Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/24/17

We've already ended one first round series with the Cavs finishing off the Pacers yesterday and we could see the Warriors wrap things up tonight. But the NBA playoff train rolls on and we definitely have some interesting ways to take things with this three game slate.

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Milwaukee Bucks at Toronto Raptors

With the series knotted at 2-2 the series heads back to Toronto for game five. After the Raptors punted Game 3 losing by thirty in a game that they didn’t appear to even leave the locker room for, they came back and won Game 4. Credit Dwane Casey who made a rather radical starting lineup pivot last game in taking Jonas Valanciunas in a bid to go super small and fast with Norman Powell at the three, Carroll at the four and Ibaka at the five. It was a bold move with Powell playing a ton of minutes and very strong defense. Prices haven’t really corrected on him and he’s a borderline must play in cash games if the Raptors keep the same starting lineup. The other key for the Raptors in Game 4 was Demar Derozan finding his form again going 12-22 from the field and finishing with a 33/9/5 line along with 4 steals. I think that’s of course the upper end of what we can expect from him, but he’s a strong play again tonight.

The Bucks couldn’t hit anything from beyond the arc last game going only 24% from three on 21 looks. They’ll of course need to do better in Game 5 to have a shot at retaking the lead in the series. Giannis Antetokounmpo struggled with turnovers last game, giving up seven in 42 minutes. He’s had a decent series, but will have to limit mistakes here and it could be an issue with the Raptors choosing to go smaller. I still see Khris Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon as something of values for the Bucks though the latter saw drastically reduced minutes in Game 4. Middleton’s price has come up as well and he’s very scoring dependent to hit his mark. I suspect we’ll be looking away from the Bucks (in general) on this slate.

Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks

Somewhat randomly, the Hawks blew out the Wiz in Game 3 of the series. They had a commanding lead entering the fourth quarter and everyone saw reduced minutes when the game was clinched late. Look for a bounce back game from Washington here and I think we see the minutes more resemble Game 3 with John Wall and Bradley Beal both coming in as fantastic plays on Monday. Wall’s averaged a 31/10/5 for the series and that includes last game with reduced run. He’s the top point guard cash game option tonight and will be in a lot of lineups. We saw the downside of Beal last game as he struggled from the field and when the shot isn’t dropping it’s all over Red Rover for him. That’s fine as I’m buying again with the price sticking in the same range. 40 minutes isn’t out of the question in a close game. I still like Marcin Gortat’s minutes upside and he could be the top center value over these three games.

The Hawks were able to pull off the blowout last game thanks in large (most) part to Paul Millsap and Dennis Schroder who combined for 56 of Atlanta’s 116 points. They both had a ton of usage with each taking over twenty shots. If anything I see their performances as run hot from the field and I wouldn’t completely expect similar production tonight. It doesn’t help that their prices ticked up after the solid performances and I don’t mind fading them here. Plus it’s getting a bit awkward now with Dwight Howard who the Hawks clearly think is a liability in this series. He can’t see more than 27 minutes and Atlanta might just be a better team without him.

Golden State Warriors at Portland Trailblazers

The Warriors are up 3-0 in the series and will be without their coach Steve Kerr and, most likely, Kevin Durant as well tonight. There’s no reason to push the latter (or the former I suppose) with this series well under control. The Blazers put up a fight early on but they are clearly out-gunned and have no real chance of making the series even a little bit interesting even if they took a game. We do have a sense though of the kind of minutes we stand to see from the remaining big three of Stephen Curry. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. All three are firmly in play again for cash games and will be in top lineups. Curry’s a better deal on FanDuel, Klay better on DraftKings and Green likely a chalk play on both sites. Andre Iguodala saw a ton of minutes off the bench last game and I think that sticks again tonight with them using his defense and ability to bring the ball up the court without Durant as a real weapon.

The Trailblazers did get Jusuf Nurkic back last game though he played under 20 minutes in his return. I’m not sure if we see significantly more run from the guy considering the matchup and with him coming back from injury. But if the game stays close I think we again see huge minutes from Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Evan Turner.. All three are firmly in play tonight with the group all pushing towards 40 minutes last game. I’d be fine playing any combination of the three in cash with Turner probably the best value considering how weak the SF slot is on both sites.
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