NBA Sunday is a DFS fun day. Extend the weekend one more day with Fantasy Basketball action at DraftKings. Get the screens out. Build your DraftKings NBA DFS lineups early. Let’s dig into the NBA DFS research, make some fantasy basketball picks, and close out the week on the couch enjoying the Showdown slate that starts at 8 p.m. ET.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $500K Shootaround [$100K to 1st] (NYK @ IND)
Guard
Stud
Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers vs. New York Knicks ($10,600) — The New York Nightmare leads the Indiana Pacemakers. The Cardiac Kids shocked the world on Wednesday with an unimaginable last-minute comeback. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. Haliburton is an expert with the defibrillator. The fans are shocked. The Pacers are charged. The Knicks are shell-shocked. Game 2 was an easier win for Indiana. Haliburton didn’t play all that well and still managed to score 47 fantasy points. That’s a solid floor. His upside at home is 60-to-70 fantasy points.
Value
T.J. McConnell, Indiana Pacers vs. New York Knicks ($4,000) — DFS NBA value picks never feel good in the playoffs. They feel even worse on showdown slates. There’s no reason to feel discomfort. The value pick doesn’t have to break the slate. This isn’t the regular season. Everyone is in the same boat. Everyone has a bad value pick on their roster. The winner won’t select a slate shocker. The winner will pick the cheap player that scores a few more points than the other scrubs. McConnell has been that guy in the playoffs. He’s nothing compared to stars. He’s everything compared to the scrubs.
Forward
Stud
Pascal Siakam, Indiana Pacers vs. New York Knicks ($8,400) — Haliburton is the face of this series. The Haliburton bouncing ball basket at the end of regulation in Game 1 will be replayed for the rest of our lives. Siakam is the real star of the series. He scored 39 points in Game 2. The tone was set early. The home crowd was shut down. Siakam takes a lot of shots and most are high-probability shots close to the basket. Siakam has a high floor and high ceiling.
Value
Aaron Nesmith, Indiana Pacers vs. New York Knicks ($6,800) — Three-smith cooled off in Game 2. He was 4-for-7 from the field (2-for-3 three-point attempts). He didn’t really cool off. Those are solid numbers, but more volume is needed. In Game 1, Nesmith was 8-for-9 from three. He’s been making everything all postseason. It’s simply a matter of volume. It seems risky but Tyrese Haliburton is an NBA star known for distributing the ball.
Center
Stud
Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks at Indiana Pacers ($10,200) — The Knicks chose defense in Game 2. Mitchell Robinson played 29 minutes — a minute more than Towns. It didn’t work. It would be wise to reset and return to the original plan that nearly won Game 1. KAT scored 60 fantasy points in 39 minutes in the Game 1 heartbreaker. They need his scoring on the floor. The heartbroken Knicks need his heart on the floor.
Value
Mitchell Robinson, New York Knicks at Indiana Pacers ($4,200) — The knee-jerk reaction is to put Towns back on the court and downgrade Robinson’s minutes. Robinson wasn’t the problem in Game 2. He scored 23.25 fantasy points and earned a +6 Plus-Minus — KAT posted a -20. Even if Robinson receives fewer minutes, he’s demonstrated that he can score 20 fantasy points in 20 minutes of work.
