It’s been a rollercoaster to get to this Game 6 — but here we are.
It started with the Celtics blowing back-to-back 20-point leads, somewhere in the middle, Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles, and then the Knicks no-showed in Game 5 to allow Boston to get back to its feet. You know, just the usual stuff.
New York has another chance to eliminate the reigning NBA Champions on Friday and, of course, DraftKings has a huge Showdown contest for the festivities. Let’s break down the value options for this one-game DFS slate.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $400K Shootaround [$100K to 1st] (BOS @ NYK)
C Luke Kornet, Celtics ($4,400)
It can’t happen again, can it? Kornet was Boston’s hero in Game 5, coming off the bench with 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks in 25.4 minutes of action. When things were all said and done, the big man wound up with 38.75 FPTS. For some context, Kornet had mustered a total of 42.25 FPTS across the first four contests of this series combined. That also needs context, though. Wednesday night was a completely different animal. Not only were the Celtics without Jayson Tatum (Achilles), who led the team in points per game (26.8) and usage rate (31.2) during the regular season, but this seemed like the last vestige of Kristaps Porzingis ($5,000; illness). The former All-Star started Game 5, yet logged only 12.1 minutes after struggling with his breathing and his performance. It would not be shocking to see Porzingis removed from the rotation entirely in Game 6. That would open the door for Kornet to be highly involved in this evening’s tilt.
PG/SG Miles McBride, Knicks ($2,400)
McBride is by far the least expensive asset on the Knicks’ roster that will get consistent minutes on Friday night. In fact, after logging 28.5 minutes in Game 5, McBride has seen the court for at least 19 minutes in each of New York’s past three contests. He might’ve been splitting time with Cameron Payne ($1,000) at the beginning of the postseason, yet that incarnation of the Knicks’ rotation is over. McBride and Mitchell Robinson ($4,800) are the two bench pieces in the team’s set-in-stone seven-man cycle. McBride is on the heels of collecting 11 points, three assists and 19.0 FPTS in Game 5 — the second time he’s registered double-digit points in this series. If he can do that again in Game 6, you’ll be looking at 6x or 7x value.
