Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 5/2/17

We are fully into round two now and man it's good to be here. Last night saw some more of the same from the Cavs who could be looking to get out of that series as quickly as possible. Tonight has us in Game 2 of the Celtics-Wizards series and a much-anticipated matchup between the methodical Jazz and the high-octane firepower of the Warriors.

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Washington Wizards at Boston Celtics

Washington lost the game and Isaiah Thomas lost a tooth. All in all it was an interesting first game of the second round. The Wizards jumped out to an early lead in Game 1, finishing the first quarter up 16. But that was the end of that as the Celtics controlled the game for the rest of the way. Isaiah Thomas continued his scoring ways, finishing with 33 points on 11-23 shooting from the field. Boston was able to switch him enough into positive defensive matchups around the arc and he capitalized as the game went on.

Al Horford had another fantastic all-around game, nearly posting a triple-double with a 21/9/10 line. If he continues to play mid 30’s minutes (and there’s no reason to suspect it will stop) Horford continues to be an fantastic C option. He creates all kinds of matchup problems for Washington because of how much time he can spend away from the basket.

Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder played big minutes for the Celtics but both of their prices are climbing after a pretty consistent playoff run. I don’t mind their floors, but it’s going to be hard wiggling in their price tags at this point.

At this point, the Wizards’ bench woes are well documented and it means continued huge run for John Wall, Bradley Beal and to a slightly lesser extent Otto Porter and Marcin Gortat. They have such a massive drop off in their bench talent that these guys are going to need to play most of the game from here on out. Wall finished with a 20/16 line and while not must plays, he and Beal are likely highest floor cash game plays in their respective price tiers simply because they stand to play so many minutes.

The big question for the Wizards tonight is the status of Markieff Morris. He left Game 1 early with an ankle injury and is questionable for tonight. His minutes were spread out to Kelly Oubre and Bojan Bogdanovich though it was Jason Smith who started for Morris when the latter was injured during the regular season. We’ll have to take a wait-and-see approach to this one.

Utah Jazz at Golden State Warriors

I don’t usually take an active rooting interest in the playoffs mostly because I just want to watch good games, but I’m glad the Jazz advanced. They are finally all healthy and put together a solid series against a Blake-less Clippers squad. Now they’ll face the Warriors who’ve been resting since easily sweeping the Trailblazers in the first round. Getting out of that series quick allowed them to rest Kevin Durant for the final two games as well as the interim. That could pay huge dividends down the line here and he should be ready to go for tonight’s game. With Durant back, it lessens the load on the rest of that core starters in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Of that group, I’d be most interested in starting Green simply because power forward is a sink hole on this two game slate. He could be a near universal start simply because there are so few options at the position.

But the rest of the Warriors are slightly too expensive considering how much of a pace-down series this will be with the Jazz. Utah played the slowest pace in the league this season and the Warrior implied total of around 109 is about as low as you’ll ever see it for them. I’m much more interested in the three other teams going tonight.

The Jazz are pretty big underdogs coming in tonight (GSW -13) but this is the first time they’ll have played the Warriors this season with their core group healthy. It will be interesting to see how it plays out especially on the defensive end. The problem they’ll have is keeping the scoring pace. It will mean we see tons of minutes out of Gordon Hayward who’ll have to front Durant on defense while also get enough looks on O. It’s a tall order. Outside of the food poisoning game, Hayward led the team in shot attempts every game for during the first round series against LA. Look for more of the same here.

I do think George Hill is something of a cheaper value considering a weaker point of the GSW D is defending opposing point guards. He should continue seeing minutes in the thirties and the Jazz will need his scoring. The same can be said of Joe Johnson though I’m concerned he’s getting too expensive for a bench player.

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