NBA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Finals Game 1 Primer (Thursday)

This is always a bittersweet time of the season. I’m one of the few people who look forward to the grind of the regular season, and having just one game every few days is slightly disappointing. With that said, these are the most important games of the season, with Dallas and Boston dueling for an NBA Championship! I believe Boston should take care of this series in 5-6 games, but anything can happen!

With that said, let’s dive into this Game 1 slate! Here are our NBA DFS picks for Game 1 between the Mavericks and Celtics.

View tonight’s best player prop bets with our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet for tonight’s slate.

NBA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Primer

Schedule and Odds

• DAL at BOS (BOS -6.5) O/U: 214.5

Check out our consensus game odds and the odds from each sportsbook at BettingPros.

Injury Report

• Kristaps Porzingis (calf) Questionable

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays

Kyrie Irving (PG/SG – DAL): $9,200 DraftKings, $13,500 FanDuel
Irving is one of the most dynamic point guards of all time, and he should be hungry to grab another ring. This guard showed out in his 13 Finals appearances, averaging 27.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. He’s also crushed the Celtics, averaging 23.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. It’s a revenge matchup for the talented guard, and Dallas needs him to play 40 minutes and have him take 20 shots to prevail as a heavy underdog.

Jrue Holiday (PG/SG – BOS): $6,800 DraftKings, $11,500 FanDuel
Holiday wasn’t a great fantasy asset during the regular season, but it’s been a different story in the postseason. This defensive stud has scored at least 32 DraftKings points in six of his last seven games, flirting with a 40-point average in that span. We love that when looking at his stats in his one Finals appearance, averaging 16.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and 2.2 steals per game. They need him out there for 40 minutes to oppose these guards, and he should be the veteran leader for this Boston team.

NBA DFS Picks: Cash Game Considerations

Luka Doncic (PG – DAL): $13,600 DraftKings, $17,000 FanDuel
Luka was the best DFS player during the regular season, and we have to keep using him on these single-game slates. The Slovenian led the league with 66 DraftKings points per game while establishing a 50-point floor. That number has crept up in the postseason, with Doncic scoring at least 60 fantasy points in seven straight games. He also had some amazing averages against Boston, scoring 74 and 83 DraftKings points in their two matchups!

Jayson Tatum (SF/PF – BOS): $11,800 DraftKings, $15,500 FanDuel
Tatum was cheated out of a Larry Bird Trophy when Jaylen Brown was given that award, but you better believe JT is hungry to capture a Finals MVP. The All-Star has scored at least 56 DraftKings points in six of his last seven games, averaging 58 DK points per game in that span. That’s no surprise when looking at this guy’s postseason numbers, averaging over 50 fantasy points per game over the last three years! We don’t expect Dallas to slow him down, with JT averaging 65 DK points per game in their four matchups since the start of last year.

NBA DFS Picks: GPP Targets

Dereck Lively (C – DAL): $5,800 DraftKings, $10,000 FanDuel
Lively has been better than Gafford in this postseason run, scoring at least 29 DraftKings points in the last five games he’s finished. The big man has done that in a 23-minute bench role, and it’s scary to think what he could do if that creeps closer to 25-30 minutes. We saw this guy average over 30 DK points per game as a starter before Gafford arrived, and he could be in for a significant workload since he’s been the best big man on this team.

Daniel Gafford (C – DAL): $5,600 DraftKings, $9,000 FanDuel
It’s hard to believe, but Lively and Gafford have both been productive despite splitting the center minutes in Dallas. Gafford is intriguing because he’s been one of the best per-minute producers in the NBA. The big man played over 25 minutes in nearly half the games this season and averaged 37 DK points per game in that expanded role. That’s led to DG scoring at least 32 DK points in two of his last four fixtures, and that sort of upside is impossible to overlook for such an affordable player. We don’t know which of these centers will go off, but one will!

Value Plays

PJ Washington (PF/C – DAL): $6,400 DraftKings, $9,500 FanDuel
Washington was one of the best acquisitions at the trade deadline, regularly playing 35-40 minutes for the Mavs in this postseason run. Despite struggling with his shot, Washington has scored at least 22 DraftKings points in nine of his last 10 games, averaging 31 DK points per game across 38 minutes a night in that span. He’s also displayed a 59-point upside while cracking 40 fantasy points in two of those. Dallas will need him to step up against this deep Boston team, and if he doesn’t, this series could be over quickly.

Al Horford (PF/C – BOS): $6,000 DraftKings, $8,500 FanDuel
We probably won’t recommend Big Al when Porzingis is fully healthy, but we must assume the Lativan will be out or limited in his first game back. We saw Horford average over 30 DK points per game during the regular season with KP out, scoring at least 29 fantasy points in four of his last five fixtures. The former All-Star also averaged nearly 35 DraftKings points per game in that span and could be a leader for this Celtics team as one of the only true veterans.

Advantageous Pricing

• Al Horford (PF/C – BOS): $6,000 DraftKings, $8,500 FanDuel
• Derrick White (PG/SG – BOS): $7,400 DraftKings, $12,500 FanDuel
• Kristaps Porzingis (PF/C – BOS): $8,200 DraftKings, $10,500 FanDuel

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