NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Will The Brunson Burner Cook Tonight? (May 25)

Sunday brings Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals with an 8:00 p.m. ET. tipoff as the series moves to Indiana. 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: Sunday, May 25

NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks

To shake things up a bit, it sounds like Mitchell Robinson is going to replace Josh Hart in the starting lineup, though it is difficult to envision this changing either’s minutes that dramatically. Currently, the Stokastic NBA DFS Projections have Robinson assumed to be the starter, earning 26.2 minutes. For reference, he had 29.3 minutes in Game 2, including 9:34 in the final frame, while Karl-Anthony Towns played 5:25 in the period without being in foul trouble. KAT played only 27.7 minutes, which is more of a twist than Robinson actually starting.

Hart played 28.5 minutes on Friday, and he is projected for 30.1 tonight. There is always a chance that Robinson gets in foul trouble or coach Tom Thibodeau doesn’t like what he sees and changes his mind, or perhaps it is Towns who loses minutes, with him currently projected for 33.1 ticks.

More information should be available closer to tip off, so be sure to tune into Stokastic’s NBA Live Before Lock at 7:30 p.m. ET for all of the up-to-date analysis and breaking news.

Jalen Brunson continues to do his part, putting up 79 points so far this series. He also handed out 11 assists, which was only the third time in 14 playoff games this year that he reached double digits.

Towns and Mikal Bridges each put up 20 with O.G. Anunoby adding 16, but the rest of the Knicks have only 17 points combined. Indiana is only favored by a bucket tonight, so this should be a spirited battle. If Towns is not able to rise to the occasion, Brunson really can’t do much more than he already has, which would mean more of the same for the Knicks and the Pacers moving one step closer to the NBA Finals.

Miles McBride played 25:29 for a second consecutive game, and he reached that level of run in each of his last four outings. That is a significant bump from the 17.1 minutes he averaged over the first 10 games of the postseason, when the Knicks were 7-3. At 2-2 in the last four and with coach Thibodeau searching for a solution, McBride could see his minutes slide back under 20 tonight, particularly if he is not bringing any offensive spark from long range.

Cameron Payne is likely to see 8 to 10 minutes backing up Brunson, though it is unlikely he will tally more than a handful of fantasy points while he is on the court. It would take mop-up duty or some other outlier for him to be more than a salary saver with little fantasy upside.

Brunson remains the key player, with Anunoby being safe for his playing time as the key defender. Bridges had a team-high 45.1 minutes, and he was surprisingly the only New York cager to clear 40 minutes, so he is likely going to be on the court, though his fantasy production is almost entirely tied to his scoring.

That means all of the decisions and uncertainty will consolidate with Towns, Robinson, Hart and, to a lesser extent, McBride. This is where savvy decisions and having a vision on game flow will really help in crafting lineups.

Stokastic’s NBA DFS Single Lineup Simulator is a groundbreaking tool that revolutionizes lineup building by providing data-driven simulations, making it a must-have for serious players. Check out how the Simulator evaluates this single lineup for a sample Showdown slate:

Pascal Siakam was the hero of Game 2, putting up 39 point on 15 of 23 (65%) shooting with five rebounds, three assists and a block. That ended a stretch of eight games where he tallied 21 or fewer points. Part of the reason for the potential New York lineup change is to help the Knicks get more size on the court to deal with Siakam and Myles Turner, who got off to a torrid start in Game 1. It seems the strategy shift would be to help New York avoid an early deficit as the Knickerbockers get their sluggish offense on track. Coach Rick Carlisle is likely to put even more focus on slowing Brunson down from the jump and taking advantage of the more offense-minded Hart being off the court. If no other Knicks can step up, then the gambit will have failed.

The Pacers are so balanced on offense that they have five players averaging double-digit points, led by Siakam (20.3), Haliburton (18.3) and Turner (16.3). Off the bench, T.J. McConnell is averaging 8.8, Obi Toppin 8.1 and scoring specialist Bennedict Mathurin is at 9.7. That kind of balance makes it hard to shut down the team since it is typically a different player leading the way each game. It also is what has led to Haliburton’s complacency, so it cuts both directions.

Aaron Nesmith (15.7) and Andrew Nembhard (14.4), round out the first five, chipping in on offense as well as being the primary defenders dealing with Brunson. That should keep both on the court a fair amount barring foul trouble, which gives them a chance to provide fantasy goodness.

Thomas Bryant and Ben Sheppard are both at the $1,000 minimum salary on DraftKings and FanDuel. Both are risky, with Bryant the most likely to avoid a DNP-CD, though more than a couple of minutes will need to be augmented with mop-up duty or something unfortunate befalling one of the other frontcourt players, including Toppin. Sheppard played in each of the last 10 games, though he finished with no points in four of them and added a grand total of three rebounds and an assist in nearly 28 minutes of action in these appearances.

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 Tyrese Haliburton under 35.5 points + rebounds + assists (PRA), 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.

Haliburton projects for 34.2 PRA tonight, and he topped 36 PRA in six of the 12 playoff games thus far, including both overtime affairs. It is never fun going against a dynamic player like Haliburton, but as discussed in the DFS section above, if he is not looking for his own offense, the assists do not add up nearly as quickly as him actually collecting the buckets himself.