 0.8 blocks and 0.8 steals a game.

Upon closer examination of the data just presented, in the 33 games that forward LeBron James has played this season, Davis is averaging a massive 46.7 FanDuel points a contest.

On Christmas Day, In the Los Angeles Lakers narrow 115-113 win over the Golden State Warriors, James played exceptionally well. LeBron James compiled 38 points, three rebounds, eight assists and one steal in the Los Angeles Lakers victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the Golden State victory over the Atlanta Hawks, forward LeBron James accumulated an impressive 58.8 FanDuel points.

As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the captain position for a FanDuel NBA showdown lineup is absolutely vital if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) DFS contest. Keep that in mind as you construct your lineups for this one game FanDuel DFS contest.

In my opinion, LeBron James is the player most likely to score the highest number of FanDuel points in tonight’s NBA regular season game. With that said, I am backing Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James at the captain for this single game FanDuel NBA Showdown contest.

Star-Austin Reaves, Guard, Los Angeles Lakers $13,500

In the 28 games that Austin Reaves has played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2024 NBA regular season, Reaves is averaged a whopping 33.5 FanDuel points a game.

More recently, in the Cleveland Cavaliers impressive 122-110 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers one week ago, Austin Reaves certainly played at a high level. Let me be more specific. In the Cavaliers win over the Lakers just mentioned, Reaves compiled 59.8 FanDuel points.

Additional flex plays I like to play well in this evening’s NBA game (FanDuel price noted): Anthony Davis, Power Forward (Los Angeles Lakers) $17,500: Klay Thompson, Guard (Dallas Mavericks) $11,500.