NBA DFS Picks Today (5/20/22): DraftKings & FanDuel Showdown Picks

Friday, May 20 brings Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals tipping off at at 9:00 p.m. ET on DraftKings and FanDuel. Below, we will examine the player pool and break down the best NBA DFS picks today for DraftKings and FanDuel lineups.

DraftKings & FanDuel NBA DFS Picks Today (5/20)

Luka Doncic: Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors

Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 60.42 | FanDuel: 55.9
Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 72.8% | FanDuel 73.0%
DFS Salary: DraftKings $13,600 | FanDuel $16,500

Game 1 was not anything to write home about as Luka Doncic and the Mavericks struggled against the Warriors. This is not a major surprise, as Dallas was coming off a full seven-game series against Phoenix. Abruptly changing opponents after coming off an emotional road victory against last year’s Western Conference Champions can be a cold bucket of reality. However, as we saw last night in the Eastern Conference Finals, things can change on a dime and we know that both coaches will have new wrinkles to employ tonight.

Once again, Doncic has a median fantasy projection that is 25 points higher than every player aside from Stephen Curry, who is still 15 fantasy points behind Doncic. Even with his lofty salary, Doncic has the fourth-best point-per-dollar ratio on DraftKings and the best on FanDuel. He simply deserves to be in the majority of our lineups. The only question is how many do we make before moving him out of the highest multiplier slot?

Tonight Doncic also looks like a strong option in the NBA player props market. He has a 9.5 over/under on his rebound prop and the Awesemo NBA player projections have him for 11.2 rebounds, which gives him a 68% probability of surpassing the over. Though he needs another double-digit performance on the boards to help his supporters collect on this wager, he has reached that milestone in seven-of-11 playoff appearances this postseason. In the other four games, he corralled 9, 5, 7 and 7, the latter being his Game 1 total from Wednesday.

Draymond Green: Golden State Warriors at Dallas Mavericks

Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 31.22 | FanDuel: 31.12
Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 37.9% | FanDuel 38.2%
DFS Salary: DraftKings $8,200 | FanDuel $8,200

This is a good matchup for Draymond Green, as he showed he had no trouble racking up the rebounds against the Dallas frontcourt, which tried three different center looks in the first quarter. Green contributed across the box score as usual with 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block for just over 30 fantasy points in 29 minutes. Green was only needed for seven minutes in the final frame, which was the most playing time for any member of the Warriors’ starting five. If this game is closer tonight, he should have access to 35 or 40 fantasy points with a little luck.

Latest NBA DFS Content

Jalen Brunson: Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors

Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 33.31 | FanDuel: 32.17
Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 40.9% | FanDuel 40.2%
DFS Salary: DraftKings $8,600 | FanDuel $12,000

Though Jalen Brunson did not set foot on the court in the final frame, he played every minute of both the second and third quarters. Spencer Dinwiddie started off the fourth quarter and by the time it was Brunson’s turn to go back in the game, coach Jason Kidd did a full swap to the reserves with the Mavericks facing an insurmountable lead. Brunson should be back in the mix with 36-38 minutes and that gives him an outside shot at the 40-fantasy-point mark, with a baseline of around a fantasy point per minute.

NBA DFS Discount Dandies

Dallas Mavericks

Spencer Dinwiddie: Not quite a true discount option, Dinwiddie has a salary that is very comparable to teammate Dorian Finney-Smith and the former Wizard and Nets player is projecting to be less popular. While he does not have the same path to minutes as DFS, he does have a similar median projection while having far more upside in the event foul trouble plagues Doncic or Brunson.
Maximilian Kleber: The blowout cost Maximilian Kleber a good five minutes of court time, but it did contribute to a salary decrease on both DraftKings and FanDuel. There is still a risk that Dwight Powell will cut into Kleber’s court time, but the German is still one of the prime discount dandies on Friday.
Frank Ntilikina: DraftKings only as there is a strong chance that Frank Ntilikina does not produce more than a handful of fantasy points. However, his $1,000 is the minimum on DraftKings, which provides a lot of roster flexibility.

Golden State Warriors

Kevon Looney: DraftKings increased Kevon Looney‘s salary by 10% while FanDuel was even more aggressive with a 19% adjustment. Looney only had five rebounds, but he had 10 points, which was his first double-digit scoring outburst since early March. He should start and be productive against the Dallas frontcourt, but if he sees a similar salary increase trajectory for Game 3, we may be priced out.
Otto Porter Jr.: Keep in mind he has that soft 24 minutes cap, although it is also what keeps him healthy. We would prefer that he keeps coming off the bench so he gets a little time on the court without all four of the Golden State stalwarts.
Damian Lee: The Golden State version of Ntilikina is Damian Lee, who really needs to get fourth-quarter mop-up duty to have any real hope of fantasy production, but at $1,600 he is in the mix as an extreme discount dandy.

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Author

Eric MacPherson

Eric "EMac" MacPherson won the 2007 Fantasy Baseball grand prize (trip for two to the MLB All-Star game) in the Roto format on ESPN. He won again in 2008, this time in the H2H format. As one of the early adopters of daily fantasy sports, EMac has been providing content for baseball and basketball as well as both professional and college football since 2012 for a variety of websites including DraftKings Playbook, FanVice, RotoWorld, Daily Fantasy Bootcamp, and RotoGrinders. He is well into his third decade of fantasy sports and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Follow him on Twitter @EMacDFS or contact EMac by emailing [email protected].