NBA DFS Lineup for Thursday, December 18: Jamal Murray, Marcus Smart, Brandon Miller and More

There's a big slate of NBA games on Thursday, December 18, so let's put together a DFS lineup for the night.

This eight-player lineup has a $50,000 budget and includes 11 of the day's 12 games. Only the Sacramento, Portland game isn't included.

Let's see what we can come up with!

Check out daily fantasy basketball projections on FantasySP all season!

Point Guard - Jamal Murray ($8,500)

Murray has a pretty nice matchup coming against the Magic, so I decided to take him at point guard.

He's averaging 44 fantasy points per game, and has 40 or more fantasy points in four of his past five contests.

Murray has not faced Orlando yet this season, but I'm trusting the matchup and expecting a big showing from Murray in this one.

Shooting Guard - Stephon Castle ($7,600)

Castle gets the shooting guard spot heading into a pretty average matchup against the Wizards.

He is averaging 39.3 fantasy points per game, and has 30 or more in four straight - he has scored 40+ in two of those contests.

San Antonio and Washington haven't met this season either, but with the recent groove Castle has been in, he's a nice add for DFS purposes tonight.

Small Forward - Brandon Miller ($7,400)

Miller gets the nod at small forward for me.

He is averaging 31.4 fantasy points per contest on the season. Miller has scored 34.2 or more points in three straight contests, including 54.2 points in his last contest.

A pretty favorable matchup against the Hawks is who he gets tonight. Miller hasn't faced them yet this season.

Power Forward - Bobby Portis ($5,400)

Portis is a way to finally save a bit of money with this lineup.

He is averaging 22.6 fantasy points per game this season, and has been over 20 fantasy points in four of the past five contests. 

A pretty favorable test against the Raptors is next for Portis. He had 15.8 and 21 fantasy points in the first two games he's played against Toronto this season.

Center - Nicolas Claxton ($6,700)

Claxton gets the nod for me at the center spot.

He's averaging 33.5 fantasy points per contest this season, and had 30.8 or more in five straight before his last game (a 17.2-point showing).

His matchup against Miami is actually below average, but I'm still willing to include Claxton in this lineup. Claxton has not faced Miami yet this season.

Guard - Marcus Smart ($5,100)

Smart is my choice at the guard spot heading into a good matchup against the Jazz.

He's averaging 22.1 fantasy points per game on the season, but has scored 27.5 and 36.8 over his past two contests. Smart had 10.8 and nine fantasy points against Utah in November, but his role has expanded of late, so I think he's worth a spot in DFS lineups, especially at his salary and because of the good matchup. 

Forward - Tobias Harris ($5,000)

Harris is my forward choice as he prepares for a tough test against the Mavericks tonight.

Harris is averaging 26 fantasy points per game this season, and has 20 or more in four straight coming into the night. He scored 20 fantasy points against Dallas earlier this season, so that's what I'm hoping for again tonight.

The only thing I'd be slightly worried about here is Detroit blowing out Dallas, which could lead to less minutes and fantasy production for Harris.

Utility - Sandro Mamukelashvili ($4,300)

Mamukelashvili gets the utility spot in this roster, and uses up the remaining salary I had for this DFS lineup.

He is averaging 20.3 fantasy points per game on the season, and had 24.2 in his last showing. He's got a tougher test on paper against Milwaukee, but he tallied 26.2 fantasy points in the team's last meeting.

He scored 9.2 fantasy points in this first contest against Milwaukee, but I'm hoping he sticks at his more recent production levels.

Final Thoughts

I like the final look of this DFS lineup.

There's not really a big-time fantasy stud in it, but it's full of players who can deliver big results tonight.

I need Murray to lead me, and I'd love for Castle to also deliver 40+ fantasy points tonight.

Getting 30 or more points from anyone else is what I'd love too, but that's probably not likely to happen. But by playing some favorable matchups, I'm hoping to back into a couple bigger fantasy outings from players within my lineup.

With 11 games to choose from for this contest, the options for putting together a DFS are endless. See what kind of lineup you can put together!