Game 1 of the Hawks and Bucks Eastern Conference Finals was a thriller, and more fun could be in store for tonight. This is the NBA Deep Dive that will get you prepared to tackle the one-game slates on both DraftKings and FanDuel, telling you all you need to know about the core NBA DFS picks to target for this evening’s festivities with the help of Awesemo’s NBA DFS projections.
NBA DFS Deep Dive: DraftKings + FanDuel | June 25
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Studs
Giannis Antetokounmpo ($12,400 DraftKings/$16,500 FanDuel) exploded for 70-plus fantasy points in a losing effort in Game 1, but he should be in line to be the top raw fantasy performer once again here in Game 2. Doing anything besides putting him in the Captain spot on DraftKings or the MVP spot on FanDuel will be contrarian, but it’s hard to advocate against both being the optimal route to go on this slate. Even having the highest projected point total tonight at 63.66 points, he’s still underpriced relative to the other options on this slate, so play him and move on.
Trae Young ($11,800 DraftKings/$16,000 FanDuel) might not carry the ownership one would expect for a blossoming superstar that just put up 75.75 DraftKings points to lead his Hawks team to the surprise Game 1 win. But he’s once again an 8-point underdog on the road against Jrue Holiday defense, which increases the range of outcomes for him at salaries that are simply too close to the consistency of Giannis. However, due to the salary gap between him and the other two studs in this game, he might go a bit overlooked in the Captain/MVP spots.
Jrue Holiday ($9,400 DraftKings/$13,500 FanDuel) and Khris Middleton ($10,200 DraftKings/$12,000 FanDuel) have nearly identical DraftKings ownership and projections, while on FanDuel there is a substantial discount with Middleton. Coming off Game 1 where Holiday excelled and Middleton did not, there could be a steep ownership discount to Captaining Middleton. After all, Middleton went a paltry 6-for-23 from the field and an icy 0-for-9 from 3 in Game 1, so there’s definite room for improvement. If not rostering Giannis at MVP on FanDuel, opting for both Bucks in the MVP/Star slots and hoping they run the Hawks out of the gym is not the craziest idea.
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John Collins ($8,600 DraftKings/$12,500 FanDuel) and Clint Capela ($7,800 DraftKings/$11,500 FanDuel) can be grouped together in the same fashion as Holiday and Middleton above. Both are going to be relied upon heavily to accumulate rebounds and clog the paint; the only difference is Collins’ offensive acumen has been on display of late. Coming off a game where Collins went 11-for-16 from the field, regression could surely put Capela more firmly into play to outperform him from a raw points perspective. But if Capela is going to be twice as owned on both sites like Awesemo’s projections currently have him, Collins has to be the way to go.
Kevin Huerter ($7,200 DraftKings/$10,000 FanDuel) is certainly overpriced, but if ownership stays low, there is certainly a ceiling there. He still got to 36 minutes in Game 1 and is going to benefit from Bogdan Bogdanovic’s limitations both in minutes and usage. There are no signs of him not getting crazy minutes again, so at low-teens ownership on DraftKings, he could be a worthwhile play to get slightly over the field on.
Bogdan Bogdanovic ($7,000 DraftKings/$9,500 FanDuel) is the wild card of every slate he appears on, as he projects out far above what he has performed of late. Coming off of four games of sub-20 fantasy points on both DraftKings and FanDuel, it’s astonishing to see he’s garnering double the ownership of Huerter. At similar ownerships, perhaps going Bogdanovic would make the most sense. But if this holds true, going with Huerter and his guaranteed minutes feels like a nice point of leverage on this one-game slate.
Brook Lopez ($6,200 DraftKings/$11,000 FanDuel) is the most overpriced play on the FanDuel slate based on Game 1’s results. Lopez surprisingly played just 20 minutes despite no personal fouls, showing he may not be utilized as much in this series. Still, at $6,200 on DraftKings, there’s interest in going his direction in hopes that the minutes can return and can be somewhat capable in defending the Young pick-and-roll. Plus, he’s a generally better in DraftKings scoring due to the 3-point bonus.
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Danilo Gallinari ($5,600 DraftKings/$9,500 FanDuel) played 25 minutes in Game 1, putting up a brutal 10.25 DraftKings point output. Put him in the same category as Huerter and Bogdanovic, as one of the three is generally going to shoot better than they all did in Game 1 and figure out a way to be optimal. He is the cheapest of the grouping on DraftKings, making for the easier fit with a Antetokounmpo Captain lineup.
Pat Connaughton ($4,200 DraftKings/$7,500 FanDuel) played 29 minutes in Game 1 but failed hard with only 10.25 DraftKings points. Some of these ancillary Bucks and Hawks pieces that saw big minutes will pop one of these times around, and Connaughton has to be the priority due to his guaranteed workload and similar ownership to the rest of the sub-$6,000 range.
P.J. Tucker ($3,600 DraftKings/$8,500 FanDuel) and Bobby Portis ($3,000 DraftKings/$7,000 FanDuel) could not be more different as fantasy basketball players, with Tucker averaging a basement-low 0.48 DraftKings points per minute during the regular season compared to Portis’ 1.17. But considering Tucker is projected for triple the minutes and is at an ownership decrease, taking the guaranteed workload of Tucker feels like the right move. There are some massive ceilings to pay up for on this one-game slate, so hoping Portis doesn’t explode in his limited court time this time could be a worthwhile move.
The Awesemo NBA Live Before Lock show will help you lock in the best daily fantasy basketball picks for tonight’s Hawks vs. Bucks Game 2 DraftKings and FanDuel Showdown lineups.
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