The NBA Finals continues to be epic, with the Oklahoma City Thunder listed as 6-point favorites as they look for the equalizer against the Pacers in Indiana tonight. Let’s break down the top NBA DFS picks and key lineup building blocks on FanDuel and DraftKings. These plays reflect the most up-to-date data — and for live updates, check out our NBA DFS Starting Lineups Page.
NBA DFS Picks Today – Building Blocks: Friday, June 13
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NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks
Tyrese Haliburton: Pacers vs. Thunder
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 42.5 | FanDuel: 41.87
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 39.2% | FanDuel: 54.6%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $11,400 | FanDuel: $13,200
After ticking down $200 on each site prior to Game 3, Tyrese Haliburton has returned to match his Game 2 salaries. It is important to understand that this match was more equitable with his lofty salary than his showings in the first pair of performances.
Since the start of the Eastern Conference Finals, Haliburton is averaging 3.7 field goal attempts in the first half of the three losses and 8.3 attempts in the first half of the six victories. It does seem like him looking for his own offense does help keep things moving for the entire Indiana approach.
He is the fifth-most popular player on DraftKings, with teammate Pascal Siakam ahead of him, though Haliburton is above the Cameroonian on the blue site, projecting as the fourth-most popular option.
Haliburton just missed out on a triple-double, falling one rebound shy in a team-high 36 minutes of run. He also added in two steals for a second straight game, and he continues to keep his field goal success rate above 50% against this daunting defense.
Siakam was also stellar, putting up 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and three “stocks” (combined steals and blocks). He is going to have to continue producing, and he has some attainable upside if he is allowed to be the offensive priority when SGA or Cason Wallace cross-match on him after switches.
Myles Turner was on the court for over 28 minutes for the first time in five games, though he fell shy of the 30-minute mark by 16 seconds. The five blocks were a bonus, but it was not reported that he was dealing with an illness, which also kept him out of Thursday’s practice. His two rebounds tied his postseason low, and he failed to notch double-digit points for only the third time in 19 games of this postseason. Expectations are that he will play tonight, though we are going to likely not get many clues about his potential effectiveness or stamina. This is the only game of the Finals that has just one off day between matchups.
Bennedict Mathurin led the team with 28 points, despite not entering the game until the start of the second quarter. He splashed 5 of 6 field goal attempts and a trio of free throws for 14 points in the frame. He also had four rebounds, one assist and a block, making him a crucial fantasy click. That is likely to lead to increased popularity tonight, though with a $1,600 increase in his DraftKings salary, it will be interesting to see how gamers react. On FanDuel, he saw only a $600 increase, which is not much of a deterrent for those who believe he can continue to elevate their rosters on the blue site.
Mathurin wasn’t the only Indiana reserve with an apex game. Veteran T.J. McConnell continues to defy expectations, this time posting five steals, five assists, one rebound and 10 points. Most surprising was him getting to the line four times; less shocking was the veteran point guard converting on all four from the charity stripe. McConnell saw only a $400 increase on FanDuel to just $2,400, and while he also had a $400 increase on DraftKings, he is now at $4,000, which has him on the precipice of DFS disaster if he is not able to pull another rabbit out of his hat.
Ben Sheppard had a series-high 18 minutes, and his 2-for-5 performance led to 4 points with two rebounds and a steal. This basically matched his combined fantasy production from the first two games, which saw him log nine and 13.5 minutes. While he was the first reserve off the bench, along with Obi Toppin, it is going to take an injury or foul trouble to Andrew Nembhard or Aaron Nesmith for Sheppard to find a path to fantasy relevance – unless, of course, he replicates McConnell’s five steals.
Nesmith had three fouls in the final frame, reaching the limit with 35 seconds remaining in the game. Mathurin actually played over him in the latter half of the third quarter, though that also coincided with the Thunder retaking the lead. Expect more than 22 minutes from Nesmith tonight, and there is a chance gamers will undervalue him after a dud.
Toppin remains a strong option off the bench, as he should get 8 to 10 field goal attempts. After getting to the line eight times in the series opener, he returned only eight times in the subsequent two games. He should be good for a handful of rebounds, but his effectiveness on his long-range attempts will unlock his upside.
Nembhard wraps up the Pacers players of note, with the third-year guard doing solid work against his fellow Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He isn’t going to shut down the reigning NBA MVP, but he has shown that he is not afraid to go toe-to-toe on the court. The 31st selection of the 2022 NBA Draft does just enough in his 30 to 32 minutes of run to be considered a solid foundational play, better than the discount dandies but clearly outclassed by the top of the salary sheet.
