NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks: Curry Looks to Stave Off Elimination (May 12)

Friday’s NBA slate ramps up the tension with a pair of potential elimination games, and both home teams hold a 3-2 advantage in what could be the final two-game slate. Contests lock at 7:30 p.m. ET on DraftKings and FanDuel. 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 Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, LeBron James and more.

NBA DFS Picks Today: Friday, May 12

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Core Play of the Day — Stephen Curry: Golden State Warriors-Los Angeles Lakers

Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 52.77 | FanDuel: 49.41
Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 29.2% | FanDuel: 29.9%
DFS Salary: DraftKings: $10,200 | FanDuel: $10,400

Stephen Curry (27), Andrew Wiggins (25) and Draymond Green (20) — yes, Draymond Green — each scored 20 or more points on Wednesday to hold off Los Angeles in front of the Golden State faithful. Wiggins is questionable after injuring the cartilage on the left side of his chest near the sternum. It will be interesting to see if he suits up or if he takes the path traveled by Deandre Ayton on Thursday night.

Curry was once again stellar, but it was Draymond and not Klay Thompson who was the key to the offense. Of course, we have Game 6 Klay on tap, which will make him somehow perform better than he would in any other playoff game. Narratives aside, Thompson has topped 30 fantasy points only once in the last eight games. In Game 6 against Sacramento, he had a very mediocre performance. Now, that has no bearing on tonight, and if Wiggins is not up to par on offense, Thompson will be asked to shoulder even more of the load.

Jordan Poole, Donte DiVincenzo and Moses Moody are likely to be the main reserves, with Gary Payton II drawing another start. Poole led the trio of reserves in minutes on Wednesday, but he could easily fall behind one or both of his teammates tonight. JaMychal Green was a DNP-CD after getting spot starts in Games 2 and 3, so the lesson as always is that DFS gamers can never trust coach Steve Kerr.

Curry is the one constant when it comes to the Warriors, and that all but assures DFS gamers that the ball should be in his hands tonight, along with abundant offensive opportunities. The Dubs have been here before and are the reigning NBA Champions, so they should not go quietly into the night like Phoenix did only 24 hours ago.

LeBron James: Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors

Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 50.05 | FanDuel: 48.11
Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 22.7% | FanDuel: 38.8%
DFS Salary: DraftKings: $10,000 | FanDuel: $9,900

LeBron James is only $300 less than Anthony Davis on DraftKings, but he still has a $1,300 discount on FanDuel. This has resulted in a 38.8% to 27.1% discrepancy in their projected popularity, which means Davis is a strong tournament option on the blue site, where he holds a 15-fantasy-point advantage over Green and The Brow’s median projection is double that of Kevon Looney and Mitchell Robinson, who are the other center-only options tonight. After Davis took a wheelchair ride at the end of Game 5, how many DFS gamers are saying “Never again!” right about now? Yup, that is what makes Davis the perfect pivot to James — though both can be employed on the same roster as well.

After not playing in the first game of the series, Lonnie Walker IV has played increasing minutes in each of the last four games (12, 24, 27 and 28), but Game 5 was a wild dichotomy, with a playing time high and a fantasy score low. Something in the mid-20s for minutes is reasonable, with the potential for a 15-point game but an otherwise empty box score in play.

Austin Reaves is the safest option among non-James/Davis Lakers, with Dennis Schroder and D’Angelo Russell equally likely to thrill or disappoint their DFS supporters.

Much like Wednesday’s analysis, Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt are still limiting the ceiling of each other, but both will at least see the court outside of garbage time. The same cannot be said for Troy Brown and Wenyen Gabriel.

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Jalen Brunson: New York Knicks-Miami Heat

Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 45.6 | FanDuel: 44.24
Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 29.7% | FanDuel: 31.2%
DFS Salary: DraftKings: $9,000 | FanDuel: $9,500

Think Mark Cuban and Luka Doncic are wondering what could have been if Jalen Brunson was still on the Mavericks? This entire season has been a dream season for Brunson, who got the bag in free agency after the fourth year of his rookie deal was nonguaranteed by Dallas. Now he has the Knicks in a Game 6 situation where, if he can author a masterpiece tonight, the team will be playing on Monday in Madison Square Garden with a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals on the line. A lot has to go right between now and then, but if you believe in miracles, one could be in store tonight.

Julius Randle finally got going with 24 points, five rebounds, five assists and a steal on Wednesday. Though he did not quite reach the 40-fantasy-point plateau, he was close enough for government purposes. If he can have a repeat performance, he will be one of the better fantasy point-per-dollar options on the board. Obi Toppin is a longshot, as he has returned to serving as the direct backup for Randle, so it is hard to see him with more than a dozen minutes tonight outside of injury or foul trouble.

Immanuel Quickley is likely out again, which means a few extra minutes and scoring opportunities will trickle down to RJ Barrett, Josh Hart and Quentin Grimes. Each is a solid play, but let salary cap constraints and positional eligibility help guide your decisions across the various DFS sites.

Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson will continue splitting the center minutes, and while both are viable options, a ceiling game for either one will be at the expense of the other.

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Jimmy Butler: Miami Heat-New York Knicks

Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 51.94 | FanDuel: 52.92
Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 44.1% | FanDuel: 32.8%
DFS Salary: DraftKings: $9,700 | FanDuel: $10,800

Jimmy Butler brought everything except for a victory on his way to another 50-fantasy-point performance on Wednesday. Expect more of the same tonight from a statistical sense, and this should be a great game to watch, with the Heat favored by half a dozen points at home and the Knicks likely to bring everything up to and including the kitchen sink out of the bag of tricks tonight.

Yet again, Bam Adebayo had a good but not great game and still disappointed his fantasy backers. This section really writes itself at this point. The rebounds and scoring are still solid, though the assists, blocks and steals have evaporated throughout this series. Caveat Emptor.

Cody Zeller and Duncan Robinson are extreme lottery tickets, but Robinson did come through in Game 5 sinking five of his 10 3-point attempts. It is highly doubtful that lightning will strike twice, but there is a storm in the Florida forecast tonight.

The rest of the Heat still project for between 17 and 25 fantasy points, so they are all viable but hard to trust. Sprinkle them across your lineups and hope it unlocks the perfect roster combination.

Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today

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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].