As first-round series around the NBA start to wind down, we have another pair of elimination games on Wednesday night. Things get started with Game 5 in Houston, where the Warriors will look to put the final nail in the coffin for the upstart Rockets. Then, we move to Los Angeles, where the Lakers are trying to avoid an upset in their first postseason with Luka Doncic ($10,800) on the roster.
Will anyone survive? Will we have some basketball to watch on Friday? It’s unclear.
What is clear is that you’ll need to have some value picks in DFS to fill out your lineups. Let’s break down a couple of the best options on this two-game DraftKings slate.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $350K Shootaround [$100K to 1st]
PF/C Dorian Finney-Smith, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, $4,000
There are certainly DFS assets with a higher ceiling than Finney-Smith on Wednesday, as the veteran wing will be sharing the court with the three-headed usage monster that is Doncic, LeBron James ($9,000) and Austin Reaves ($6,800). For instance, you could take a chance on Donte DiVincenzo ($4,800) or Naz Reid ($4,900) on the other side of this matchup. However, it’s the Lakers that have their backs up against the wall. It’s the Lakers that will be pushing their key players to an absurd fashion. Heck, it was already happening in Game 4. Four different Los Angeles players, including Finney-Smith off the bench, exceeded 40 minutes of action in Sunday’s 116-113. I assume that group would’ve included Reaves, if not for the guard being in foul trouble, and I also assume we’ll see a similar rotation from JJ Redick this evening. Finney-Smith finished Game 4 with eight rebounds, six points, six assists and 27.0 FPTS. Even at a low usage, it’s hard not to pick up some counting stats when you never leave the court.
C Steven Adams, Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors, $3,600
The Rockets have not been afraid to go big so far in this series. In fact, there’s a case to be made that they should probably be doing it more often. In the roughly 80 minutes that Adams has logged in the first four contests against the Warriors, Houston has outscored its opponent by a whopping 13.9 points per 100 possessions. In the 112 minutes that Adams has been on the sidelines? Well, things haven’t been quite as productive. With Adams off the floor in this series, the Rockets have a net rating of -16.1 points. Yikes. I guess there’s a reason that Adams saw a series-high 26.4 minutes of action in Game 4. I guess there’s also a reason he was in the squad’s closing unit. The veteran center is dirt cheap and has managed to exceed 20.0 FPTS in three of his team’s four playoff contests. If Ime Udoka decides he needs ever more Adams in Game 5, the 31-year-old could be the best value asset on the whole slate.
