FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Playoff Picks - Tuesday 4/23/19

 
On Monday, the Bucks took care of business closing out the Pistons. But the Rockets couldn't do the same with the Jazz extending the series at least one more game. On Tuesday, the Raptors, Sixers and Blazers will all look to get out of the first round. Head on over a for your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NBA FanDuel and DraftKings optimizer, our MLB Optimizer our player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. First time with NBA or MLB? Be sure to read our free NBA and MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.

Magic (11.5) vs. Raptors (-11.5)

Vegas Projected Score: Toronto 108.75 - Orlando 97.25
Over/Under: 206
Series: Toronto 3-1

After that first game upset, Toronto has taken care of business against the Magic. They won the next three games, two in rather convincing fashion. Game 4 was really never in doubt and the Raptors won by 22 when it was all said and done.

The series now shifts back to Toronto where it sure seems like the Raptors will take care of business against a feisty, but outgunned Magic squad.

Orlando Value

Evan Fournier FD - $5100 DK - $5100
Opponent - TOR
Proj Pts FD - 28.5 DK - 29.69
We’ve written up Fournier as a *value* play over the last couple of games mostly because he’s one of the few Magic players seeing healthy minutes even if the games get out of hand. He ran 35 in Game 4, finishing with 19 points on 8-16 shooting (second most attempts on the team). He’s reliant on scoring to hit value, so the shot needs to fall. But considering the price, I’m still on board for playing him here in cash games.

Toronto Value

Kawhi Leonard FD - $9800 DK - $8300
Opponent - ORL
Proj Pts FD - 46.89 DK - 47.14
After struggling some from the field in Game 3, Kawhi bounced back in Game 4 and turned in a superstar level performance with 34 points on 12-20 shooting. He also got the line nine times and grabbed six rebounds. The Magic don’t have many answers on the defensive end when he gets cooking and the price still hasn’t totally gotten to the point where he’s going to dust you even if the shot isn’t falling.

Pascal Siakam FD - $8600 DK - $7500
Opponent - ORL
Proj Pts FD - 41.76 DK - 41.86
Siakam was something of a disappointment in Game 4, finishing with 16 points and six rebounds in 36 minutes. He and Lowry have such a crazy high minutes’ floor in close games and if Orlando can keep it close then pushing 40 minutes for Siakam is in the cards. He’s getting expensive because of this opportunity, but at a weaker power forward position then I’m fine running him out there again.

Kyle Lowry (FD $8000 DK $7000) who is still playing a ton of minutes even when the game seems locked up. The fantasy performance has been hit or miss especially as he cedes usage to Leonard and Siakam. But few other players have this kind of minutes threshold.

Nets (8.5) vs. 76ers (-8.5)

Vegas Projected Score: Philadelphia 119 - Brooklyn 110.5
Over/Under: 229.5
Series: Philadelphia 3-1

The Sixers took care of business in Game 4 getting the (somewhat) surprise start from Joel Embiid, weathering a Jared Dudley dustup (in which Embiid had the quote of the playoffs so far) and getting some late shooting from Mike Scott to seal the deal. With the series heading back to Philly and Embiid getting healthier, this could be the end of the line for Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Value

Caris Levert FD - $6900 DK - $5900
Opponent - PHI
Proj Pts FD - 36.42 DK - 37.03
The Nets made a starting lineup change leading into Game 4 and were almost able to take the new rotations and turn it into a win. The big move was moving Caris Levert out of the sixth man role and into the two-guard over Kurucs. The former played a whopping 42 minutes in the loss, going for 25 points, six rebounds and five assists. One has to imagine the Nets stick with this for Game 5 and Levert could be the chalkiest player on the slate considering the price didn’t move up enough to reflect the new opportunity.

Joe Harris (FD $4300 DK $4200) has struggled all series with his shot, but he’s still playing and coming close to punt prices. He can catch fire from beyond the arc and if he does then he could make for an awesome value.

Also, consider Jarrett Allen who’s been able to stay on the court more than I expected with Embiid out there.

