NBA Christmas Day PrizePicks plays

Merry Christmas, everyone. Friday is one of the top NBA days of the year, and after two polar opposite slates to begin the regular season, this five-gamer brings a little bit of everything. We’ll have many more options than opening night and luckily won’t be as scattered as the 13- (well, 12-) gamer Wednesday. We even get a somewhat sentimental taste of the all-day basketball we got used to in the bubble, with games tipping off at noon ET and finishing up about 13 hours later.

There’s no shortage of outlets to look for different kinds of fantasy action as we begin the new season, and after being introduced to PrizePicks a few months ago, it has quickly become a part of my DFS routine. This season, I will be stopping by every week to discuss what’s on the board on the app that is quickly becoming one of my favorite spots to get some hoops action.

PrizePicks is a creative new way to parlay picks based on expected fantasy point production.

The format is simple. PrizePicks will set fantasy point lines for select players and then you choose between two and five players to go over or under their given projection. Naturally, the more players you put into your parlay, the larger the payout! You can enter a “Power Play,” where you must get every pick in your parlay correct to get paid out. Another option is a “Flex Play,” where your payout changes depending on the number of picks you got correct.

• Two player “Power Play” entry pays 3x and “Flex Play” pays 2x for both correct and 0.5x for one correct
• Three player “Power Play” entry pays 5x and “Flex Play” pays 2.25x for three correct and 1.25x for two correct
• Four player “Power Play” entry pays 10x and “Flex Pay” pays 5x for four correct and 1.5x for three correct
• Five player entries are only eligible for “Flex Plays” and pay out 10x for five correct, 2x for four correct and 0.4x for three correct

On Christmas Day, the first game locks at noon ET. Note that these lines can shift throughout the day leading up to lock just like a spread or money line on a game. Tag me in the PrizePicks Discord channel up until lock if you want a second pair of eyes on a parlay you’re considering or for help on lines that may have changed since this writing!

Scoring breakdown for PrizePicks contests can be found here.

My 2020-21 PrizePicks record

Picks overall: 11-2
Favorite combos: 3-0
Longshot 5-way parlays: 1-1

PrizePicks Dec. 25

NBA Christmas Day

• Jimmy Butler (42.0 points) – OVER
• Brandon Ingram (35.5 points) – OVER
• Steven Adams (30.0 points) – UNDER
• Eric Bledsoe (31.5 points) – OVER
• Giannis Antetokounmpo (57.5 points) – OVER
• Jrue Holiday (33.5 points) – OVER
• James Wiseman (26.5 points) – OVER
• Kevin Durant (47.0 points) – UNDER
• Caris LeVert (24.5 points) – UNDER
• Luka Doncic (57.0 points) – UNDER
• LeBron James (45.0 points) – OVER
• Dennis Schroder (29.0 points) – UNDER
• Nikola Jokic (49.5 points) – UNDER
• Michael Porter (28.0 points) – OVER

Favorite combinations

• LeBron James (o45.0), Brandon Ingram (o35.5)
• LeBron James (o45.0), Nikola Jokic (u49.5)
• Brandon Ingram (o35.5), Dennis Schroeder (u29.0)

Power play payout: 3x
Flex play payout: 2x for two correct, 0.5x for one correct

Favorite longshot five-way flex play of the day

I’m not a huge fan of doing the largest offering of a five-way parlay on a daily basis, but if I was to run one out there on PrizePicks, here’s what I would throw in.

• Brandon Ingram (o35.5), LeBron James (o45.0), Caris LeVert (u24.5), Nikola Jokic (u49.5), Dennis Schroder (u29.0)
  • Flex play payout: 10x for five correct, 2x for four correct, 0.4x for three correct