The NBA Play-In Tournament begins Tuesday with the Magic hosting the Hawks and the Warriors hosting the Grizzlies. The winner of each of these games will enter the postseason as the No.7 seed in their conference, while the loser will host a win-or-go home Play-In game Friday against whichever team wins Wednesday’s matchup between the No.9 and No.10 seed of their conference. Below, I dive into three of my favorite DFS options to consider for today’s NBA action.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $400K Play-In Special [$100K to 1st]
SF/PF, Jimmy Butler, Golden State Warriors vs. Memphis Grizzlies, $8,000
With the Warriors fighting to avoid the Play-In Tournament, Butler had an excellent final week of the regular season, scoring at least 45 FPTS in his final three starts. During this stretch, Butler saw a 22% usage rate, and he led Golden State with 38 minutes per game. Furthermore, the savvy veteran shot an awesome 60.5% from the field and 50% on three pointers. The Warriors unfortunately didn’t reach their goal and now find themselves hosting the Grizzlies in the Play-In Tournament on Tuesday.
Ranking third in pace and 18th in defensive rating since the All-Star break, Memphis is an elite matchup to attack and the Warriors carry a 118.5-point implied team total on DraftKings Sportsbook, which is the highest of the four NBA teams in action Tuesday by a significant six points. These two clubs just met on April 1st and Butler went off for 46 FPTS that night. The Warriors specifically traded for Butler for huge moments like this, and the clutch player shouldn’t disappoint Tuesday.
C, Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors, $5,700
With Taylor Jenkins no longer calling the shots for the Grizzlies, Edey has seen a much larger role. In Memphis’ first eight games since Jenkins was fired, Edey is scoring 32.4 FPTS in 27.8 minutes per game, which is a massive lift from the 21.5 minutes per game the rookie is averaging for the season. Edey has topped 40 FPTS in three of these eight games, including a 40 FPTS double-double across 32 minutes against the same Warriors club he will face tonight in the Play-In Tournament.
Edey should see a similar workload tonight, giving him ample time to out produce his price tag. The center is generating a strong 1.2 FPTS per minute this season, and Edey is the best value on the slate at this sub $6K salary.
SG, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Orlando Magic vs. Atlanta Hawks, $3,800
Caldwell-Pope barely played in the Magic’s final two games of the regular season, but only because one was a huge blowout that limited all of Orlando’s starters’ minutes and the other was the regular season finale, which was meaningless for the Magic as they were locked into their seed. Now, in a pivotal Play-In matchup, Caldwell-Pope should get back to seeing big minutes with a playoff berth on the line. The veteran is averaging 30 minutes per game this season, and he has scored over 20 FPTS in 10 of his 24 starts since the All-Star break, including a 28.75 FPTS outing against the Hawks exactly a week ago.
Caldwell-Pope is shooting 44% from beyond the arc since the All-Star break, and Atlanta is allowing their opponents to knock down three pointers at the third-highest clip in the league this season. Caldwell-Pope is the veteran leader for this Magic club, and he should rise to the occasion tonight with over 20 FPTS on Tuesday.
