The NBA Finals return to Indianapolis tonight with the Pacers on the brink of elimination as the Oklahoma City Thunder lead the series 3-2 and are 6.5-point road favorites. 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: Thursday, June 19
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NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks
Pascal Siakam: Pacers vs. Thunder
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 39.06 | FanDuel: 38.41
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 42.4% | FanDuel: 51.4%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $10,200 | FanDuel: $11,800
Tyrese Haliburton is the main variable tonight. If he were fully healthy, the spread would probably be closer to 3.5 points. There is a decent chance he will not play tonight, and at the very least he is likely to be well below 100%.
Haliburton did not make a bucket, missing on all six of his field goal attempts and getting all 4 of his points at the charity stripe. He added seven rebounds and six assists in 34 very labored minutes.
Early in the Finals, Haliburton sprained his ankle, and then he suffered a strained right calf in Game 5. Keep in mind the early portion of the season saw Haliburton dealing with a tender hamstring, which also caused him to miss time in January of the 2024 season.
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 Indianapolis.
Pascal Siakam has been outstanding this series, particularly over the last three games. In this stretch, he averaged 23.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 3.3 steals and 1.3 blocks, culminating in back-to-back 50-fantasy point efforts.
If Haliburton is able to take the court, it will at least take some of the attention off of Siakam, though it would not be a surprise if the Thunder roll doubles and help towards Siakam and dare another Pacer to step up tonight.
Myles Turner was dealing with an illness, impacting his efforts in Game 3 and 4, but he hasn’t really done much even when he was healthy. In the last 14 postseason games, he topped 30 fantasy points three times but did not break through 35 fantasy points. He is playing 28.3 minutes per game in this stretch.
Bennedict Mathurin was at least back above 21.7 minutes for the third time in four games on Monday, and while he was only 2-for-12 from the field with 7 points, he added eight rebounds and two blocks. He is going to have to put up at least 20 points tonight if the Pacers have any hope of forcing a Game 7 showdown.
Aaron Nesmith had five fouls, and while he avoided a third consecutive disqualification, he was only on the court for 25 minutes. Defense is his focus, but he is another one of the many Pacers who are going to need to pick up the offensive slack for Haliburton. The $3,200 salary on FanDuel is strong, though even at $4,800 on DraftKings, it looks like the former Boston Celtic will be more popular with a 44.2% to 34.3% edge in tournaments.
Andrew Nembhard continued to be tenacious on defense, though he had a mediocre fantasy performance in his 36 minutes of run. Similar to Nesmith, he is going to have to step up, and he is already a key offensive contributor.
After yet another strong fantasy performance, T.J. McConnell finally saw his salary move from $2,400 on FanDuel to $3,800. For this series, the 33-year-old is averaging 11.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.0 steals in 18 minutes of action. Game 5 saw him on the court for a tick shy of 22 minutes, which is his second most for the entire postseason. This is important to point out since even with Haliburton hurting, McConnell tends to max out at around 20 minutes.
In nine regular season games without Haliburton this year, McConnell had one spot start while averaging 17.8 minutes, including three overtime games. Looking back to the preceding year, it was a similar story with McConnell playing in 13 games without Haliburton, getting two starts and averaging only 20.5 minutes. It would be a surprise to see the veteran guard crack 25 minutes tonight, even if Haliburton does not play.
Ben Sheppard has seen his minutes slide from 18 to 12 and then to just six. He does not provide anything on offense, and with Haliburton limited, it was hard to have both on the court. Tony Bradley played for the first time this series, getting 12 minutes, including just over seven in the first half, spread across three rotations. Bradley also played alongside Obi Toppin for seven minutes when both Turner and Siakam were off the floor.
Toppin contributed 12 points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal in 21.6 minutes, though he was -16 for his worst differential of the series. He too is going to have to help pitch in tonight on offense, with crashing the boards on both ends a must to offset his defensive shortcomings.
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NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: Thunder at Pacers
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 56.29 | FanDuel: 56.48
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 74.1% | FanDuel: 92.6%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $14,200 | FanDuel: $17,400
FanDuel finally removed the $17,000 salary ceiling, moving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to $17,400 for tonight’s matchup, with DraftKings also bestowing a series-high $14,200 salary on the newly minted NBA MVP.
Gilgeous-Alexander had another 30-piece, with 10 assists and a ridiculous six “stocks” (combined steals and blocks). He is expected to be on around 90% of all FanDuel tournament lineups and probably should be in the 80-plus range on DraftKings, despite checking in at around 75%.
Jalen Williams was amazing on Monday, dropping a 40-burger with six rebounds, four assists and a steal. Even with this sublime performance, it is still SGA as the odds-on favorite for the Finals MVP award. Chet Holmgren rounds out the big three, and while he missed out on a double-double by 1 lonely point, he again made up for things in the stocks market with four, including reaching at least three blocks for the sixth time this postseason.
Isaiah Hartenstein remained in the starting lineup, though as expected, his playing time held steady at around 21 minutes. He attempted only two shots but had 4 points by adding a pair of free throws, along with a solid eight rebounds, four assists and two stocks. He is a tremendous option on FanDuel at just $2,600 and still in play on DraftKings at $5,400.
Luguentz Dort stuffed the stat sheet, corralling eight errant caroms, three helpers, a trio of takeaways and 9 points. He is a DFS wild card, though he will continue to play low-30s minutes with his lockdown defense. Long live the Dorture Chamber!
Turning our attention to the second unit, it was Alex Caruso again leading the reserves with 29 minutes. He had a rough night on offense, making only 1 of 8 from the field and missing all three from long range. Of course, he had two rebounds, two assists, one block and a ferocious four steals. Cason Wallace was dialed in from downtown, hitting 3 of 4, along with his lone 2-pointer. He also had four steals, making the pairing of him and Caruso the slate-breakers in DFS.
Aaron Wiggins was the second reserve off the bench after Caruso, seeing a lofty 22.4 minutes and getting extra burn with his 14 points. Depending on his success from the field and mop-up duty, Wiggins could again be a solid mid-tier option, albeit with a shaky floor.
Isaiah Joe was a DNP-CD after watching his minutes slide all series. He is likely relegated a late-game appearance in a blowout if Wiggins contributes anything on offense tonight. Finally, there is Kenrich Williams, who should see first half run, though he is content to stay focused on defense and doing the little things that do not appear in the box score.
Today’s Top Sports Betting Picks
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There are not many positive wagers out on the markets with this being the sixth game of the NBA Finals and the efficacy of Haliburton in question. There is a positive expected ROI on Williams logging fewer than 22 points, though that is a pretty thin wager at this time.
