NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: It’s Tatum Time! (May 7)

Wednesday keeps the second round rolling, with the NBA action tipping off at 7:00 p.m. ET on FanDuel and DraftKings. Let’s get into the top NBA DFS picks and building blocks: Nikola Jokic and Jalen Brunson led their respective squads to surprise road victories on Monday, but tonight the defenses will be waiting and not caught off guard. Jayson Tatum should continue to be a foundational play, while Jalen Williams is the best overall option in the early projections.

These picks are based on the latest available data. For real-time lineup updates, check out our NBA DFS Starting Lineups Page.

NBA DFS Picks Today – Building Blocks: Wednesday, May 7

NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks

The Joker was on the court for 42 minutes, with Gordon 39, Christian Braun 40 and Jamal Murray 44 rounding out the core four. Michael Porter Jr. was ineffective from the field, sinking only one of his eight field goal attempts and missing all three of his troikas. He played only 24 minutes, with Russell Westbrook getting a strong 30 minutes off the bench, including the final 17:45 of the game.

Peyton Watson played 14.5 minutes, backing up the frontcourt, but he was a dreadful -22, with Julian Strawther -10 in his 5.6 minutes. That doesn’t impact DFS directly, but it could shrink the minutes of this duo, much like it did with MPJ who was -15 while on the court.

Denver trailed by half a dozen points after relinquishing the lead late in the first period. Oklahoma City was never quite able to put things away, with a maximum 14-point cushion. It is not hard to envision something getting to 20-plus if the long-range shots are falling at home tonight, which could lead to the Nuggets pulling their starters in the final frame, to preserve energy for Game 3 on Friday, in Denver.

Jokic is a strong DFS play, though it would not be a surprise if OKC changed things up tonight, using Chet Holmgren as the help defender, instead of the primary on the pivot. Of course head coach Mark Daigneault could also elect to stay the course, with the focus on shutting down everyone else, since the Thunder almost won anyway, despite the monster night from Jokic.

Considering the plethora of ace on-ball defenders in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Alex Caruso and Luguentz Dort, it may be easier to keep Murray and Gordon in check, while letting Jokic do his thing and Porter continue to be ineffective or replaced by Westbrook, who could turn into Westbrick at any moment.

Caruso is the best discount dandy across the DFS sites and he should be good for mid-20s minutes as the postseason is his entire purpose for being acquired by the Thunder this offseason. Jalen Williams all-around game and favorable salary have him projected to be among the top-three most popular players for tournament on DraftKings and FanDuel, with it hard to see much downside.

SGA just missed out on a triple-double, with 33 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three stocks. His fantasy fortunes ride on Denver keeping this game within reach. Isaiah Hartenstein is the big body in the paint against Jokic, making him live for a double-double, with Holmgren having a little upside via efficiency and as evidenced by his five stocks.

Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins should have semi-secure roles, since they are each solid defenders, though Isaiah Joe has a tenuous trajectory for DFS relevance, needing to knock down his long-range attempts or getting mop-up duty in a lopsided affair.

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Boston fans can take heart that it took the worst shooting performance in playoff history and marathon minutes from all of the Knickerbockers, including overtime and yet the C’s still should have won. This was less of a New York victory, than it was a bad game by Boston. Tatum was stellar with 23 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and a trio of stocks, supported by Jaylen Brown’s 23 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.

Jrue Holiday reasserted himself on offense and Derrick White was his stellar two-way self. Kristaps Porzingis played only 13 minutes as he continues to deal with an undisclosed illness, that has plagued him for most of the year. He is questionable for tonight and if he is out, then expect a spot start from Luke Kornet, or veteran Al Horford to fill in as he has over the last couple of seasons.

Per the Stokastic Boom/Bust tool, Payton Pritchard has the highest “positive” leverage for Wednesday’s player pool and while the team does not want to go to him too much in tight games, the NBA’s 6th-Man of the Year should still see around 20 minutes, while also having another 6-to-10 in potential mop-up duty if this game ends up out of hand, with the C’s double-digit favorites.

Mikal Bridges was the late-game hero, even though he had only eight points, despite logging an absurd 51 minutes. OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson led the team with 29 points each, though Brunson needed a second half surge to get his buckets. He is going to continue to be the focus of Holiday, White and Brown, since the threat of Anunoby having a second-consecutive stellar scoring showing is minimal.

Expect Mitchell Robinson to be attacked when he has the ball, since he was only 3-of-10 from the charity stripe, accounting for half of the New York misses at the free throw line. Miles McBride should see 15-to-20 minutes off the bench, backing up the guards, with a chance to play his way into a few more if there are any foul issues from the starters.

Karl Anthony-Towns is a neutral option, having underperformed against the Celtics all season. He will benefit if Porzingis is out, but not by enough to really change this baseline assessment. Josh Hart is always in play, with his ability to do a little bit of everything, while not needing to have the ball in his hands. Precious Achiuwa and Cameron Payne may get cameos, with their only path to relevance being an injury to a key starter or mop-up duty.

Today’s Top Sports Betting Picks

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Take Nikola Jokic under 52.5 points+rebounds+assists tonight, 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.

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Clearly Jokic is at the apex of his powers and it is never fun going against him. However, the Oklahoma City defense is fierce and after a shocking loss, should not be taken lightly. Tonight will be the sixth game for Denver in the last 12 days, while it is only the third for the Thunder. It will be fun to see how long the three-time and reigning MVP can carry the Nuggets, but the guess is not all the way to the next round. OKC is currently 11-point favorites and if the game is out of hand, we could see interim coach David Adelman opt to save his key players to rally back when the series shifts to the Mile High City.