And then there were two. Nearly six months after the 2025-26 NBA regular season began, it’s set to come to an end on Sunday, with the two final days of games scheduled for tonight and Sunday and all 30 teams set to play on both days. Some teams are still fighting for playoff positions, while other teams have little to gain from these games.
Many of the teams that are locked into their playoff seeds have extremely long injury reports, so there are plenty of players who don’t typically get opportunities who will play heavy minutes. That means lots of value options for tonight’s nine-game featured DFS contest on DraftKings.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $80K Fadeaway [$20K to 1st].
SG Jordan Hawkins, New Orleans Pelicans at Boston Celtics, $4,300
The Pelicans have nothing to play for, as they don’t control their first-round pick this season. But the Atlanta Hawks could benefit from New Orleans’ injury report today, as Trey Murphy III ($7,800), Zion Williamson ($7,600), Dejounte Murray ($7,400), Saddiq Bey ($6,900), Yves Missi ($6,100), and Herbert Jones ($4,700) are all out. James Borrego will have to rely heavily on players like Hawkins, who had 25 points, six rebounds, and four assists (47.5 FPTS) in the Pelicans’ win over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday. The 14th overall pick in 2023 has been in and out of New Orleans’ rotation this season, but he’s displayed flashes of high-level scoring, especially during his rookie campaign.
Hawkins’ task would’ve been easier had the Celtics beaten the New York Knicks last night to secure the second seed in the Eastern Conference, but it’s possible that Boston sits many of its best players anyway. It’s almost a guarantee that Jayson Tatum ($10,000) will sit, since he hasn’t yet played a back-to-back since returning from the torn Achilles that he suffered last spring. Derrick White ($7,600) and Payton Pritchard ($7,000) both played heavy minutes last night, and the Knicks have a tougher matchup than the Celtics do tonight. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if one of those two sat as well.
SF/PF Klay Thompson, Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs, $3,800
It’s somewhat stunning that Thompson, a five-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer, now counts as a “value” option, but given that he’s averaging just 19.0 FPTS per game this season, that’s a fair characterization. Still, Thompson has produced some solid numbers in two of his last three games, including 18 points (23.8 FPTS) on seven-for-13 shooting (four-for-10 from deep) last Friday against the Dallas Mavericks. Thompson could have a fairly significant role with Naji Marshall ($6,400), P.J. Washington ($6,200), Brandon Williams ($5,000), and Daniel Gafford ($4,800) all doubtful.
On paper, San Antonio is a difficult matchup, given that it has had the league’s second-best defense since February 1. But the Spurs are locked into the second seed in the West, so they don’t have much of a reason to play Stephon Castle ($8,000), who’s dealing with knee soreness. Victor Wembanyama ($11,500) could play 20 minutes to secure his award eligibility, but he could also do that in San Antonio’s season finale against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. If Wembanyama ends up sitting, the Spurs’ defense drops from the league’s best to roughly league-average. Even if he does suit up, San Antonio also gives up a lot of open threes, allowing the ninth-most per game this season.
PF/C Larry Nance Jr., Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks, $3,000
The Cavaliers could still catch New York for the third seed in the conference, so they should be motivated to play their best players, but they clearly don’t see much of a difference between playing Atlanta and playing the Toronto Raptors in the first round, since both Donovan Mitchell ($9,100) and Jarrett Allen ($6,200) will sit. In addition, Thomas Bryant ($4,500) won’t be available as he deals with a calf strain, leaving Cleveland without a center. Nance hasn’t played consistently as of late, but he had 10 points (16.8 FPTS) on Monday, and his DFS salary as the same as that of players who are out for the season. Any FPTS that he provides are a bonus.
The Hawks should play their best players, given that they’re in need of at least one more win to secure a top-six seed in the conference, but despite their hot form as of late, they’ve still been pretty gettable against opposing bigs. For the season, Atlanta has allowed the 11th-most FPTS per game against centers. The Hawks have improved a lot defensively since elevating CJ McCollum ($6,200) to the starting lineup in place of Zaccharie Risacher ($3,000), but not having Jock Landale ($4,800) could matter, especially on the glass.
