Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and DraftStreet 4/20/14

Playoffs in the NBA are tough. Who saw yesterday coming? Clips and Pacers lose? Are you kidding? But man it's a great time of year. Let's kill another Sunday. Games all day.

Quick note about NBA playoff DFS. Gone are the Sixers, Bucks and Lakers of the world to feast on. Only the good teams are left. And the superstars are priced accordingly. The margins are thin here. Tread carefully.

Be sure to sign up for our FanDuel Projection system which is available for the playoffs.  And give a follow on Twitter @dailyfantasysr. Let's get to the picks.

 

Point Guards

I'm going as cheap as humanly possible at point guard today. The higher priced options have tough matchups that I don't think I can stomach. Wall faces the Bulls and Damian Lillard will be guarded by Beverley.

Patrick Beverley - FanDuel $5,100 DraftKings $4,600 DraftStreet $9,669
Speaking of. I do like putting him on the other side of Lillard. This game will feature a million points and Patrick should stand to benefit from the volume. He has peaks and valleys, but you need to probably take the risk today to get some other money in elsewhere. And Portland is stinky against opposing point guards.

Mario Chalmers - FanDuel $5,300 DraftKings $5,500 DraftStreet $9,440
Our system has him at the top PG option today, but I'm a little wary. Chalmers doesn't get as much exposure when the Heat are rolling fully healthy and with D Wade back, Chalmers takes a little of a backseat. That being said, the minutes will be there and the price is right.

 

Shooting Guards

Wesley Matthews - FanDuel $5,400 DraftKings $5,600 DraftStreet $10,375
To get some of the big money guys in on a short slate without a ton of available punts, guys like Matthews are key. I don't know if you've seen the video of James Harden's "defense" but it's worth it. Check it out here if you have 11 minutes. It's amazing. Anyway, he;ll be guarding Wes and the Rockets defensive numbers back up the footage. Shooting guards score 11% more than league average against the Rockets. This will be a high scoring game and you'll need exposure to it.

Manu Ginobili - FanDuel $4,900 DraftKings $5,100 DraftStreet $8,536
I'm speculating bit here, but I think Manu sees a couple extra minutes now that the playoffs are here. The playoffs could be the opposite of getting Pop'd, in which we see the Spurs' big names playing the minutes we expect. Take this into account as remember, their prices a bit depressed because of the uncertainty/ lack of output based on minutes consideration.

 

Small Forwards

Nicolas Batum - FanDuel $7,400 DraftKings $7,500 DraftStreet $14,362
For the dollars, Batum has the biggest upside at small forward today. If this game is close and super high scoring, he'll benefit simply by being there. If he's taking an active role in the offense, then watch out. The question around Batum is the money. His salary is right in the upper middle tier which can be tough to slot in without any great cheap options.

Kawhi Leonard - FanDuel $6,700 DraftKings $6,900 DraftStreet $14,309
Small forward sucks, why would the playoffs be any different? But Leonard offers some nice expectation because of Dallas's struggle with small forwards. The Mavs are really deficient in the areas of defending scoring and assists from the position. The only thing I get scared of with Kawhi is that with all Spurs on deck now, his role isn't as defined.

Mike Dunleavy - FanDuel $5,400 DraftKings $5,000 DraftStreet $10,679
Could offer you some salary relief from a guy who plays a ton of minutes. Not a ridiculous amount of upside, but seems safe.

 

Power Forwards

LaMarcus Aldridge - FanDuel $9,600 DraftKings $9,500 DraftStreet $17,414
Like I said, you'll need exposure to this game, and it comes down to what big money guy can offer the biggest return. That's a tough call. I like Aldridge for a lot of reasons. In four games against the Rockets this season, Aldridge has averaged 26/16. Some of that is bolstered on the back of a monster early in the season, but the numbers do kind of speak for themselves. He creates a big mismatch for Houston that I'm sure the Blazers will work to exploit.

Tim Duncan - FanDuel $7,300 DraftKings $8,300 DraftStreet $16,516
Could be the steal of the day. Duncan just needs minutes. He is still close to an elite power forward on the statistical side, just he sits for long stretches during the regular season. Not anymore. The Mavericks are below average against power forwards and Duncan should see thirty or more minutes.

Terrence Jones - FanDuel $6,200 DraftKings $5,800 DraftStreet $13,485
I want to get as much salary in on this game as possible. Terrence, as we know, has crazy upside. That being said, his splits against the Blazers are terrible. I'm skeptical.

 

Centers

Al Jefferson - FanDuel $10,000 DraftKings $9,800 DraftStreet $19,567
Al Jeff is one of the top plays on the board mostly because the Heat struggle so mightily against the opposing center. Assuming the teams that are in the mix are good (playoffs and all), the Heat problem at center is one of the biggest defensive deficiencies in the playoffs. And I think you need to target it. It's hard to think about doing this considering the line and the over/ under but the Heat have allowed 10% more scoring and rebounding than league average to opposing centers.

Dwight Howard - FanDuel $8,000 DraftKings $9,600 DraftStreet $14,776
Is coming at a discount as compared the other big names out there. This is for a reason. It's tough to know exactly what he'll give. That being said, he has had a tremendous amount of success against the Blazers this year, averaging a 26/14 in his four games. I think he will be a heavy GPP start because of the price and upside. If there is one guy you might see a massive price correction on between now and the next time these teams play, it's Dwight.