Welcome to the Thursday NBA DFS slate, and welcome to May.
I hope it’s been as successful a year for you as it has been for me, and as we continue with the playoffs, it stays more of the same. If you’re going to play NBA DFS, you have to keep in mind lineup announcements and stay tuned for late swapping. That will be the easiest way to stay ahead of the field and make money.
With the shortened slate of games in the playoffs, we usually have more available information that’s not as pertinent, but still essential. We have a two-game slate tonight, so you will have to get creative with your GPP lineups. In the end, it’s about making the right choices and picking your spots, which is why I’m here. Let’s break down the top plays for this slate.
View the best player prop bets for tonight’s slate with our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
Welcome to the Thursday NBA DFS slate, and welcome to May.
I hope it’s been as successful a year for you as it has been for me, and as we continue with the playoffs, it stays more of the same. If you’re going to play NBA DFS, you have to keep in mind lineup announcements and stay tuned for late swapping. That will be the easiest way to stay ahead of the field and make money.
With the shortened slate of games in the playoffs, we usually have more available information that’s not as pertinent, but still essential. We have a two-game slate tonight, so you will have to get creative with your GPP lineups. In the end, it’s about making the right choices and picking your spots, which is why I’m here. Let’s break down the top plays for this slate.
View the best player prop bets for tonight’s slate with our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
NBA DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Primer
NBA DFS Core Plays
Nikola Jokic (C – DEN)
- DraftKings: $11,600
- FanDuel: $11,700
After coming back down to earth last time out, Nikola Jokic only scored 13 points against Los Angeles. And he still put up 53 fantasy points with a triple-double. Jokic is a cheat code, especially on a two-game slate. He’s going to play 37-40 minutes, especially as Denver tries to lock down the series, and is by far the biggest liability to not be in your lineup.
Jokic is massively ahead of the rest of the field in terms of ceiling and almost has a floor of 60 points, as he showed in the first three games of the series, followed by an 82-point effort on DraftKings. Don’t think too hard about this one.
Cade Cunningham (PG – DET)
- DraftKings: $9,700
- FanDuel: $10,200
Cade Cinningham finally made it out of GPP-only jail, and I think everyone else feels similarly, as he’s projecting for around 40-45% rostership in early projections.
Returning home tonight with a 214 total, Cunningham is set up for a potential career game if he can carve out a victory for Detroit. His usage has stayed steady around 32% a night, and he’s scored 20+ points in every game of the season.
A triple-double is not out of the question as he recorded one last time at home, tallying 60+ fantasy points in both games at Detroit this series. Small sample size, I know, but it shows what he’s capable of in this environment.
NBA DFS Cash Game Targets
Tobias Harris (PF, SF – DET)
- DraftKings: $5,800
- FanDuel: $6,400
It’s a bit concerning how much I like Tobias Harris today, but the man is always on the floor and keeps putting up numbers. In the previous five games of this series, he averaged nearly 39 minutes a game with 16 points, eight boards and an assist a night, good for four different 30+point performances.
Projecting Harris for over 30 again tonight, returning home, is not a bad spot to be in. It’s exactly where I’ll be going to save some money for some bigger spend-up must-haves in cash lineups.
Jalen Duren (C – DET)
- DraftKings: $6,500
- FanDuel: $6,900
Jalen Duren could return the most value on today’s slate with his projected 33-35 minutes and the potential for a double-double. Isaiah Stewart is questionable for today’s game and only played in the series opener, so monitor his status as Stewart could carve out some time at the expense of Duren.
Again, it’s always important to monitor injury news. Even if Stewart is in, which I would guess he won’t be, I still see significant time for Duren, who’s averaged 36 fantasy points with Stewart out of the rotation. His floor is close to 40 points, and I’d project him closer to 40. He won’t blast you away with a high usage rate, but he’ll get enough boards and playing time to warrant a comfortable roster spot in your cash lineups.
NBA DFS GPP Targets
Jalen Brunson (PG – NYK)
- DraftKings: $8,600
- FanDuel: $9,000
After getting a little injured last game and only managing 28 fantasy points, I’m buying a bounce-back game from Jalen Brunson. Seeing the recent performance might scare some DFS players off Brunson, but I see this as a game where he plays over 40 minutes and gets to 50+ fantasy points, as he had in the four games prior against Detroit.
Sure, he opened the series with 49 points, but still, you get my point. The Knicks guard is very live to take over the game with his 33% playoff usage rate and tally 30 points while bringing in 55 DraftKings points. For that, I’m happy to slot him into my GPP lineups.
Michael Porter Jr. (SF, PF – DEN)
- DraftKings: $5,100
- FanDuel: $5,200
In the series opener, Michael Porter Jr. tallied only eight fantasy points. In Game 2, he went for 38. That’s what we’re hunting for tonight. His price has steadily dropped as well, so returning a near 40-point fantasy effort is ideal, and it gets to the point that your investment is worth the price.
Porter played massive minutes in recent games and should see the floor for 37-39 minutes tonight. His rostership hasn’t gotten out of hand as I expected. I’m comfortable going to him at his price more than I am for usual GPP options.
NBA DFS Value Plays
Ausar Thompson (SF, PF – DET)
- DraftKings: $4,300
- FanDuel: $4,900
Going right back to the Detroit well and taking a starter I see playing 25-27 minutes tonight. Ausar Thompson managed 29 points last time out, so if you follow the tea leaves and expect him to see the court more, then he’s going to be a near must-have in lineups tonight.
Thompson finally figured it out a game ago and went for 35 DraftKings points. If he does that again, you’re golden. Even if he has a respectable performance, he still should get to 25-26 fantasy points and return excellent value.
Kris Dunn (PG, SG – LAC)
- DraftKings: $3,800
- FanDuel: $4,400
Is there a clearer punt option than Kris Dunn? He should play around 25 minutes and showed he is capable of getting hot from deep with 26 fantasy points last time out.
Dunn is more of a GPP option as his floor is 10 fantasy points, but he will see the floor a fair amount. Teams usually lean more on their starters in the playoffs, even if they aren’t stars. This is not a confident play at all, but considering his price tag, it’s hard not to go to him if you need to save salary.
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