NBA DFS Playoff Primer: Saturday, April 15
The NBA postseason is here! We no longer have to worry about teams resting players, teams trying to lose, and late scratches. For the next couple of months, we get meaningful basketball game after meaningful basketball game. We have decided to combine the Core Plays and the Grind Down into one all-encompassing article for the NBA playoffs. We will break down each slate, sift through the game flow trackers of prior meetings between teams, cover the notable matchups, and provide our favorite NBA DFS targets.
Happy playoffs! Now that the play-in tournament is in the rearview mirror, the real NBA postseason gets underway today. We’ve got a nice 4-game slate on tap, which gives today a “Christmas in April” vibe for basketball fans.
We don’t have a clear-cut title favorite this year, which should add an extra layer of intrigue to the festivities. Playoff basketball generally looks a lot different than regular-season basketball. Most teams will play with extremely tight rotations, and we don’t have to worry nearly as much about late scratches or load management. Late swap is still useful on occasion, but it isn’t nearly as critical as it is during the 82-game grind.
So, let’s hop right in and discuss today’s 4-game playoff slate, shall we?
#6 Brooklyn Nets vs. #3 Philadelphia 76ers
- Time: 1:00 PM ET
- Season Series: 4-0 for Philadelphia
Previous Matchups
- BKN 106 at PHI 113 (11/22/22)
- BKN 113 at PHI 137 (1/25/23)
- PHI 101 at BKN 98 (2/11/23)
- PHI 134 at BKN 105 (4/9/23)
Nets Notable Injuries
Ben Simmons (Out)
Nets Lineup – DraftKings & FanDuel Salaries
Note: The +/- columns show the difference between season and series averages
| Player | DK | FD | MIN/G | +/- | FP/G | +/- | USG% | +/- | DK/M | +/- | FD/M | +/- | MIN (P) | DK (P) | DK/$ | FD (P) | FD/$ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spencer Dinwiddie | $7,600 | $7,600 | 34.5 | 33.9 | 22% | 0.98 | 0.95 | 38 | 39.9 | 5.25 | 38.4 | 5.05 | ||||||
| Mikal Bridges | $8,600 | $8,300 | 35.7 | 34.4 | 22% | 0.96 | 0.96 | 39 | 40.5 | 4.71 | 39.4 | 4.75 | ||||||
| Cameron Johnson | $6,400 | $5,800 | 28.6 | 27.7 | 20% | 0.97 | 0.96 | 34 | 29.6 | 4.63 | 28.8 | 4.96 | ||||||
| Dorian Finney-Smith | $5,300 | $4,900 | 30.4 | 19.6 | 13% | 0.64 | 0.64 | 36 | 26.6 | 5.01 | 26.1 | 5.32 | ||||||
| Nic Claxton | $7,200 | $8,000 | 29.9 | 33.7 | 16% | 1.13 | 1.20 | 32 | 33.3 | 4.63 | 35.1 | 4.39 | ||||||
| Royce O’Neale | $5,000 | $5,100 | 31.7 | 24.1 | 14% | 0.76 | 0.75 | 32 | 26.1 | 5.21 | 25.4 | 4.97 | ||||||
| Seth Curry | $3,700 | $3,800 | 19.8 | 15.4 | 19% | 0.78 | 0.75 | 11 | 7.5 | 2.03 | 7.2 | 1.90 | ||||||
| Joe Harris | $4,400 | $4,000 | 20.6 | 14.5 | 14% | 0.70 | 0.68 | 14 | 10.3 | 2.35 | 9.6 | 2.41 | ||||||
| Day’Ron Sharpe | $3,900 | $4,300 | 11.5 | 12.8 | 17% | 1.11 | 1.15 | 4 | 4.2 | 1.08 | 4.3 | 0.99 |
76ers Notable Injuries
None
76ers Lineup – DraftKings & FanDuel Salaries
Note: The +/- columns show the difference between season and series averages
| Player | DK | FD | MIN/G | +/- | FP/G | +/- | USG% | +/- | DK/M | +/- | FD/M | +/- | MIN (P) | DK (P) | DK/$ | FD (P) | FD/$ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyrese Maxey | $8,400 | $6,700 | 33.6 | 31.7 | 24% | 0.94 | 0.91 | 38 | 32.1 | 3.83 | 31.1 | 4.64 | ||||||
| James Harden | $9,300 | $9,600 | 36.8 | 49.0 | 25% | 1.33 | 1.26 | 39 | 45.3 | 4.87 | 42.8 | 4.46 | ||||||
| Tobias Harris | $6,000 | $5,900 | 32.9 | 28.8 | 18% | 0.87 | 0.87 | 35 | 26.5 | 4.41 | 26.1 | 4.42 | ||||||
| P.J. Tucker | $5,100 | $3,700 | 25.6 | 11.0 | 7% | 0.43 | 0.43 | 28 | 12.2 | 2.40 | 12.2 | 3.31 | ||||||
| Joel Embiid | $11,200 | $11,800 | 34.6 | 57.3 | 37% | 1.66 | 1.64 | 38 | 60.9 | 5.43 | 60.0 | 5.09 | ||||||
| De’Anthony Melton | $5,100 | $4,500 | 27.9 | 23.7 | 16% | 0.85 | 0.86 | 18 | 12.6 | 2.48 | 12.9 | 2.88 | ||||||
| Jalen McDaniels | $4,900 | $4,400 | 23.9 | 19.9 | 17% | 0.83 | 0.84 | 16 | 10.6 | 2.17 | 10.7 | 2.43 | ||||||
| Georges Niang | $4,700 | $3,800 | 19.4 | 14.6 | 16% | 0.75 | 0.71 | 16 | 9.9 | 2.11 | 9.2 | 2.43 | ||||||
| Danuel House | $4,000 | $3,700 | 14.4 | 9.2 | 13% | 0.64 | 0.63 | 2 | 3.4 | 0.85 | 3.3 | 0.89 | ||||||
| Paul Reed | $4,000 | $4,300 | 10.9 | 12.1 | 15% | 1.11 | 1.20 | 10 | 10.8 | 2.70 | 11.3 | 2.62 |
Game Analysis
The Nets and 76ers squared off in the regular-season finale last weekend, but it wasn’t a true preview with both teams resting most of their regulars in a meaningless affair. Philadelphia actually swept the 4-game season series from Brooklyn, and the third-seeded Sixers are massive favorites to advance in this series, as well.