NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks: Anthony Edwards Savior? (April 23)

Sunday’s NBA gives us one more four-game featured slate as the dust begins to settle in the first round. Get in on the fun with the early 1 p.m. ET on DraftKings. FanDuel is running two split slates for their larger tournaments. There are several options in the player pool worth analyzing to find the top NBA DFS building blocks and NBA DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel lineups, including Anthony Edwards, Nikola Jokic, Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns, Trae Young and more.

NBA DFS Picks Today: Sunday, April 23

NBA DFS Picks for Sacramento Kings-Golden State Warriors

The Kings lost to the Warriors in Game 3 as Golden State rallied in front of their home crowd and managed to win without Draymond Green. So far the home team has won each game, but if Sacramento had one of the best road records in the league this season and if they can nab Sunday’s game, they will head back to Sac-Town with a 3-1 lead.

Expect heavy minutes once again from Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox as long as this game is in question. Sabonis led the league in rebounding and double-doubles during the regular season, and he is a threat for a triple-double, with the offense flowing through him in the post. Fox has taken his game up a level in his first career playoff series, and he is averaging 38 minutes, 29.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 7.7 assists, and 3.3 combined steals and blocks. This duo is worthy of targeting in all formats on Sunday.

Harrison Barnes and Kevin Huerter bring a variety of skills to the table, and they are likely to play around 30 minutes. Rookie Keegan Murray continues to start, but he can easily be replaced by veterans Malik Monk and Trey Lyles off the bench, depending on if head coach Mike Brown is looking for scoring or rebounding.

Latest NBA DFS Content

Stephen Curry continues to be amazing, and he is still at the apex of his powers, even after celebrating his 35^th birthday last month. In the two games with Green, he has scored 30 and 29 points, plus he dropped 36 in Game 3, leading the ‘Dubs to their first victory in the series. Once again, Curry is on the shortlist of top-shelf plays, with his ability to rain in points from all over the court.

Green should be motivated after feeling slighted by getting a one-game suspension. DFS gamers know that an engaged Draymond is the best Draymond for fantasy purposes and while he may not put many points on the scoreboard, he can rack up peripheral stats with the best of them. Currently the Stokastic projections have Draymond as the best point-per-dollar option on DraftKings and just outside of the top five on FanDuel.

Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins are the second and third options on offense and this duo can do just enough rebounding, facilitating and getting lucky with a multi-steal game that they are strong secondary fantasy options on Sunday’s slate. Jordan Poole would like to think he is the No. 2 … and even the top option whenever he is on the court (remember Curry throwing his mouthpiece out of frustration with Poole?), but he is very scoring dependent for his fantasy production.

Kevon Looney is the final recommended option from the Warriors for this matchup. He is not going to wow with his fantasy contributions consistently, but he should play around 30 minutes, and that is enough time for him to gather 15 combined points and rebounds, along with a block or two. Plus, if Green gets chippy or in foul trouble, Looney has shown that he can help anchor the defense when needed.

NBA DFS Picks for Boston Celtics-Atlanta Hawks

In a wild turn of events, the Hawks put up 130 points on the vaunted Boston defense in Game 3, collecting their first victory of the series. Marcus Smart is questionable with a back injury, and he is the lone player currently on the injury report. The Celtics are 5-point road favorites, but anything can happen when home teams catch lightning in a bottle.

Jayson Tatum had the best season of his career, and it is difficult to believe he celebrated just his 25th birthday last month. Though he is a tier below Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid in the MVP conversation, he is not too far away from entering the mix as a fourth candidate. Heavy usage and the ability to produce across the box score make him a strong core building block on Sunday.

Jaylen Brown is not always consistent in the playoffs, but he does have the next highest upside on the team, and he can have big games alongside Tatum. Smart’s availability is going to make things interesting, as is his effectiveness. If he is out, then we could see Robert Williams in the starting lineup. Of course, it could also be Malcolm Brogdon, though head coach Joe Mazzulla has said he prefers Brogdon coming off the bench. Either way, he is the most likely to see a direct minutes boost if Smart is out. The other option would be a spot start from Grant Williams who has only seen action in Game 3 or Sam Hauser who did have eight starts this season.

Grant Williams is risky as he has fallen out of favor and even if he starts, that could be his only rotation for the game. This has the makings of a fun decision point that has some potential nuance that will be overlooked by casual gamers just looking for some Sunday action.

