The NBA Playoffs continue Monday with a three-game slate. DraftKings continues to offer huge contests for DFS players, and below, I dive into two of my favorite bargain plays for this slate.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $350K Shootaround [$100K to 1st]
PF/C, Naz Reid, Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets, $5,100
With both Anthony Edwards (knee) and Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles) exiting early with serious injuries during Saturday’s Game 4 vs. the Nuggets, Reid stepped up off the bench, delivering 34.75 FPTS across 27.5 minutes. Both Edwards and DiVincenzo are out tonight. Reid is an elite value play in their absences, as the Timberwolves look to close out the Nuggets in Denver.
Reid hasn’t played any full games with both Edwards and DiVincenzo inactive this season, but in the 18 he has played without Edwards, Reid is producing 30 FPTS in 26.5 minutes. With both Edwards and DiVincenzo off the floor, Reid’s usage rises 2.2 percentage points to 24.5% and he scores 1.2 FPTS per minute.
Reid should receive 25-30 minutes tonight and exceed five times the value with ease against this struggling Nuggets’ defense that ranks 11th in rating of the 16 playoff teams this postseason.
SF/PF, Alex Caruso, Oklahoma City Thunder at Phoenix Suns, $4,100
With Jalen Williams (hamstring) sidelined, Caruso makes a ton of sense at his low salary. Williams missed Saturday’s Game 3 win over the Suns and Caruso finished with 25.75 FPTS across 22 minutes off the bench. The savvy veteran shot 5-of-9 from the field, racked up two stocks and finished with a +17 in the box score, which ranked second for the Thunder in the victory.
Caruso was a part of Oklahoma City’s closing lineup and he should log right around 20 minutes again tonight with Williams unavailable. Caruso is generating 0.9 FPTS per minute with a 16% usage rate with Williams off the court this season and this is a friendly matchup. This postseason, the Suns rank second-to-last in defensive rating and the club is turning the ball over at the fourth-highest rate, which is great news for a pesky defender like Caruso.
Caruso has 25-30 FPTS upside and he should come with decently low ownership for this three-game slate. For Saturday’s four-game slate, Caruso was only rostered by 6.8% of the field in the $200K Shootaround on DraftKings.
