The final day of the NBA regular season has arrived with all 30 teams set to play today. Fifteen matchups will be taking place between 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. ET to close down the season. The seedings in the Eastern Conference are locked in while seeds four through seven are up for grabs in the Western Conference and depend on today’s results. It will be between the Warriors and Clippers, who are facing off today, while the Nuggets and Timberwolves will fill these seeds as well, with the top three clinching a playoff slot and one of these teams dropping to the seventh seed.
Keep a close eye on the injury reports as plenty of teams are getting an early start on rest with their seeding decided. Stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jayson Tatum, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, Jaylen Brown and plenty more headline the list of players set to miss. However, no NBA game can fully be taken for granted and today could prove to be a valuable opportunity for some other members of the roster that were waiting for their chance.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at a few value options on the DFS slate set to outperform their DraftKings price point. Here are my top three picks today.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $80K Sunday Special [$20K to 1st]
SF/PF Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks vs. Orlando Magic, $4,400
There has been very little buzz surrounding this year’s No. 1 overall pick, but Zaccharie Risacher has come into form down the home stretch of the season. The Frenchman is averaging 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists across his 24.8 minutes per game this season, or an average of 21.6 fantasy points per game based on DraftKings scoring.
Risacher has taken his game up a notch down the home stretch of the season. Across the past 34 games, he is averaging 15.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and has scored 30+ points three times. He is coming off a season-high 54.5 fantasy output based on DraftKings scoring on Thursday against the Nets.
Atlanta has already ruled out Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, Onyeka Okongwu, Larry Nance Jr., Jalen Johnson and Clint Capela for this matchup. Expect Risacher to see his offensive role scaled up and for him to make the most of it. The 20-year-old still has plenty of strides to take in his development and will continue this journey tonight. Look for him to capitalize on his increased opportunity and be in line for one of his better statistical outputs tonight.
SG/SF Baylor Scheierman, Boston Celtics vs. Charlotte Hornets, $4,300
It will not be long until Baylor Scheierman has his own niche fan base in the same way that has occurred with Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet in Boston, with plenty of examples in other fan bases as well. The Celtics selected Scheierman with the 30th pick in the draft and he has been extremely limited in terms of his on-court opportunity. The Creighton product has played 348 total minutes this season with the vast majority of it coming in garbage time with the game’s result decided.
These are the types of games that players like Scheierman are waiting for so expect him to make the most of it tonight. Boston has ruled out Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. Scheierman has a clear path to expanded minutes and more on-ball opportunities.
Looking at his production in the limited sample size we have, Scheierman has averaged 3.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists in his 11.6 minutes per game. His highest fantasy output to this point was on March 18th when he finished with 32.2 fantasy points based on DraftKings scoring by tallying 20 points and three rebounds against the Nets. Scheierman has also tallied 19+ fantasy points in five games since the beginning of March. Look for him to welcome the challenge of more on-ball opportunities and have a chance for the best statistical output of his NBA career to this point with so many primary Celtics players sidelined.
PG T.J. McConnell, Indiana Pacers at Cleveland Cavaliers, $3,800
The Indiana Pacers are locked into the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and will face the Milwaukee Bucks in the opening round of the playoffs. They are taking an early start at resting for this rivalry series with Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, Bennedict Mathurin, Ben Sheppard and Isaiah Jackson ruled out today. Indiana has improved its outlook a great deal in this home stretch of the season playing at a much higher level than it showed for the first half of the season.
With the Pacers’ stars sidelined, there is a clear chance for T.J. McConnell to finish his regular season with a huge exclamation point. McConnell has grown into a key bench piece averaging 9.1 points, 4.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds in his 17.9 minutes per game. He ranks fifth on the Pacers in fantasy scoring, averaging 21.0 per game on DraftKings scoring.
McConnell has proven capable of scaling up his offensive role throughout his career and will have the chance to do so tonight. He has tallied 30+ fantasy points on DraftKings scoring in 10 games this season, including as many as 48.2 in a game. McConnell dropped a season-high 30 points in that matchup. Expect him to be called on often as the primary ball-handler in this game and for the Arizona product to end his regular season on a high note. He has become an important and well-liked part of this Pacers team and expect his opportunities to be prevalent today.
