Best lineup strategy for Heat vs. Raptors NBA Showdown

The Miami Heat enter today’s play two games back of the #3 seed in the East, and two games ahead of the #5 seed. Normally that would be on the bubble for home court in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. But this year it’s just for who gets to pick how inflated the basketball is before the game, and who gets assigned the dead-ball time out in each quarter first. Not much to play for.

Meanwhile the Raptors have looked excellent in The Bubble so far, picking up a 107-92 win over the Los Angeles Lakers behind a fantastic game from Kyle Lowry. So where’s the fantasy value in today’s matchup? Set your lineup here.

Who should you play in the Captain’s slot?

Kyle Lowry ($15,600)

The pride of Cardinal Dougherty in Philly put up 63.5 DFS points and 33 on-court ones along with 14 rebounds in his debut at Disney. When he’s humming he’s one of the best stats guys in the league, especially before the 4th quarter. Though the Heat have excellent numbers against point guards, Goran Dragic is limited by back spams, and they don’t have a defensive stopper to slow him down unless they want to activate Jimmy Butler in his first game back.

Now imagine if Lowry got DFS points for taking charges. He’d be a Top 3 guy in the league.

Who should I stack with Lowry?

Pascal Siakam ($9,600)

Someone has to rim-run with Lowry, and Siakam’s 5-17 performance in the opener against the Lakers is less likely to happen with a frontcourt of Bam Adebayo and Jae Crowder. With all the scoring we’ve seen in the league so far, expect plenty of lobs from Lowry and space to score and use his length today.

Where can I find value in the contest?

Jae Crowder ($5,400)

The Raptors are 27th in the league against power forwards, and Crowder is listed in the starting lineup today. That alone should provide value at his fantasy salary, but he’s also coming off a nine points-seven rebound performance for 22.3 DFS points. The concern here is the Heat going small with Jimmy Butler at the 4 and taking some of his minutes, but he’ll still be on the floor. Speaking of Butler...

Who should I fade?

Jimmy Butler ($7,000)

We’re not saying the pathologically-competitive Miami Heat have been known to play games with starting lineups and rosters... ok that’s exactly what we’re saying. Butler was excused from practice yesterday for an undisclosed reason, but didn’t leave The Bubble. He’s not on today’s injury report, but it sounds like something might be amiss. And whether that translates to limited minutes or not playing at all, he’s not worth the risk here.