DFS Alerts
Giannis Antetokounmpo (ankle) out Tuesday
Antetokounmpo will reportedly be held out of Tuesday’s Game 5 matchup against the Miami Heat after previously being listed as questionable on the Bucks’ injury report with a sprained ankle. Head coach Mike Budenholzer admitted to reporters that Antetokounmpo’s lack of mobility was the primary reason for being cautious with the reigning MVP following his exit just 11 minutes into Sunday’s win. In his absence, Donte DiVincenzo slotted into the starting lineup on the wing as Milwaukee went relatively small with Khris Middleton at power forward, and DiVincenzo will more than likely start ahead of Marvin Williams in tonight’s contest, while George Hill, Eric Bledsoe, and possibly even Pat Connaughton should also benefit from increased playing time this evening.
As reported by: Shams Charania via Twitter
Giannis Antetokounmpo (ankle) will start Sunday
After briefly being a game-time decision, Antetokounmpo has been confirmed in the Bucks’ starting lineup and will play in Sunday’s Game 4 matchup against the Miami Heat despite dealing with a sprained ankle. Antetokounmpo reiterated to reporters following Friday’s loss that the ankle “wasn’t bothering him at all” throughout the game, but that’s clearly not the case given the previous uncertainty about his status this close to tipoff. There’s been no report of a potential minute restriction for Antetokounmpo, but if his effectiveness is hampered by the ailments, players like Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe could be more intriguing options in tournament formats this afternoon.
As reported by: Anthony Chiang via Twitter Kelly Olynyk (knee) and Tyler Herro (hip) active Sunday
Olynyk has been included on the Heat’s active roster and will be available to play in Sunday’s Game 4 matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks after missing one game due to a bruised knee, while Herro is also active, as expected, following his original probable designation on the injury report with a bruised hip. With Olynyk sidelined, head coach Erik Spoelstra opted to fill his spot in the rotation with Meyers Leonard and Derrick Jones Jr., but with Olynyk presumably healthy, both Leonard and Jones will likely find themselves on the outside of the regular frontcourt rotation moving forward.
As reported by: Ira Winderman via Twitter Other tagged players: Tyler Herro RoCo an intriguing DK play
Who in their right mind could tally almost 30 DKP with only 3 FGA in a game? This guy. I hate banking on defensive stats, but more often times than not, you’ll get some garbage points from Covington. RoCo has recorded multiple steals in 6 of 8 playoff appearances this year. Somehow, he only shot three times across 39 minutes, and I would expect that number rise in Game 2, as Covington shot at least 11 times across the previous four games. It’s seems like a tough fit on DK, and if Covington lands in the middle of your builds, I think he’s fine at $6,400, but I do have slight reservations about his $7K tag on FD.
When is the AD ceiling game coming?
Anthony Davis might be my favorite tournament play across the board on Sunday. On FanDuel, there are some risky options at PF. Robert Covington has hit the $7K mark – a player who typically relies on defensive statistics to reach value (it does happen), but I find it difficult to invest in him regularly at this price. We’ve seen multidimensional bigs such as Kristaps Porzingis have monster games against Houston’s new brand of small ball in the bubble. At some point, the Davis ceiling game is coming. Looking back across a few regular season contests against HOU, Davis played this same small Rockets team in February and went off for 70 FDP while posting 21 shot attempts. AD’s 16 shot attempts in Game 1 were his second lowest of the postseason and he still accumulated 58 FDP. With LAL now down a game, the usage of its star players should even be higher, and perhaps AD will headline Sunday’s primetime games.
Strongest Value Option at SF
Crowder has unsurprisingly seen his role expand in this series as he’s topped 34 minutes in each of the first three games. He’s also seen his role expand offensively, averaging 10 three point attempts per game (making 4). Crowder’s expanded role and willingness to shoot make him the strongest value option at the SF position on FanDuel and I prefer him straight up over Eric Gordon who is $500 more. While both Giannis and LeBron are also SF eligible, optimal lineup construction forces you away from spending up on both (this is a solid tournament strategy though), resulting in Crowder being the easy SF2 decision.
Safe Source Of Minutes For Cheap
As a Buck’s fan, I do not like Eric Bledsoe. However, as a DFS player and analyst, I have to just bite the bullet and acknowledge he is a strong play on FanDuel because of his $5,200 price tag. Bledsoe has been very average so far during the playoffs but he’s easily the safest source of minutes in his price range at the PG position and he’s important to lineup construction on FanDuel. I don’t like Bledsoe quite as much on DraftKings but do think he is at a price point that fits optimal lineup construction and am starting to think he may be a necessary evil. It feels a bit counterintuitive to have both Hill and Bledsoe tagged as core plays but Hill’s extended run in Game 3 wasn’t at the expense of Bledsoe and I think there are plenty of paths for each player to exceed value.
