Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 5/12/16 Playoffs Thursday and Friday bring us two more elimination games. OKC is hosting the Spurs, trying to knock them out on their home court. I’m pretty sure they’d rather avoid a Game 7 in San Antonio. Toronto will be at the Heat. If they can close out the series on the road, that’ll go a long way towards reversing their rep as postseason chokers. It would also be the franchise’s first appearance in the Conference Finals. What’s the impact for DFS? Lots of motivation, lots of minutes for the top rotation guys, and plenty of production from the teams’ stars. You’ll see that reflected below. Now’s your chance to get DFSR Pro with MLB Optimal Lineups, Projections and Player Cards. Or try a free trial of our base package with projections for every player. While the seasons overlap, you'll get access to our tools for the NBA and NHL as well! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA? Be sure to read our free NBA Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. We've also launched a Stats and Research Page, which includes a lot of the individual statistics that we use to make our projections. It's free! Enjoy.   San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder Analysis Wow. OKC stole one on the road. I have to admit… didn’t see that coming. The Thunder now have a chance to close out the series at home. Given the comeback they had to mount to win Game 5, it’s hard to say they can’t produce down the stretch. That said, one game a trend does not make. To lose that “hero ball” rep, they’ll need to get it done on Thursday. The result on Tuesday did involve Westbrook and Durant dominating the ball, but the difference seemed to be the activity by Steven Adams and Enes Kanter. We can only hope that they learned something from that, and the stars begin displaying more trust in their (extremely talented) supporting cast. The Spurs failed to close out the game despite the heroic efforts of Kawhi Leonard. His teammates missed shots and allowed offensive rebounds. The officiating didn’t hurt either. I’m expecting a close, hard-fought game on Thursday, where the usual suspects dominate the ball, come up with big performances, and execution down the stretch determines the outcome of the game. Not very original, but the script fits. It also drives the DFS epectations. Top Plays Russell Westbrook - FD 11100 DK 11100 Opponent - SAS FD Proj. Pts - 54.71 DK Proj. Pts - 56.59...

Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 5/7/16 Playoffs Now’s your chance to get DFSR Pro with NBA Optimal Lineups, Projections, Player Cards and Google Chrome extension that auto-populates your lineups into FanDuel. Or try a free trial of our base package with projections for every player. While the seasons overlap, you'll get access to our tools for the NBA and NHL (and MLB when the time comes)! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA? Be sure to read our free NBA Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. We've also launched a Stats and Research Page, which includes a lot of the individual statistics that we use to make our projections. It's free! Enjoy.   Toronto Raptors at Miami Heat Analysis After two games, we’ve had two slow, grinding contests. They both went to OT, yet I wasn’t particularly entertained. I guess if I was a Heat or Raptors fan… Maybe if I had a DFS lineup to stir my interest? Great idea! The problem here is the game’s likely low Pace, given the teams’ defenses, playing styles, and performances to date. That makes it hard to project players from either side to have a particularly good fantasy night. The players who look to get the most touches won’t get that many relative to a typical game (or the other game on the slate). The higher priced (over $7k) options here do not project to have good multiples. One or two might have strong performances, but it’s impossible to expect that on average. We know D-Wade will be clutch, but that doesn’t mean he’ll put up 30. Is anyone out there willing to run Lowry in a cash contest? There are a couple of solid mid-tier plays, but tread carefully with anyone else in this one. Top Plays DeMarre Carroll - FD 4800 DK 4300 Opponent - MIA FD Proj. Pts - 24.78 DK Proj. Pts - 26.76 Carroll is the second-best SF option for Saturday’s slate on FD. Fortunately you get (have) to play two, meaning Demarre is a solid play there. On DK it’s a different (even better) story. His significantly lower price, combined with the favorable scoring system, render him the top SF option, and arguably the play of the night at any position. Will he put up a 9x like last game? You can’t expect that, but somewhere between a 9x and Game 1’s 5x seems reasonable. We like him to go over 6x on average. Get him in your lineups. Jonas Valanciunas - FD 7000 DK 7000 Opponent - MIA FD Proj. Pts...

Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/29/16 Opening Round Friday’s schedule is full of late-series elimination games. Charlotte will try to finish off the Heat at home, while the Blazers and Raptors will attempt to end their respective series on the road. Elimination games up the intensity even further and it will be interesting to see if the road teams can close out in front of hostile crowds. Game 6 at home down 3-2 amounts to a Game 7 for the host. Game 5 in all three series was tightly contested until the end (the Blazers pulled away early in the fourth quarter). If you add it all up, we should have a full slate of compelling contests. The real DFS narrative on Friday is much like Wednesday – there are (even) few(er) options to spend salary. The bargains are so good you pretty much have to play them, and the handful of upper-end players are likely to be widely owned as well. Much of the player analysis below centers on salary and math (and the lack of choices you’re left with). Note that this article’s format changed when the playoffs started. Additionally, there won’t be a separate update article. Check back to this article throughout the day Friday and review the discussion in the comments below for updated information.   Now’s your chance to get DFSR Pro with NBA Optimal Lineups, Projections, Player Cards and Google Chrome extension that auto-populates your lineups into FanDuel. Or try a free trial of our base package with projections for every player. While the seasons overlap, you'll get access to our tools for the NBA and NHL (and MLB when the time comes)! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA? Be sure to read our free NBA Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. We've also launched a Stats and Research Page, which includes a lot of the individual statistics that we use to make our projections. It's free! Enjoy.   Toronto Raptors at Indianapolis Pacers Analysis This series has seen some stop-on-a-dime momentum switches. Before Game 5, the margin of victory in each contest was double digits. Two of those four victories were by the road team, so home court hasn’t been a decisive factor, nor have injuries played a role. I’m sure a lot of people anticipate another Raptors playoff choke, and our offshore friends have in fact given the Pacers roughly four points relative to their previous home lines. The Raptors switched up their rotations in Game 5, giving Luis Scola a DNP-CD, starting Patrick Patterson, and essentially...

Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/27/16 Opening Round Wednesday brings us three games (essentially a full slate in the playoffs), with an interesting twist: instead of two early games overlapping, we have two late games that will tip off 30 minutes apart. That has obvious ramifications for lineup lock on sites that don’t allow late substitutions. The real theme of the night is injury. The Warriors only have one serious injury, but it’s fairly important (if you consider losing the likely MVP and best player in the league “important”). Don’t feel too bad for GSW though – the Clippers just lost their best TWO players (apologies to DeAndre Jordan). There are some (relatively) “sure things” and there will be many low-price bargain opportunities. The problem is that there are limited opportunities to spend your salary. Most lineups will contain the same high-end picks. Selecting the right low-salary players will likely make the difference in cashing. That said, the picks below mainly focus on the higher-end guys, because they're (literally) predictable. The punt options will be numerous, but clearly identifying them is educated guessing. I’ll throw out some cheaper guys for consideration, but use them as a point of reference, and don’t consider them locks by any stretch. Note that this article’s format changed when the playoffs started. Additionally, there won’t be a separate update article. Check back to this article throughout the day Wednesday and review the discussion in the comments below for updated information.   Now’s your chance to get DFSR Pro with NBA Optimal Lineups, Projections, Player Cards and Google Chrome extension that auto-populates your lineups into FanDuel. Or try a free trial of our base package with projections for every player. While the seasons overlap, you'll get access to our tools for the NBA and NHL (and MLB when the time comes)! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA? Be sure to read our free NBA Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. We've also launched a Stats and Research Page, which includes a lot of the individual statistics that we use to make our projections. It's free! Enjoy.   Charlotte Hornets at Miami Heat Analysis This will be the most predictable game of the night. That’s quite a statement, given that the series hasn’t been consistent. After the Heat thrashed the Hornets twice in Miami, Charlotte went home and promptly clobbered the Heat in Game 3. The Hornets followed that with a tightly contested victory in Game 4. Three of the previous games were comfortable wins by the home team. The Heat are...

Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/22/16 Opening Round Friday brings the next batch of first round Game 3s. These series shift to the lower seeds’ court, increasing the likelihood of closer games. At least, that’s what we’d expect. Thursday’s early games were both romps for the road team. That would indicate that home court advantage isn’t a big factor when significantly lower seeds are the teams at home. We have some information (or hardly any at all if you’re a statistician), but not many conclusions to be drawn. Perhaps the appropriate response is to focus on matchups and minutes. That’s really what we do in DFS to begin with. I want to point out that you’ll find exactly zero Spurs and Grizzlies recommended. The blowout risk, dicey rotations, and simple overall mismatch are too much. You’ll also find a pretty tight range of salaries. This is not the night to hunt for punts, as the options are too unpredictable for cash games, the focus of these recommendations. Note that this article’s format changed when the playoffs started. Additionally, there won’t be a separate update article. Check back to this article throughout the day Friday and review the discussion in the comments below for updated information.   Now’s your chance to get DFSR Pro with NBA Optimal Lineups, Projections, Player Cards and Google Chrome extension that auto-populates your lineups into FanDuel. Or try a free trial of our base package with projections for every player. While the seasons overlap, you'll get access to our tools for the NBA and NHL (and MLB when the time comes)! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA? Be sure to read our free NBA Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. We've also launched a Stats and Research Page, which includes a lot of the individual statistics that we use to make our projections. It's free! Enjoy.   Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons Analysis Cleveland followed up a close win in Game 1 with a much more comfortable one in Game 2, blowing things open in the third quarter. The Cavs are only getting four points in this game after giving eleven in the first two, indicating that our friends in the desert and offshore think the Pistons are likely to keep things close again. That suggests plenty of run for the regular rotation players, even more for the guys who see the most court time given that rotations are tighter in the playoffs. In the last game, the Pistons ran their starters most of the game, but they weren’t very effective....