Chris Paul (pictured) has a comparable ceiling while costing less than Russell Westbrook
What’s up FantasyPros readers? Geoff Lambert of GoingFor2.com here again to bring you my FanDuel cash game lineup for Saturday, April 23rd. Round 1 of the NBA playoffs has been filled with blowouts, making it difficult to build a strong lineup. With that said, I’ve had a pretty good week with my lineups. Let’s see if I can continue tonight…
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Point Guard
Chris Paul (LAC): $9,800 @ POR
How can I fade Russell Westbrook, you ask? Well, it’s easy. Westbrook has not hit five times value in any of the first three games in his series. Two of the games were blowouts, and he shot horribly in the other. Paul, on the other hand, is $700 less than Westy with similar upside. I’ll take the flexibility Paul gives me to build a solid lineup over the much higher priced Westbrook.
Goran Dragic (MIA): $6,800 @ CHA
In Game 1 of this series, Dragic looked to be a facilitator, racking up 10 assists. Then, in Game 2, he looked to be a scorer with 18 points. Tonight he puts it all together and has a huge game for the Heat. His last two games in the regular season against the Hornets he had 38 and 39 FanDuel points. That’s what I’m expecting tonight.
Shooting Guard
J.J. Redick (LAC): $4,400 @ POR
Redick has now put up 17 real NBA points in back-to-back games while averaging 27 minutes per game. The Clippers like to get Redick going early by running plays for him in the first quarter, and they make even more of an effort to do that on the road where he averages a full two points more per game this season.
Jeremy Lin (CHA): $4,200 vs MIA
Lin has averaged 27.3 FanDuel points in the 12 games that Nicholas Batum has sat out. With Batum already ruled out for Game 3, Lin becomes the best value on the slate. He will most likely get the start and should see a huge bump in minutes. Lin has never quite lived up to the Lin-sanity hype from when he was a Knick, but he is still capable of putting up huge numbers when given the chance.
Small Forward
Kevin Durant (OKC): $10,200 @ DAL
Well, I faded Westbrook, but I could not fade Durant too. Durant has the fourth-highest usage percent of any player on this slate, and he seemed to find his shot in Game 3. The Thunder do not want to have another letdown game like they did in Game 2, so expect Durant to be very aggressive and look for his shot early and often. He will post a FanDuel score over 50 tonight, mark my words.
Paul George (IND): $9,000 vs TOR
George had another monster performance in Game 3, but losing by 16 points at home has to bother him. He will try to do even more tonight and will his Pacers team to a victory because he knows if they don’t win this one, there is a good chance they won’t come back to play in Indiana again this season.
Power Forward
Serge Ibaka (OKC): $6,000 @ DAL
The resurgence of Ibaka continues. After a very up and down season, Ibaka seems to have found his niche again, posting three straight double-digit scoring efforts. His price has climbed steadily since the start of this series, but it hasn’t reached the point where he is no longer worth rostering.
Patrick Patterson (TOR): $3,900 @ IND
Well, you knew it was coming. With CP3, PG13, and KD in this lineup, there had to be a guy that would be a risky play, and here he is. Pat Pat is coming off his worst game of the series but has clearly surpassed Luis Scola on the depth chart. He has seen 26 minutes or more in every game in the series and could get 30-plus tonight. He only needs 19.5 FanDuel points to hit five times value, and I expect him to do just that. In fact, I think this will be his biggest game of the series.
Center
Mason Plumlee (LAC): $5,600 @ POR
After a sub-par Game 1, Plumlee came up huge in Game 2, falling three assists shy of a triple-double. The Clippers are notoriously bad at defending the center position despite having DeAndre Jordan in the middle. Jordan is a great help defender and racks up a lot of blocks off the ball, but leaves a lot to be desired as an on-the-ball defender. I don’t expect 45 from Plumlee again, but I’ll take 30-plus.
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Geoff Lambert is a correspondent at FantasyPros. You can read more from Geoff by visiting his site GoingFor2.com or follow him on Twitter @GeoffLambert77.
