NBA DFS Picks and Fantasy Basketball Building Blocks for Today, Friday | 5/6/22

Friday, May 6, after a one-day hiatus, brings double Game 3 playoff action tipping off at 7 p.m. ET on Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel. Below we will examine the player pool and break down the best NBA DFS picks today for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. Be sure to head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS & Fantasy Basketball home page for all the top fantasy basketball content for Friday’s slate of games.

NBA DFS Picks: Fantasy Basketball Building Blocks Today | Friday, May 6

Yahoo Play of the Day — Luka Doncic: Dallas Mavericks vs. Phoenix Suns

  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 59.06 | DraftKings: 64.18
  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 49.8% | FanDuel 64.7% | DraftKings 42.7%
  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $56 | FanDuel $11,500 | DraftKings $11,600

Tonight the series debuts its stretch in Dallas with Phoenix holding a 2-0 lead. Game 2 was actually close through the first three quarters until the Suns rolled off a 23-2 run in the middle of the final frame, which led to a lopsided 129-109 score. Tonight Luka Doncic and the Mavericks will be pulling out all the stops as 1-point home underdogs. Mikal Bridges and the Suns did a fine job of corralling Doncic in the second half, holding him to 11 points with one rebound and one assist. Hopefully playing in front of a friendly crowd will help keep Doncic focused on the task at hand, particularly since the whole world is aware that he often let’s his frustrations boil over — resulting in 17 technical fouls in the regular season, which was the second most in the league. This is not a new development, as he was also second during the 2021 season and seventh in 2020. No other player has a median projection within 10 fantasy points, so building lineups around Doncic is going to be advantageous.

Devin Booker: Phoenix Suns at Dallas Mavericks

  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 41.12 | DraftKings: 42.87
  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 33.8% | FanDuel 39.7% | DraftKings 33.5%
  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $38 | FanDuel $9,000 | DraftKings $8,500

Chris Paul and Devin Booker are separated by just $1 tonight on Yahoo and by only $200 on DraftKings. FanDuel has tagged Paul with an 8% premium, though we are seeing that also impact the early player popularity forecast. It is hard to go wrong with either guard, and there is an argument for playing them together with or without Doncic in the same lineup. Ultimately, Booker has more utility with his eligibility as a shooting guard.

After making an early return from a hamstring injury to participate in the Game 6 closeout of New Orleans, Booker has been stellar through the first two games of this series. The 25-year-old veteran of seven NBA campaigns is averaging 36.9 minutes and 19.5 field goal attempts with a 46.2% success rate. This has culminated in 26.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, six assists and a block for nearly 45 fantasy points.

Paul has been steady as well, averaging 32.5 minutes while converting his 14.5 field goal attempts at a ridiculous 62.1% rate. While that is not sustainable, he should be able to improve on his 4.5 assists per game, considering he led the league for the fifth time with 10.8 per game. Now, if we only got bonus points for it being his birthday …

Look to Deandre Ayton against Dallas tonight in the NBA player props market. Currently, he has a 9.5 over/under on his rebound prop, and the Awesemo NBA player projections have him for 10.9 assists, which gives him a 70% probability of surpassing the over. Though he had a horrible Game 2, he also had foul trouble, which limited him to just 18.5 minutes. Tonight should be a strong bounce-back opportunity against Dwight Powell and whoever else draws the short straw for the Mavericks and is tasked with containing Ayton on the boards.

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Miami Heat

Joel Embiid missed the first two games of this series with a concussion and fractured orbital bone, which cannot be pleasant on top of the torn ligaments in his right hand. Currently, there is “hope” that he could be a long shot to return tonight, with increasing chances of a Game 4 appearance Sunday.

Miami, on the other hand, is listing Tyler Herro (ankle), Gabe Vincent (knee), Max Strus (hamstring), Caleb Martin (ankle) and Kyle Lowry (hamstring) as questionable. The first three are all but assured of playing tonight, and Martin is expected to join them as well. Lowry has been out for the last two weeks, and if he returns tonight to play in his hometown, it will muck up what has become the recent Heat rotation.

If Embiid is out, then Bam Adebayo is an outstanding option at center, as the collection of Embiid replacements has done little to slow him down. Even if Embiid returns, it is unlikely he will be operating at more than 80% of his MVP-level talents. If the Philly superstar remains out, then Tobias Harris a steal on Yahoo at $23 and a solid option on the other sites. James Harden and Tyrese Maxey also see their fantasy prospects improve without their Cameroonian teammate.

If Lowry returns, then Strus, Vincent, Martin and Victor Oladipo will each lose minutes, though with coach Erik Spoelstra willing to mix and match, there is no easy way to figure out who will bear the brunt in this scenario other than Martin probably being glued to the bench. Fortunately, this is the first game of the night, so we should have more answers closer to lock.

Yahoo Discount Dandies

Maximilian Kleber: Dallas Mavericks vs. Phoenix Suns ($10): Though Dwight Powell is likely to continue starting, the Mavericks have turned to Maximilian Kleber for additional offense off the bench. There is a risk both will be left off of the closing lineup, as coach Jason Kidd could always elect to surround Luka with four shooters and just let Ayton roam in the paint. If he is looking for a bigger body, then Kleber would get the first nod since he is at least somewhat of an offense threat if left unattended around the 3-point line.

P.J. Tucker: Miami Heat at Philadelphia 76ers ($10): If P.J. Tucker is healthy enough to start as expected, we should see him in his usual role of playing hard-nosed defense with a few rebounds, hustle plays and field goal attempts sprinkled in — he has a realistic production range of 15 to 20 fantasy points. While he could conceivably crater to single-digit production despite 30 minutes of action, that is unlikely — the same goes for his prospects of producing much more than 25 fantasy points if everything goes his way.

Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks for the Friday, May 6 Fantasy Basketball Slate

There are a lot of uncertainties in the first game of the night, which will dramatically shift the player pool depending on how things shake out. If Embiid and Lowry remain out, then the secondary options on their respective teams will trump those in the second game. If one or both return, then options like Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jae Crowder become more appealing in the nightcap.

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].

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