NBA DFS Playoff Primer: Tuesday, April 18
The NBA postseason is finally upon us. We no longer have to worry about players resting, late scratches, and teams trying to lose. 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 tax day everyone! I was in accounting before joining the wonderful world of DFS and sportsbetting, so I do my own taxes each year. They are a pain and I always seem to put them off until the last day, so I’m happy that I don’t have to worry about them again for another 364 days. We have a three-game slate on tap tonight and some very important games for both the Cavaliers and the Suns. These are teams with title aspirations and they both lost the first game of their respective series at home.
Let’s dive into the games.
Game 2: Atlanta Hawks at Boston Celtics
- Time: 7:00 PM ET
- Series: Hawks 0 – Celtics 1
Previous Matchups
- Game 1: ATL 99 – BOS 112
Notable Injuries
Jalen Johnson ATL – Questionable
Atlanta Hawks Lineup – DraftKings & FanDuel Salaries
| Player | DK | FD | MIN/G | +/- | FP/G | +/- | USG% | +/- | DK/M | +/- | FD/M | +/- | MIN (P) | DK (P) | DK/$ | FD (P) | FD/$ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trae Young | $9,000 | $9,400 | 34.8 | 0.0 | 47.5 | -13.7 | 31% | -2% | 1.36 | -0.39 | 1.29 | -0.34 | 36 | 42.2 | 4.69 | 39.3 | 4.18 | |
| Dejounte Murray | $8,000 | $8,300 | 36.4 | -0.5 | 39.9 | 8.6 | 24% | 8% | 1.10 | 0.26 | 1.08 | 0.34 | 36 | 35.4 | 4.43 | 35.0 | 4.21 | |
| De’Andre Hunter | $4,500 | $4,800 | 31.7 | -2.1 | 24.5 | -5.8 | 19% | -3% | 0.77 | -0.14 | 0.76 | -0.09 | 29 | 20.6 | 4.57 | 20.0 | 4.17 | |
| John Collins | $4,600 | $5,500 | 30.0 | -0.9 | 26.4 | -4.4 | 17% | -4% | 0.88 | -0.12 | 0.89 | -0.08 | 29 | 22.9 | 4.97 | 22.8 | 4.15 | |
| Clint Capela | $5,800 | $5,900 | 26.6 | -0.1 | 31.3 | -7.3 | 15% | -2% | 1.18 | -0.27 | 1.20 | -0.26 | 27 | 28.6 | 4.93 | 29.1 | 4.93 | |
| Saddiq Bey | $4,500 | $5,000 | 27.6 | -3.7 | 24.8 | -5.3 | 19% | -7% | 0.90 | -0.08 | 0.88 | -0.02 | 25 | 20.8 | 4.61 | 20.3 | 4.05 | |
| Bogdan Bogdanovic | $4,800 | $5,500 | 27.9 | -0.2 | 25.0 | 3.5 | 20% | -4% | 0.90 | 0.13 | 0.87 | 0.25 | 27 | 21.6 | 4.50 | 20.8 | 3.79 | |
| Onyeka Okongwu | $4,200 | $4,900 | 23.1 | -4.0 | 24.2 | -14.9 | 15% | -4% | 1.05 | -0.56 | 1.10 | -0.62 | 19 | 21.1 | 5.03 | 21.8 | 4.45 | |
| Jalen Johnson | $3,400 | $4,700 | 14.9 | -1.5 | 14.3 | 2.2 | 16% | 15% | 0.96 | 0.27 | 0.99 | 0.28 | 12 | 12.4 | 3.64 | 12.4 | 2.64 |
The +/- columns show the difference between season averages and this series.
Boston Celtics Lineup – DraftKings & FanDuel Salaries
| Player | DK | FD | MIN/G | +/- | FP/G | +/- | USG% | +/- | DK/M | +/- | FD/M | +/- | MIN (P) | DK (P) | DK/$ | FD (P) | FD/$ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Smart | $5,900 | $6,500 | 32.1 | 0.2 | 28.6 | 11.7 | 18% | 1% | 0.89 | 0.36 | 0.88 | 0.46 | 34 | 26.1 | 4.42 | 25.7 | 3.95 | |
| Derrick White | $5,300 | $6,600 | 28.3 | 10.2 | 26.4 | 19.4 | 17% | 1% | 0.93 | 0.26 | 0.93 | 0.23 | 34 | 29.6 | 5.58 | 29.4 | 4.46 | |
| Jaylen Brown | $8,500 | $9,200 | 35.9 | 1.1 | 43.5 | 6.5 | 31% | 3% | 1.21 | 0.14 | 1.17 | 0.06 | 38 | 46.3 | 5.45 | 44.2 | 4.81 | |
| Jayson Tatum | $9,800 | $10,800 | 36.9 | 3.1 | 52.4 | -8.7 | 32% | -5% | 1.42 | -0.33 | 1.37 | -0.37 | 40 | 57.4 | 5.86 | 54.9 | 5.08 | |
| Al Horford | $5,500 | $5,700 | 30.5 | 7.6 | 26.1 | 0.2 | 12% | -6% | 0.85 | -0.17 | 0.85 | -0.14 | 34 | 28.2 | 5.13 | 27.8 | 4.88 | |
| Robert Williams | $4,900 | $6,000 | 23.5 | -1.8 | 24.2 | 3.8 | 11% | 3% | 1.03 | 0.26 | 1.08 | 0.25 | 22 | 21.2 | 4.32 | 22.5 | 3.74 | |
| Malcolm Brogdon | $5,100 | $5,300 | 26.0 | -4.6 | 28.0 | -13.7 | 22% | -6% | 1.08 | -0.41 | 1.05 | -0.38 | 24 | 23.5 | 4.60 | 22.9 | 4.31 | |
| Sam Hauser | $3,100 | $3,700 | 16.1 | -5.1 | 13.1 | -11.9 | 14% | -6% | 0.81 | -0.70 | 0.79 | -0.68 | 12 | 8.7 | 2.79 | 8.2 | 2.21 |
The +/- columns show the difference between season averages and this series.
Game Analysis
The Hawks weren’t able to put up much of a fight in the series opener. The box score is honestly a bit misleading, as the Hawks were down by 19 points entering the fourth quarter. This does feel like quite a mismatch and we shouldn’t be surprised if the Celtics are able to close them out in four or five games. We shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves, but the Celtics are listed as 10.5-point favorites in game two. The total is set at 230.5 points, which is the second highest on the board.