DFS Alerts
Time for a Ceiling Game?
We haven’t seen Gobert show off his upside in this series, but he has still shown a relatively sturdy floor. With his price now below $8,000 on FanDuel and barely over $6,000 on DraftKings, this could be one final chance to buy low on the big man before Utah’s season ends. This is primarily a salary-based play; we know he will play a healthy dose of minutes with Utah’s frontcourt in shambles, and the team needs a win to stay alive. While he hasn’t shown that 50+ fantasy point potential much of late, maybe we can get it here. Even if we don’t, he is still unlikely to kill your team, which makes him a fine GPP play at this price point.
A Fine Contrarian Selection
The Jazz are banged up right now, and it’s clear that Derrick Favors is nowhere near 100% healthy. Jae Crowder is struggling with his shot. That leaves Ingles to try and pick up some of the slack, and he often gets ignored in the mid-range of DFS pricing. While no player will be unowned on a two game slate, Ingles won’t carry the massive ownership of some other options, and he will need to knock down some shots if the Jazz want to stay alive in this series. We know the minutes will be there; now we just need him to add some production.
Massive Upside with his Team on the Brink
When teams have their backs against the wall and are facing elimination, we often see their stars come out and have a statement performance. I think we will see one of those out of Anthony Davis tonight. While a guy like Durant might be the “safer” spend in cash games, I’m drawn to Davis’ massive ceiling in tournaments, and I just hope this game stays close. Let’s go overtime, or even double overtime! Davis will play all the minutes he can handle in this game, and the per-minute production potential is through the roof.
T.J. McConnell starting Monday, Robert Covington to the bench
With the 76ers dropping the first three games of the series, they will shake things up for game 4 tonight against Boston. T.J. McConnell will enter the starting lineup and Robert Covington will head to the bench. McConnell saw just 14 minutes last game, but he should play somewhere in the twenties tonight. He’s min price around the industry, and is the top value play on this slate. With Covington going to the bench, he’s off the DFS radar for tonight. Covington scored just one point in 25 minutes last game. There’s chatter Markelle Fultz may enter the rotation tonight.
As reported by: Yaron Weitzman via twitter
Potential Value at Small Forward
Game log watchers are going to see C.J. Miles and the 32 minutes that he played in Game 3 and immediately gravitate to him. Personally, I’m not expecting that to happen again, as DeMar DeRozan sat the entire fourth quarter. OG Anunboy has a better chance of playing 30 minutes, as he’ll be tasked with defending LeBron James. He’s far from a sure thing, but there aren’t many of those in this two game slate. Through three games, Anunboy is averaging 28 minutes and 16 fantasy points in this series.
Being Aggressive when it Counts
For the first eight games of the playoffs, Kevin Love was playing timid basketball. He was sitting in the corner, hoping to get open three-pointers. In the last two games, he’s gotten back to what he’s been great at over the years — rebounding and dominating the paint. When Love is aggressive, he’s one of the best players on the floor. With this game being played in Cleveland and with Love playing with confidence, he almost feels like a must play at his current price point ($7,800 on both FanDuel and DraftKings).
Win or Stay Home
This series has not gone how anyone out of Boston expected it to go. The Celtics not only took the first two games at home, but managed to steal in a win in Philly in Game 3. The Sixers are now one loss away from exiting their first playoff run in quite some time. I expect them to lean heavily on Joel Embiid, who has averaged 52 fantasy points per game in this series. The Celtics haven’t had an answer for him all season and with Ben Simmons struggling a bit, that could lead to more shots and potentially more minutes for Embiid.
Playing With Renewed Energy and Confidence
After a quiet finish to the regular season, an awful series against the Bucks, and a poor Game 1 against the Raptors, Kevin Love has finally flipped the switch. He has scored about 50 fantasy points per game over the last two and is a solid mismatch against this Raptors squad. The price tag is climbing a little bit, but it’s clear that Love is playing with much more confidence now. Lock him in as a top GPP mid-range selection, especially if you are fading LeBron James on the high end.
The Obvious Value Selection
We don’t have much for cheap value on this slate, but VanVleet remains a great source of salary relief. He started and logged more than 30 minutes in the Game 3 loss, though the fantasy production was abysmal in that game. If he sees that kind of run again, we can almost count on a much better fantasy point performance. The risk is that the minutes might get cut a bit after the dud and with the Raptors facing elimination. Keep an eye on the news today, but for now I will happily lock in VanVleet at this dirt cheap tag — and he’s almost a must play if you want to try to fit in the hefty salary of LeBron James.
The Right Time to Buy in GPP Formats?
There is no doubt that this has been an absolutely awful series for Ben Simmons, but perhaps we see a focused performance with the Sixers facing elimination. He makes absolutely no sense as a cash game play at this point, as Embiid and James are far safer options on the high end, but I love the low ownership angle in tournaments. We know Simmons has triple-double potential, and the Sixers should be able to put forth a strong effort on their home floor in order to keep the series alive. Simmons should come in at relatively low ownership for a two game slate, and he has the potential to be a GPP-winning type of play.
A Great Cheap Play Tonight
VanVleet earned himself the start in Game 3 and played a whopping 33 minutes. Hopefully DFS owners see the fantasy performance from that game and stay away because he is one of the better cheap plays at our disposal tonight. I can’t guarantee he sees that amount of run again, but we don’t necessarily need it either. This is a guy who got about 0.9 fantasy points per minute in the regular season, so we aren’t asking for all that much at $3,800 on FD and $3,600 on DK.
Your Best Salary Saver on FanDuel
Ersan might have earned himself some more minutes in Game 4 with a nice Game 3 performance. Even if we don’t see that many minutes again, the discounted price tag of $4,400 makes him worth the risk on FanDuel. In the two games prior, he was $5,000 and $6,000. I think he is worth plugging in at this price tag in order to jam in the two important studs on this slate. You are okay with it if he sees low 20’s minutes but also know there is plenty of room up for more.
A Consistent High-Priced Option
Despite not showing anything for it in the win column, Embiid has been an extremely safe fantasy asset in this series against Boston. That shouldn’t be too much of a surprise considering, as we saw dominant bigs have some huge games against them in the regular season. With regulation minutes sitting at 35-36 in all three games in this series, the price tags are still ones to attack across the industry. I would be doing everything I can to jam in LeBron and Embiid in every lineup on this two-game slate.
The Top Stud
The guy has pretty much taken the soul from the Raptors organization, the city of Toronto, and probably Canada as a whole. On a two-game slate, it is tough envisioning a scenario where you don’t lock button him, even at that outrageous price on FanDuel. I expect the Cavs to take care of business tonight because they will get a bunch of days off if they close out the series here at home in Game 4. That kind of rest would be huge for a guy that takes on as much as LeBron in so many minutes.
Ricky Rubio ruled out Sunday
Ricky Rubio will miss his fourth straight game with a hamstring injury. He seems to be getting close, as he was listed as questionable for today. Royce O’Neale will continue to start for Rubio. He has been seeing about 29 minutes in each of the first three games. Game 3 was the best of the series for O’Neale scoring 17 points and bringing down 5 rebounds.
As reported by: Sam Amico via twitter