Philadelphia Value

Joel Embiid FD - $11300 DK - $10000
Opponent - BKN
Proj Pts FD - 53.56 DK - 55.57
Embiid just utterly destroyed the Nets in Game 4, going for 31 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and six blocks in just 32 minutes. Brooklyn just has absolutely nothing close to an answer for him on the blocks and it stands to reason Philly will continue to force-feed him in the post. The only real concern with Embiid, from a fantasy perspective is the minutes still being capped as Philly tries to manage the knee injury. But that’s also the only thing keeping his price from being the most expensive on the slate.

Tobias Harris FD - $8300 DK - $6800
Opponent - BKN
Proj Pts FD - 37.9 DK - 39.16
The Sixers have been perfectly willing to run Harris close to max minutes in this series. His length and versatility help him match up well against this wing-heavy Brooklyn team. He took the second-most shots on the team in Game 4 (20) and put together a well-rounded line. As always, at this point in the playoffs, we are looking to buy as many minutes for the least amount of salary. Harris fits the bill when it comes to that run.

Spurs (5.5) vs. Nuggets (-5.5)

Vegas Projected Score: Denver 109 - San Antonio 103.5
Over/Under: 212.5
Series: 2-2

The series is tied 2-2 with each team stealing an away game. Now it heads back to Denver where the Nuggets have had a decided home court advantage this season. They were 34-7 at home, the best record in the league. I keep waiting for Denver to just wrestle full control in this series and I think this is the game where it happens.

San Antonio Value

Kind of none. Derrick White made a brief, stud performance in Game 3 but then came back down to Earth in Game 4. For their respective prices, I don’t trust much on the San Antonio side of things in DFS at this point.

Denver Value

Torrey Craig FD - $4600 DK - $3400
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 24.46 DK - 24.21
The Nuggets made a starting lineup switch, moving Torrey Craig into Will Barton’s slot for Game 4. You could say the move worked with Craig playing 37 minutes in the win and finishing with 18 points and eight rebounds. One should expect that move to stick and Craig’s price hasn’t corrected for the new opportunity. This is about as close as you’ll get to a punt play on these playoff slates and I expect him to have heavy ownership in cash games.

Gary Harris FD - $5300 DK - $5100
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 27.12 DK - 27.51
I still think Gary Harris is a fair price on both sites considering his minutes expectation is solid and he can knock down threes. The addition of Torrey Craig to the starting lineup did (possibly) cut into Harris’ run, but I’m not so worried about it in this game.

Look, if Nikola Jokic (FD $10500 DK $9300) is going to run 39 minutes per game from here on out, then he’s criminally underpriced. But I just don’t think that should be the expectation.

Thunder (3.5) vs. Trail Blazers (-3.5)

Vegas Projected Score: Portland 111.25 - Oklahoma City 107.75
Over/Under: 219
Series: Portland 3-1

The Blazers have the Thunder on the ropes with the series going back to Portland. They’ve been able to frustrate Westbrook and company and kept the Thunder under triple-digit scoring in three of the four games. That’s a moderately impressive feat though OKC has really highlighted (or low lighted depending on the way you look at it) just how much trouble they have scoring when Russ and PG aren’t carrying the total load.

Oklahoma City Value

At this point you are kind of just hoping for ceiling games from Russell Westbrook (FD $11500 DK $10200) and/or Paul George (FD $10700 DK $9000). Both are solid bargains on DraftKings where it’s really tough to fade them even though the Thunder could be a dead team walking here. Stacking them in the hope that OKC keeps the game close/ wins and they each play around 40+ minutes should provide you a higher floor. I’m just a little worried that Russ might be fully checked out here and PG is playing hurt.

Portland Value

Damian Lillard FD - $10000 DK - $8800
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 49.37 DK - 50.87 Lillard is still very much a deal on DraftKings at sub-$9K. He’s having an amazing series, averaging 29 points per game along with six assists. Dame is shooting 45% from three and is taking around 21 shots per game. The Thunder have had very few answers around the perimeter for Lillard and CJ McCollum who’ve torched them all series long.

Maurice Harkless (FD $5400 DK $4600) and Al-Farouq Aminu (FD $5500 DK $4700) have proven useful lineup fillers over the course of this series and the latter is coming off a near-career game last time out. I still think these guys are about as close to solid *punt* plays as you’ll find on these playoff slates.