Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 5/3/17

It's another two game slate in the NBA following blowouts from the Cavs and Rockets respectively in the first games of these series.

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Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers

Well, the Cavs came to play in this series huh? While the final score only had Cleveland winning by 11, this game never really felt all that close. They commanded the game through the three ball, jacking up 34 attempts and shooting 41% from beyond the arc. This the Cleveland team many were waiting for during the regular season and they’ve now won five straight to start the playoffs.

But of course the real story here is Lebron. He was dominant in this game, controlling all of the action and basically doing as he pleased on the offensive end. The Raptors had no way to even create a speed bump for the guy as he finished with a 35/10/4 line and his presence opened up all kinds of open looks around the perimeter. One game does not a series make, but the Cavs came out guns blazing and the Raptors have to be a little worried about their ability to stop James. Another positive sign was Lebron shooting 7-8 from the line, his one weakness during the regular season.

It wasn’t only Lebron though as Kyrie Irving posted a fantastic 24/10 line with a the assists coming somewhat out of nowhere. For a point guard he isn’t exactly a distributor so I wouldn’t expect those numbers to continue though it is a positive sign.

The Raptors got a solid fantasy performance from Kyle Lowry and he should be able to continue exploiting the weaker point of the Cavs D in Irving. I still like the former’s minutes floor and he makes for a solid upside DFS play at his prices.

Dear Derozan struggled to find the mid range game with the Caves locking up that part of the court knowing he wouldn’t challenge them from beyond the arc. I wouldn’t be surprised with a bounce back (to some degree) from him but the Cavs clearly had a plan with him on the defensive end. They’ll clearly live with only 16 shots per game from DDR.

PJ Tucker had a ridiculous 13/11 game that could make him a popular play in Game 2, but I’d be cautious. This is way beyond anything he’s done leading up to this game and strikes me as a total outlier even with the minutes.

Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs

The Rockets pulled off somewhat of a shocker in Game 1, beating the Spurs by 27 on the road. It has to have San Antonio just a little concerned with how they were dominated and will have to do something to limit the three point looks from Houston. The Rockets took an ungodly 50 threes in this game and shot 44%. If their plan is to just jack threes from now to infinity then this could be a high variance series. It’s going to be tough to beat a team with that kind of efficiency and volume. But if the trey isn’t falling then things get interesting. There’s no reason to count the Spurs out after one game, but man that first game was something.

It’s hard to get a true sense of rotations and minutes from this one simply because the game was well over by the start of the fourth quarter and everyone lost run in the blowout. James Harden is still a fantastic deal on DraftKings where he comes in about 1K cheaper than Lebron. Harden was fantastic going 20/14 in only 31 minutes and chipped in four steals as well.

Trevor Ariza was another high floor play and he should continue seeing big minutes in this series. His price is up a little but makes a solid mid tier play. The same can be said of Eric Gordon and Lou Williams who should both see solid minutes even off the bench.

From the Spurs side, we are left again guessing at their overall rotations in the series. Kawhi Leonard was solid enough in his time on the court, going 21/11/6 in only 32 minutes and also got to the line 8 times. He’ll need to play huge minutes in Game 2 for San Antonio to take back control of this series.

LaMarcus Aldridge was a complete non-factor in Game 1 and it continues a disturbing trend around his lack of a real role on this team. While power forward is a thin position, I think you can safely fade him at this point.

I still think you could see solid minutes out of Tony Parker and David Lee if the game stays close with both coming on the cheaper side. But we are still playing a guessing game on the Spurs’ plans.

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