There was only NBA Playoffs game on Thursday night. It was awful. We all barely survived. Thankfully, we’re back to a two-game slate this evening, with a Game 3 in Indiana and another Game 3 in Denver.
Let’s dig in and find some DFS value picks for your lineups Friday night on DraftKings.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $400K Shootaround [$100K to 1st]
SG/SF Max Strus, Cleveland Cavaliers at Indiana Pacers, $5,000
There’s so many variables with the Cavaliers’ rotation at the moment that it’s difficult to find a value asset that could be viable in all scenarios; however, I think Strus threads that needle. Strus was forced to log 39.2 minutes in Game 2 with Darius Garland ($6,900; toe), Evan Mobley ($8,000; ankle) and De’Andre Hunter ($4,400; thumb) all sidelined, and the wing took advantage, registering 23 points, eight rebounds and 40.5 FPTS with a respectable 21.5% usage rate. Still, Strus has also proven to be a decent DFS asset when all three of his teammates were available. Even in a poor shooting performance in Game 1, Strus managed 27.25 FPTS. In fact, he’s now exceeded 27 FPTS in four of his last five playoff contests. Don’t get me wrong, Strus’ ceiling and role would increase if some of Cleveland’s questionable stars eventually get ruled out, but that’s not his only path to relevancy on Friday.
SF Michael Porter Jr., Denver Nuggets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, $4,400
It has been a rough start to this series for Porter, who has combined to score just 10 points on 3-for-18 shooting in Game 1 and Game 2. He’s been completely outplayed by teammates Russell Westbrook ($5,100) and Christian Braun ($5,200) and, as such, he’s lost minutes to the duo in this series against the Thunder. That’s the bad news. Here’s the good news: This is a classic buying window. Porter Jr. has literally never been this inexpensive on a slate in 2024-25. Remember, this is a former lottery pick who started 77 games for the Nuggets during the regular season, averaging 18.2 points per game. Heck, he’s a career 40.6% shooter from three-point range. Even in a tough defensive matchup, I’ll side with the much larger sample. If Porter gets hot, it won’t take long for him to make this microscopic salary look foolish.