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NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: Thunder at Pacers
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 57.32 | FanDuel: 57.28
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 72.3% | FanDuel: 91.1%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $13,800 | FanDuel: $17,000
Gilgeous-Alexander has received an $800 increase on DraftKings, though he remains at the hard-cap maximum of $17,000 on FanDuel.
He still projects as the most popular player, but he is down just over 10% on DraftKings, coming off a series-low 24 points. Nembhard and Nesmith did an excellent job against SGA, while Haliburton showed he was game to guard his counterpart as well on switches.
Expect a bounce back from the superstar, though, of course, there are no guarantees. This has been an unexpected and thrilling series through three games, and it would be something if the Pacers can pull off another upset tonight. Even if they do not, OKC still has to come back to Indiana for Game 6.
Jalen Williams led the Thunder with 26 points, adding six rebounds, three assists and a steal in his 36 minutes. He continues to play strong defense, act as a secondary facilitator and not be afraid to look for his own offense. Both he and Chet Holmgren had solid games, though it was the bench that was not able to keep up with its Indiana counterparts.
Holmgren logged nearly 35 minutes, which was good to see, dropping in 20 points with 10 rebounds, two helpers and a steal. This represented the most playing time this postseason for the former Gonzaga star, trailing only his 40.2 minutes in the overtime game in Denver a month ago. Yes, it has really been that long, with that thriller taking place on May 9. In a bit of a twist, Holmgren has only two blocks and a steal in this series after posting 12 multi-stock games in the first 16 postseason performances. Wednesday was the first time he had double-digit rebounds since Game 7 against Denver, nearly matching his 12 combined in the first two games against the Pacers.
Luguentz Dort was again dialed in from downtown, connecting on 4 of 5 3-pointers but missing all three of his attempts inside the arc. He saw 36 minutes as the Thunder tightened the rotation, and he should be in the mix for 34 minutes tonight, with a couple ticks of upside in a close game. Defense is his main priority, but we have seen that he is a capable scorer when he has the chance.
Be sure to check out Stokastic’s NBA Live Before Lock at 8:00 p.m. ET for all of the up-to-date analysis and breaking news and to find out if there are any lineup changes for Oklahoma City.
Cason Wallace started once again, and it looks like 22 to 25 minutes will be his expected range, barring mop-up duty. He does a little of everything, though he needs to get by on efficiency since he tends to defer on offense to the rest of the starters, as he should. DraftKings decided to shake things up, dropping his salary from $5,000 to $3,800, while he barely moved on FanDuel from $2,800 to $3,000. Expect mid-teens for his fantasy points with low 20s being the upside.
Alex Caruso dropped from $5,000 on FanDuel to $4,800, though on DraftKings he is now up to $6,400, which is a $1,000 increase from the series opener. This has him expected to be on nearly 40% of all rosters on the blue site but barely one-quarter on DraftKings. He has yet to put everything together for a sublime fantasy performance, but if he can manage 15 points and a multi-steal effort tonight, he will be on the cusp of landing in the optimal lineup.
Isaiah Hartenstein shared the court with Holmgren for five minutes on Wednesday, seeing no stats in the nine offensive possessions. In his 18 minutes, he was 2-for-3 from the field with three rebounds and a steal. Expect a bit of a rebound for his boards, though it would appear his playing time is going to stick in the 17- to 19-minute range.
Aaron Wiggins did get 10 minutes, but he missed both of his shots while picking up three fouls. He had two rebounds and a pair of dimes, though this is not what his backers were hoping for by any stretch of the imagination. Isaiah Joe knocked down both of his triples, but he played only 4.2 minutes in the first half across three situational rotations, including at the end of each quarter. Wiggins is still the better option, though at this point neither is a comfortable click.
Kenrich Williams had 2.1 total minutes in the first half, with most coming in the middle of the second quarter when he missed his lone attempt, which at least was a 3-pointer. He remains a wild card as he is a malleable defensive option who could get a look from coach Mark Daigneault in mixing-and-matching scenarios if nothing else is working tonight.
Today’s Top Sports Betting Picks
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Take Shai Gilgeous-Alexander under 33.5 points, 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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There are not many positive wagers out on the markets with this being the fourth game of the NBA Finals, but some are appearing on the “social sites” of ProphetX and Novig. Currently, SGA projects for 33.53 points, which is right in line with this milestone. In the last eight postseason game, Gilgeous-Alexander had 34-plus points on five occasions, though two of those efforts were 34 points. This is a coinflip wager based on the lines at the other operators, so getting this at plus anything is slightly favorable.