Best Producer At Thin Position
There are five players with Center eligibility on FanDuel that we have projected to actually see the court on Sunday. Of those five, only Brook Lopez and P.J. Tucker are projected to top 15 minutes. While Tucker has been a surprisingly consistent fantasy producer over his last three games, he has nowhere near the ceiling that Lopez has yet is priced similarly. It will be interesting to see how many minutes Lopez sees in Sunday’s elimination game – I wouldn’t expect the 38 he saw in Game 3 – but he’s a superior play to Tucker even if he tops out in the low 30’s.
Valuable For Lineup Construction
Lineup construction on DraftKings is extremely difficult for Sunday’s two-game slate which means we’re probably going to have to get a bit uncomfortable at a couple positions. Enter George Hill. The best thing about Hill? His $4,200 price tag. The second best thing? Budenholzer finally shortened his rotation in Game 3 (only 5 minutes for Korver and .5 minutes for Connaughton) resulting in 30 minutes of court time for Hill. I don’t expect Hill to be an extraordinary per minute fantasy producer but I do think he’s the safest value option on DraftKings which makes him valuable for lineup construction.
More Minutes Due To Matchup
Ivica Zubac played roughly 15.5 first half minutes in Game 1 and was on pace to play 30-32 minutes if it wasn’t a blowout. Zubac is the Clippers best option to matchup against Nikola Jokic and as such should see more court time in this series as long as he’s able to stay out of foul trouble. More court time is excellent news for Zubac who produced well over a fantasy point per minute during the season. Zubac’s low price tag in combination with more expected minutes make him one of the top point-per-dollar options on the slate.
Playoff P
It feels a little weird listing the self-proclaimed ‘Playoff P’ as one of the best plays on the slate considering how much he has struggled to shoot the ball during the playoffs. However, despite his shooting struggles, George has been a consistent fantasy producer, scoring 30+ fantasy points in all but one game. While George hasn’t flashed the ceiling that we have grown accustomed to, he has established a solid floor by being active on the glass and still has plenty of upside if his shots start falling. Perhaps the biggest thing working in George’s favor, however, is that he has an extremely accessible price tag across the industry which makes him easy to fit into optimal lineup builds.
Kelly Olynyk (knee) out Friday; Andre Iguodala (ankle) available to play
Olynyk has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t be active for Friday’s Game 3 matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks due to a right knee contusion, while Iguodala will be available to play despite sustaining a sprained ankle during Wednesday’s win. Olynyk has had just a minimal role off the bench thus far in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but in his absence, either Derrick Jones Jr. or Meyers Leonard could step into that vacated playing time, though Leonard has only played in two games throughout the duration of the seeding games and the playoffs, so it’s highly unlikely he sees enough minutes, if any, to become relevant in daily fantasy formats this evening.
As reported by: Mike Inglis via Twitter Other tagged players: Andre Iguodala Patrick Beverley (calf) will play Thursday
As expected, head coach Doc Rivers confirmed that Beverley will play in Thursday’s Game 1 matchup against the Denver Nuggets after missing all but one game of the Clippers’ first-round playoff series due to a strained calf. There haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction for Beverley, but given the presence of Lou Williams and Reggie Jackson in the backcourt rotation, it’d be at least mildly surprising if Beverley saw a normal allotment of minutes in tonight’s contest. However, his availability will still likely send Landry Shamet back to the bench to resume a reserve role, and possibly out of the rotation entirely, following five consecutive starts.
As reported by: Jovan Buha via Twitter Eric Bledsoe (hamstring) will play Wednesday
Bledsoe has officially been upgraded from questionable and will play in Wednesday’s Game 2 matchup against the Miami Heat after missing the first game of the series due to a strained hamstring. There haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction for Bledsoe, but either way, his return will be enough to send George Hill back to the bench to resume a reserve role following a relatively dismal fantasy performance in 36 minutes of action in Monday’s loss. Even with Bledsoe available, Frank Mason will remain on the active roster, which relegates Robin Lopez to the inactive list even though he was unlikely to see playing time in tonight’s contest anyway.
As reported by: Shams Charania via Twitter Eric Bledsoe (hamstring) inactive Monday; George Hill will start
Bledsoe was originally listed as questionable on the Bucks’ injury report, but he’s now been listed on the official media sheet as inactive for Monday’s matchup against the due to a strained left hamstring. In his absence, George Hill will receive the starting nod at the point guard position, but Donte DiVincenzo should be expected to spend plenty of time manning the point as well, while Pat Connaughton and Kyle Korver may also see a few extra minutes trickle their way in the second unit this evening.
As reported by: Matt Velazquez via Twitter Other tagged players: George Hill