The NBA has three games on the playoff schedule this Friday night, with a trio of important Game 3 matchups. With six teams in the mix, it’s a great night for DFS contests, so let’s take a look at three NBA must-starts to include in your DFS lineups.
Based on their matchup, expected workload and recent form, these three players can be strong core pieces to build around on this Friday night. Keep a close eye on the injury report to see if anything shifts before tip-off.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $350K Shootaround [$100K to 1st]
PF/C Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks vs. Indiana Pacers, $11,500
There are only two players over $10,000 on the slate, and both check in at $11,000 or higher. Giannis and Luka Doncic ($11,000) each have incredibly high ceilings, but of the two, I think Giannis is the better expensive player to build around. He had 57.5 fantasy points in Game 1 and 68.5 fantasy points in Game 2 with Damian Lillard ($7,800) returning from injury.
Giannis was better all season when he played at home, averaging 60.4 fantasy points per game at Fiserv Forum. He’s also dominated in this matchup, producing 62.1 fantasy points in his six games against Indiana in the regular season and postseason.
The Bucks can’t afford to go down 0-3, and they’ll give Giannis all the usage he needs to put together a monster performance.
PG/SG Andrew Nembhard, Indiana Pacers at Milwaukee Bucks, $5,100
The matchup between the Pacers and Bucks has the most fantasy potential on the slate since the other games are projected to be lower-scoring contests. Nembhard has come up large for the Pacers in each of the first two games of the series, and he gets heavy minutes as he also carries so much responsibility on defense.
Nembhard had 17 points in each of the first two games, producing 33.5 fantasy points in Game 1 and 30.75 fantasy points in Game 2. He had at least five assists and at least three boards in each of those games, as well.
Since he’s bringing production in so many categories, Nembhard makes a great play at just over $5,000, and he’s one of my NBA must-starts, since he allows you to stretch your salary in other spots.
PG/SG Payton Pritchard, Boston Celtics at Orlando Magic, $5,600
With Jayson Tatum ($9,600; wrist) doubtful and Jaylen Brown ($8,100; knee) and Jrue Holiday ($5,700; hamstring) questionable, there should be usage available for the other Celtics in Game 3 in Orlando. The team could opt to rest their stars since they’re up 2-0, but in almost any scenario, Pritchard will get enough of a boost to be a must-start on Friday.
Pritchard had 19 points and 25.5 fantasy points in Game 1 and followed that up with 14 points and 20.75 fantasy points in Game 2. During the regular season and postseason, Pritchard averages 27.6 fantasy points per game, but that jumped to 34.9 fantasy points in his 11 games without Tatum and 37.4 fantasy points in the three games he played without Tatum and Brown. He played 20 games without Holiday, and he averaged 32.8 fantasy points in those contests.
Even if the Celtics end up with multiple stars on the sideline, Pritchard should be able to stuff the stat sheet and be one of the best plays on the board.
