Four of the eight first-round playoff series are now over, after the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics joined the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round and the New York Knicks fell just short of doing so. Two more teams will have a chance to close their series tonight: the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Here are my three favorite must-start players from tonight’s two games.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $350K Shootaround [$100K to 1st]
PG Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, $10,800
Los Angeles has been arguably the postseason’s most disappointing team, falling behind 3-1 to a red-hot Timberwolves unit after entering the tournament with championship expectations. But besides a Game 3 stinker in which he was dealing with an illness, Dončić hasn’t been the problem, at least offensively. He’s scored 30 or more points (46.75 FPTS) in each of games in which he’s been healthy, and while he hasn’t been as consistent as a playmaker — recording two games with two or fewer assists — he’s still averaging 30.8 points, seven boards, and five assists (50.4 FPTS) per game on solid 47-37-94 shooting splits. Dončić has consistently produced masterpieces with his back against the wall — his efforts in Game 7 against the LA Clippers in 2021 and against the Phoenix Suns in 2023 come to mind.
It’s not that Jaden McDaniels ($5,800) hasn’t done a capable job defending him; in some 32 minutes guarding him, he’s held the Slovenian to 41 points, eight assists, and five turnovers on 16-for-36 shooting and three-for-13 from deep while fouling him just twice. But there’s no particularly effective defense against Dončić, who can manufacture switches to get either Anthony Edwards ($9,100) or Julius Randle ($7,100), both of whom he’s cooked this series. Now that his stomach bug appears to be behind him, backing a pure three-level scorer and jumbo playmaker with the fifth-highest playoff usage rate seems like a smart idea, regardless of his salary.
C Alperen Şengün, Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors, $9,000
The Rockets’ young role players have been unsurprisingly inconsistent in their first playoff series. Amen Thompson ($6,900) is worthy of consideration, especially given his comparatively cheap salary, but his lack of shooting is a concern and held him to fewer than 30 FPTS in each of the first three games of the series. Jalen Green ($6,700), too, has had three single-digit scoring performances and a 38-point (61.0-FPT) outburst in Houston’s Game 2 win. Of all of the Rockets’ young guys, Şengün’s floor is the highest — since he’s a constant threat for 10 boards and five assists — so he’s well worth his higher salary. Something like his Game 4 performance — 31 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and two steals (56.5 FPTS) — will be needed if Houston wants to send the series back to the Bay Area.
Udoka needs to keep rolling out the double-big lineup featuring both Şengün and Steven Adams ($3,600), given that that duo has blitzed Golden State to the tune of 24.5 points per 100 possessions and recorded nearly 19 more rebounds per 100 possessions in the 50 minutes that they have taken the court together. Big-to-big lobs, with Şengün at the elbow and Adams in the dunker spot, have worked out well against the Warriors’ undersized front. Having another capable post player might also direct some of Draymond Green ($6,200)‘s attention away from Şengün, who has been largely limited by the 2016-17 DPOY.
SF/PF Jaden McDaniels, Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers, $5,800
When McDaniels made all three of his three-pointers and scored a playoff career-high 23 points (42.75 FPTS) in Game 1, it seemed like a bit of a fluke to Lakers fans, a perception that was seemingly confirmed when he dropped just eight points (16.0 FPTS) in Game 2. But he bounced back with 30 more (41.75 FPTS) and his first career playoff double-double with a 16-point, 11-rebound (37.75-FPT) effort in Game 4. He’s not even killing Los Angeles from deep, just being ultra-efficient from two-point range and playing stifling defense on both Dončić and Austin Reaves ($6,800). So far this series, the Timberwolves have been 34.7 points per 100 possessions better with McDaniels on the floor than with him on the bench.
Some of McDaniels’ performance is shooting luck; the Lakers have gotten a defender within four feet of him on 57.9% of his shot attempts, a significant uptick from the 45.2% of his shots that were tightly contested in the regular season, and he has been slightly more efficient on those than he was during the regular season. But at six-foot-nine, he’s too tall and has too high of a release to be bothered much by the six-foot-seven Dončić or the six-foot-five Reaves; JJ Redick might want to explore putting the six-foot-nine LeBron James ($9,000) on him in Dončić’s stead. McDaniels has also gotten more efficient looks, with his average shot coming just 9.4 feet from the basket, 3.4 feet closer than during the regular season.
