Best DFS lineup strategy for Heat vs. Nuggets NBA Showdown in Game 5 of the Finals

Game 5 of the NBA Finals is on Monday night. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET from Ball Arena in Denver. The Denver Nuggets have handled the Miami Heat for most of this series. They just took two straight in Miami and will now look to end the series in front of their home crowd.

Here we’ll take a look at one potential DFS strategy for Showdown contests on DraftKings involving this matchup with Captain’s picks, flex plays and fades.

Captain’s Picks

Nikola Jokic ($24,000) - It’s almost impossible to not put Jokic as your captain in NBA Showdown for this game. He is the highest DFS scorer in this series by far and I would expect a big night from him as he has a chance to win the NBA Finals at home. Defensively, Bam Adebayo just hasn’t been able to stop him. He’s impossible to double team because he always finds the open man. It’s a high price but Jokic is worth it.

Bam Adebayo ($14,700) - Adebayo has had an underrated series because of his team’s lack of success. Offensively, he has been stellar and is probably the Heat’s best scorer at this moment. He’s scored 40+ DKFP in every game this series, including 50+ in two games. In an elimination game, I would expect him to be at his best. He should finish with 10+ rebounds, so if he can add 4-5 assists, this should be a solid fantasy game for Adebayo.

FLEX Plays

Jamal Murray ($12,000) - Murray has been great this postseason. He’s complimented Jokic in a great way and is a big reason for Denver’s success. Coming off a quiet scoring game, I think Murray takes a step forward in this game. I think we see him score 30+ points and close to 10 assists as well. He’s scored 40+ DKFP in every game this series and in Game 3, he had 66 DKFP. Murray will have a big game in this one and should be in your lineup.

Bruce Brown ($5,200) - Brown won’t guarantee you a ton of DFS points, but his upside is there. He has the ability to give you 20-30 DKFP in this one and at $5,200, that’d be a must play. I don’t think he scores a ton tonight, but I think he will finish around 10 points with five rebounds and three assists. The Nuggets will need Brown to give them good contributions off the bench to pull off this series win in Denver.

Fades

Jimmy Butler ($11,800) - Butler has not been great in this series. Everybody thinks he will be great tonight as they look to avoid elimination, but I just don’t see it. He should've turned it on when the Heat were in Miami with a chance to at least tie the series at 2-2, but he never did. He should score around 35 DKFP, but at this cost it wouldn't be worth it.

Gabe Vincent ($5,600) - Vincent hasn’t been good at all in this series. He’s shot the ball poorly, and it has seemed that the Heat are going away from him offensively. In the past two games, we didn’t see him in the fourth quarter because of his early struggles. In a must-win game, I think Spoelstra goes away from Vincent as much and relies more on Kyle Lowry.

The Outcome

It is impossible to take the Heat in this matchup. The Nuggets have been the far better team in this series and in every game it feels like somebody new is stepping up. Denver has a stronger bench than the Heat and a better starting five. I think Murray keeps up his scoring and Jokic adds his third triple double of the series to lead the Nuggets to an NBA Finals victory.

Final score: Nuggets 109, Heat 97