NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Eastern Conference Finals Game 1! (May 21)

Wednesday arrives with a new postseason matchup as the Eastern Conference Finals are getting underway at 8:00 p.m. ET. Let’s break down the top NBA DFS picks and key lineup building blocks on FanDuel and DraftKings. These selections reflect the most up-to-date data — and for live updates, be sure to visit our NBA DFS Starting Lineups Page.

NBA DFS Picks Today – Building Blocks: Wednesday, May 21

NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks

This series is a much better one for Karl-Anthony Towns than facing a tricky Boston frontcourt. Towns had success this year against the Pacers, highlighted by 40 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in 38 minutes during a mid-February matchup. He also performed well against them while he was in Minnesota, as his last game with the Timberwolves against Indiana also saw the big man reach 40 points. The discount on FanDuel and DraftKings for KAT compared to the two lead guards makes him tremendously appealing tonight.

Jalen Brunson will also benefit from not having to deal with Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown guarding him. Indiana has decent backcourt defense, but nothing like Boston. Last year in the playoffs, Brunson had 43- and 44-point games, and he should push for 30-plus tonight, though his peripherals may not be enough to support his appropriately hefty salary.

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Josh Hart and O.G. Anunoby are also well suited for this matchup as both should have plenty of defensive responsibilities while being able to chip in on offense, along with their usual peripheral statistics. Gamers seemed to shy away from this duo against Boston, though that does not appear to be happening to the same degree against Indiana.

Mikal Bridges posted pedestrian stat lines in the regular season against the Pacers, failing to top 8 points in two of the three games, despite playing 29 and 42 minutes in those appearances. That doesn’t have a ton of bearing on the playoff projection, but it also is not particularly comforting to see.

Bridges gets most of his fantasy production via scoring, and while he is averaging 15.4 in the 12 playoff games, he has only four with over 20 points and none over 25, which does portend to a less-than-accessible fantasy upside that will be tricky to realize.

Miles McBride is likely to be more of a factor now that there are fewer stalwart backcourt defenders as compared to the Celtics. He is still a low-usage player who likely needs foul trouble or some other in-game mishap to another wing player to see more than 20 minutes tonight, but in a new series and with potential mop-up duty available, there is a path to relevance that will likely shrink deeper into the series when the regulars absorb the minutes.

Cameron Payne is still likely locked into half a dozen first half minutes, though anything else is going to take a lopsided game for him to really be a factor. Mitchell Robinson is the best reserve option, with a steady baseline of 20 minutes. There is at least a handful more in readily attainable upside through effective play or if Towns gets foul-happy, as he is prone to do.

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When he squared off against Brunson in the playoffs last year, Haliburton had two good games of 34 and 35 points, and two duds where he took six and nine field goal attempts. Clearly, the teams have evolved since then, though the stakes are similar and we have seen in the first two rounds this year that Haliburton can disappear and take a backseat to others, eschewing drives to the basket. Robinson is a great rim protector, though Towns is only so-so, which means there will be openings for Hali if he chooses to seize them.

Myles Turner is slightly more popular than Haliburton on FanDuel ($9,200, 49.2%), as his blocks and steals are rewarded with a trio of fantasy points. He is live for a double-double bonus on DraftKings, though he only has reached that milestone once in these playoffs. Pascal Siakam also is competing against Turner for rebounds, along with Obi Toppin.

Toppin is a variable in the new series, with a decent chance to play more than his 15.6 projected minutes if he has effective results and avoids being burned on defense by the New York frontcourt. Hopefully, he can get something going against his former team, similar to last postseason, when he reached double-digit points in four of the seven games. He had a dozen total points in the other three tilts, so there is a potential for poor results as well.

Siakam is a steady hand who is more of a foundational play than one with exceptional upside. Actually, that is similarly the assessment for most of his teammates, as this is a fairly balanced squad.

Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith round out the first five, with both having slightly positive fantasy point-per-dollar ratios on the main DFS sites. Each has a similar salary on the various sites, with Nembhard having the slight premium. Let personal preference be your guide for this duo tonight.

T.J. McConnell is going to log between 15 and 17 minutes unless something happens to Haliburton, and even then he probably will cap out around 22 minutes. In the regular season, he gets by on efficient shooting from back cuts, drives and on the break. That is less likely to occur in the playoffs, and since he doesn’t take 3-pointers (just six attempts in the 10 playoff games this year) and the steals dry up, it is hard to be excited with the veteran caretaker.

Bennedict Mathurin should play around 20 to 22 minutes, though it will take foul trouble with Nembhard or Nesmith for him to see more outside of mop-up duty. He is the offensive spark off the bench, so he at least has the green light to shoot, though if he is not putting the biscuit in the basket, coach Rick Carlisle is quick to get him off the court.

Last night, Jaylen Clark made a surprise first quarter appearance for Minnesota, while it was Kenrich Williams who did the same for Oklahoma City. Thomas Bryant or Ben Sheppard doing that for the Pacers tonight is a possibility; however, the second half action will likely need the catalyst of a lopsided game to come to fruition. Thomas is at the $1,000 minimum on both DraftKings and FanDuel, while Sheppard is at $1,600 and $1,200, respectively.

Today’s Top Sports Betting Picks

If you’re serious about winning in NBA DFS, you know the edge comes from having the right tools. The same principle applies to sports betting — and that’s where Portfolio EV steps in.

Take Mikal Bridges under 3.5 assists, for example. It’s a +EV bet, meaning it has positive expected value when compared to the best odds available across the market. But the real strength of Portfolio EV isn’t about finding just one good bet — it’s about consistently finding dozens. With the Mass Entry tool, you can scale up, place a high volume of +EV bets, and let the math do the heavy lifting.

Just like you wouldn’t count on one DFS lineup to ship a GPP, you don’t count on one bet to carry your night.

Portfolio EV is built for long-term profitability. It helps you spot market inefficiencies, compare lines across books and generate a steady stream of +EV bets. It doesn’t chase heaters, but rather trusts the numbers, follows a process and builds sustainable profit over time.

Bridges had four or more assists only twice through 10 playoffs games this postseason, though he has handed out three helpers on five occasions. He is on the court a ton and willing to make the extra pass, but still it hasn’t borne much fruit.