It is hard to be overly excited for any particular Atlanta players as prior to Friday’s 130-point outburst, they had produced 99 and 106 points in the first two games played in Boston. Fortune favors the bold and Trae Young and Dejounte Murray can certainly have big games, but you have to figure that whichever member of the Hawks gets going on offense, will quickly become the focus of the Celtics defense.

Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu are essentially splitting the center minutes and the chances of them playing at the same time are slim to none, though not entirely out of the question if the Celtics go big and new head coach Quin Snyder is looking to be creative. This duo could also tally less than 48 combined minutes, with John Collins or De’Andre Hunter playing a nominal center role.

Of the aforementioned quartet in the prior paragraph, the preferred fantasy order would be Okongwu for blocks upside and low popularity coming off the bench. Hunter is next, but he can be infuriatingly inconsistent from a fantasy perspective as he is fine focusing on defense and rebounding. Then it is a coinflip between Capela and Collins, with neither having particularly appealing upside.

Bogdan Bogdanovic and Saddiq Bey are roster fillers, though for either to crack mid-20s minutes, one of the starters needs to be hurt, in foul trouble or ineffective enough to get yanked by Snyder.

NBA DFS Picks for Denver Nuggets-Minnesota Timberwolves

There is a chance that this series ends in a sweep, with Denver holding a 3-0 lead while also being 3.5-point road favorites. The Timberwolves will be on their home court, but if they want to avoid an ignominious outcome tonight, they are going to have to pick up their offensive efficiency.

The Nuggets have essentially run a seven-man rotation in each of the last two games, with Jeff Green and Bruce Brown Jr. each seeing 25 to 30 minutes. Rookie Christian Braun is the only other bench player to take the court, and he played just seven and 14 minutes. It makes sense that head coach Mike Malone wants to limit the playing time for his reserve unit as they are abysmal on defense. Plus, if Denver can wrap up this series, they will have the better part of a week before the second round begins.

Nikola Jokic dropped a triple-double in Game 3, and given that he led the league this season, that milestone is always in play, even in the postseason. Jamal Murray has also stepped up his game now that he is finally close to full health after his knee issues. His ability to be the secondary scorer and facilitator behind Jokic has made life much easier for the do-everything center.

Get one month of Stokastic+ Platinum FREE when you make your first deposit on PrizePicks

Michael Porter Jr. is a fun tournament option as he can pile up points in a hurry, but he still has defensive lapses that infuriate his coach and can end up with him riding the pine. This is the core trio to target for Denver, with the two key reserves as fine tournament salary savers.

Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could fall into a tournament-worthy fantasy performance, but both are more focused on doing the little things to help the team win and sadly, deflections, help defense, traps and showing hustle and making the extra pass are not awarded fantasy points.

This seems like a game where the Timberwolves will be running a seven-man rotation. In Games 2 and 3, the bench contributed 17 and 10 points. Kyle Anderson will see the most minutes, and he has an outside chance at 30 backing up both frontcourt positions and also being able to play on the wing.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jaylen Nowell and Taurean Prince are the other reserves who should see action. Prince started Game 2, while Alexander-Walker got the nod in Games 1 and 3 as head coach Chris Finch was looking for more floor-spacing to begin the game. Each of these players is likely to control their own destiny, with the hot hand seeing the most run.

Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns are going to need to bring something close to perfection tonight if they want to keep their season going and take the series back to Denver. Edwards has played 42-plus minutes in each of the last two games, while producing a pair of 60-fantasy-point performances. That is pretty close to perfect, but he is going to need Towns to bring his A-game, or this is all over. The longtime leader of the T-wolves is likely to be on the floor for at least 40 minutes tonight if this game is in doubt and that should have fantasy gamers flocking to him.

Mike Conley rivals Sabonis and Wiggins as the best point-per-dollar options on FanDuel today, and he is a strong play on DraftKings as well. Rudy Gobert is the X-factor, and he will be on the court as long as his six fouls hold out. He is averaging 15.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and a block, though most importantly for his fantasy success, he has attempted 10 and 11 field goals in each of the last two games. The choice for fantasy gamers will be between the Stifle Tower and Jokic for Sunday’s center-only players.

Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today

Sunday brings another expansive slate with all-day basketball. The decision points are plentiful and the prize pools are enormous, so kick back and enjoy.

Let us do the heavy lifting for you by tuning into the Stokastic Live Before Lock show at 12:00 p.m. ET on YouTube, brought to you by PrizePicks with a first deposit match of 100% up to $100.

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].