Monday, June 13, sees the NBA Finals resume in Golden State with both teams tied at two games apiece. The Boston Celtics have only lost consecutive games once in the postseason, so tonight should be interesting to say the least. The game tips off at 9 p.m. ET on DraftKings and FanDuel. Let’s take a look at the player pool and break down the best NBA DFS picks today for DraftKings and FanDuel lineups.
DraftKings & FanDuel NBA DFS Picks Today (6/13)
Jayson Tatum | Boston Celtics
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 51.71 | FanDuel: 49.41
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Ownership Projections: DraftKings: 61.4% | FanDuel: 57.7%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $11,000 | FanDuel: $16,000
Jayson Tatum led Boston with a whopping 42.7 minutes as coach Ime Udoka further condensed their rotation on Friday. Boston held serve with a 54-49 lead heading into halftime, though the Warriors led by 1 at the end of the third and turned on the jets in the fourth, gaining an additional 9 points.
Once again, Tatum contributed across the board with 23 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and a steal, with the only knock being that he was 8-for-23 from the field. To his credit, he was 4-of-8 from downtown, but he will need to convert a couple more buckets tonight if the C’s are going to win.
Ben Rasa gives you his Celtics vs. Warriors prediction for Game 5 of the NBA Finals tonight.
Stephen Curry | Golden State Warriors
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 47.86 | FanDuel: 45.25
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Ownership Projections: DraftKings: 61.4% | FanDuel: 56.0%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $11,400 | FanDuel: $15,500
Stephen Curry did not seem to be impacted by his foot/ankle issue, and he was most definitely in the zone on Friday. In 41 minutes of action, Curry was 14-of-26 from the field, including 7-of-14 from long distance, and he converted 8-of-9 free-throw attempts. On top of that, he wrangled 10 rebounds while handing out four assists on his way to 64 DraftKings and 56 FanDuel points. There is not much else to say about Curry, as that was his sixth 50-fantasy-point performance in the last 10 games on DraftKings and the fourth on FanDuel.
Jaylen Brown | Boston Celtics
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 41.86 | FanDuel: 39.89
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Ownership Projections: DraftKings: 45.4% | FanDuel: 44.7%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $10.000 | FanDuel: $14.500
Jaylen Brown was solid if not spectacular from a fantasy perspective on Friday, though both sites elected to give him a slight salary increase. DraftKings has Brown at $10,000, which ties his postseason high, and FanDuel is in new territory with $14,500. Everyone is playing with the same salary cap constraints, and in the single-game format, raw points are key. In two of the last four games, Brown has tallied at least 40 fantasy points, though he was just over 30 and just under 30 in the other pair of games, both of which were losses. Unless this game is lopsided down the stretch, Brown should, again, be in the mix for 40 to 42 minutes. Currently, he is projected to be on 45% of all lineups; this is appropriate, so if his projected popularity shifts heading into lock, the savvy strategy would be to take the opposite approach.
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Andrew Wiggins | Golden State Warriors
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 34.34 | FanDuel: 33.94
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Ownership Projections: DraftKings: 58.8% | FanDuel: 39.5%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $7,600 | FanDuel: $12,500
Andrew Wiggins had himself a game on Friday in a mega performance on the glass with 16 rebounds. While we should not expect that to happen again anytime soon, it does indicate that double-digit caroms are in play. Over the last 10 playoff games, it is clear that Wiggins has become the 2A with Klay Thompson working in as the 2B behind Curry on the offensive end. In this timeframe, Wiggins has averaged 15.3 field goal attempts and 37 minutes of run. This has worked out to 17.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.6 combined blocks/steals. Though his popularity is likely to surge after Friday’s performance, he is one of the best point-per-dollar options on DraftKings and in the second tier on FanDuel.
Kevon Looney | Golden State Warriors
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 18.16 | FanDuel: 18.38
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Ownership Projections: DraftKings: 22.9% | FanDuel: 23.3%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $6,200 | FanDuel: $9,500
Coach Steve Kerr tried a different approach on Friday by replacing Kevon Looney in the starting lineup with Otto Porter Jr. Clearly, it did not have the desired result, as Looney was the first player off the bench four minutes into the game and Porter did not even see his normal complement of minutes. Looney is far from a safe play, but he does have upside if things are going his way with blocks, steals and putbacks. The other thing to keep in mind is that FanDuel lowered his salary back to $9,500 from $11,000 on Friday and DraftKings has decreased it for the seventh straight game down to $6,200. It is far more difficult to get rebounds in this series, as Looney has to not only battle Draymond Green and now Wiggins, but Tatum, Brown, Al Horford and Robert Williams are all crashing the glass after every miss as well.
NBA DFS Discount Dandies
Golden State Warriors
- Otto Porter Jr: Porter will be better served coming off the bench, as he gets at least some of his run without the other starters on the floor. Once again, it makes sense to expect around 20 or 24 minutes if the game is competitive tonight. That should get him back to the 15- to 20-fantasy-point range, though with very little upside beyond that.
- Gary Payton II: Since his return to action in Game 2, Payton has seen his minutes decrease from 25 to 11 with just 10 split across two shifts on Friday. He can still be productive on the court if he gets a couple defensive stats, but thinking of him as anything more than a salary-relief options is folly.
- Nemanja Bjelica, Andre Iguodala, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody: In Game 4, only Bjelica saw the court, which is not a surprise considering Kuminga and Moody have only gotten mop-up duty in this series. Iguodala is likely out of the rotation now that Payton is healthy, and he is incredibly risky, even for the 150-maxers.
Check out Eytan Shander’s full Game 5 NBA Finals Betting Preview for tonight’s Celtics vs. Warriors game.
Andrew Wiggins is an intriguing option in the NBA player props market, particularly in the rebounding category. Despite having 16 boards in Game 4 and six or more in four of his last five appearances, currently he has a 5.5 over/under on his rebound prop. The Awesemo NBA player projections have him for 7.0 rebounds, which gives him a 71% probability of surpassing the over. Wiggins has had at least five rebounds in each of the last 10 games, with half a dozen or more in six of those matchups.
Boston Celtics
- Derrick White: In Game 4, White had 33.5 of the 58 minutes allocated to the bench unit. If Williams is on the court instead of Horford in the final frame, White is all but assured of seeing maximum run to close out the game, as the Celtics will need his offensive upside and ball-handling prowess.
- Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard: Williams saw his minutes dwindle down to 12.5 in Game 4, and Pritchard barely got 10. Something in the 12- to 15-minute range tonight is in play for each, though they do directly impact the upside potential of each other, as this is likely to be a hot-hand approach.
- Daniel Theis: DraftKings only, as Theis did not set foot on the court in Games 3 or 4. However, at $1,000, he is a tournament option both for the salary savings as well as potential mop-up duty.
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