NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Will the Thunder Storm Back in OKC?! (June 8)

The NBA Finals resume with Game 2 after the Indiana Pacers upset the Thunder in Oklahoma City. 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: Sunday, June 8

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NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks

The Thunder were outrebounded by 17, though that is also a function of OKC taking 18 more shots than the Pacers. Indy managed only six takeaways and did not lead in the game until the final shot of the night with only 0.3 seconds on the clock. Think about all of the extremes described in these two paragraphs and note that it was still only a 111-110 loss for the Thunder. Just wild!

Tyrese Haliburton had to fight for pretty much everything on Thursday, though he was able to find late-game magic once more, which sort of papers over his low-ish 13 field goal attempts and scant 14 points. To his credit, he had 10 rebounds and only three turnovers, plus his team is now up 1-0, though still major underdogs to win the title.

OKC is going to be even more fierce on defense, which is baked into a median projection that is nearly 3 fantasy points lower for Haliburton than it was in Game 1. He is still the best fantasy point-per-dollar player on the Pacers, but he is going to have to score 20 points to be a true DFS factor. That is no small task considering he will be in the Dorture Chamber once again.

Pascal Siakam put up 19 points and 10 rebounds with three helpers and a block. He benefited from the strategy change by coach Mark Daigneault not only changing the starting lineup, replacing Isaiah Hartenstein with Cason Wallace, but not playing Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren together at all on Thursday. Even if the starting lineup is unchanged, there needs to be a return to the two-big lineup to see how it works.

Should Haliburton slide into poor habits as a tentative facilitator who himself settles for 3-pointers, this series will be over almost before it starts. Seeing all of this written down, it should be abundantly clear why this is such an uphill climb for Indiana.

Myles Turner was steady in his 28 minutes but not a game changer. He had a team-high six turnovers, which mostly negated his three blocks from a fantasy perspective. He had only 10 field goal attempts, making five, including 2 of 5 from 3-point range, plus a trio of free throws. That is about as efficient as he could be, yet still he was not a “must have” play in DFS.

Obi Toppin splashed 5 of 8 from 3-point range to score 17 points in 25 minutes off the bench. He is a threat to get more playing time over Turner if the Pacers need offense, though it is important to remember that he is a substandard defender, despite mad hops and athleticism. Thomas Bryant is similarly a threat to Toppin, but the journeyman is more of a tertiary target who is going to need to knock down a couple of threes to stay on the court ahead of any of the other frontcourt players. Bryant also has the better theoretical path to mop-up duty in a lopsided game since he is the most expendable frontcourt player, aside from Tony Bradley.

Aaron Nesmith was a hero, corralling 12 errant caroms while also playing terrific defense and chipping in with 10 points. Expect him to be on the court for another 30-plus minutes as a baseline for each game going forward. Off the bench, T.J. McConnell managed to be productive, which was mildly surprising. The veteran guard will play all the minutes that Haliburton is off the court, though how much cross-over is a variable that is hard to predict.

The 33-year-old played 16:33, which was about three more than expected for this series. He usually gets his fantasy points through steals — few and far between against the Thunder — and backdoor cuts or floaters, which are also hard to come by in this matchup. Still, he could flirt with 15-ish fantasy points, but it is not the most likely outcome in the Finals.

Bennedict Mathurin missed four of his five shots, but coach Rick Carlisle still gave him 16 minutes, which allowed Mathurin to keep his confidence. He is going to need that in abundance if Indy wants to avoid losing this series in five. He did make 3 of 4 from the charity stripe while also adding three rebounds, two assists and a block. He is not carrying the projected popularity of Toppin, which is appealing for savvy gamers.

Ben Sheppard is hard to be excited about since he usually defers on offense, outside of the occasional open 3-pointer, mostly focusing on defense. Andrew Nembhard is a wild card, and while he is not as defensively proficient as Nesmith, this duo morphs their game, doing the little things that allow Haliburton and Siakam to focus on offense. Nembhard has the more appealing salary on FanDuel ($5,800, 37.9%), though the semi-suppressed popularity on DraftKings ($7,000, 27.6%) makes him intriguing on both sites.

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked like an MVP, recording 38 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. It took extremes in many facets of Game 1 to prevent him from taking his team to victory, yet he almost managed to. He is going to be on around 90% of all rosters in some form or fashion, for good reason.

Holmgren played only 23 minutes, and he and Hartenstein never shared the court. Both of those things are going to need to change, and that is the expectation from all corners as well. Hartenstein played well off the bench, and we need to remember he averaged 32.9 minutes per game in the second round last year when he with the New York Knicks, who lost in seven games to these same Pacers. Though he played only 17 minutes, he still had 9 points and nine rebounds but surprisingly no assists. Keep in mind that he and Holmgren have a nice connection and are great at setting each other up on big-to-big passes.

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.

Jalen Williams did not pull the same disappearing act as Holmgren, but the first-time All-Star and Second Team All-Defense honoree needs to step things up a notch. He was 6 of 19, and if any one of his 13 misses had gone in, the Thunder likely would have won and the last 72 hours would have been less about “how badly they played,” which they truly did not so much as Indiana lucked out yet again this postseason. He is projecting as the second-most popular player behind Gilgeous-Alexander on both sites, and that is a nice testament to the belief gamers have that he will bounce back.

Cason Wallace moved into the starting lineup, and while he had a lofty 33 minutes, he did not respond with much DFS production. He was fine, but missing all three of his long-range attempts and going 3 of 9 from the field kept his overall relevance to a minimum. He did not look good on screens, and expectations are that even if he remains in the starting lineup, we will see more of Holmgren and Hartenstein together tonight. Wallace does have a path for mop-up duty as a likely caretaker on offense if SGA gets a break in a lop-sided outcome.

Alec Caruso continues his strong play off the bench with five “stocks” (combined steals and blocks), six rebounds, two assists and a stellar 11 points. The whole point of his acquisition was to bolster the defense in the playoffs, so as long as the contests are close, he should push for minutes in the upper 20s.

Veteran Kenrich Williams played only one minute, and Jaylin Williams did not leave the bench. Kenrich has a chance to see more time with his versatility in the first half, while Jaylin could be a garbage-time king. That is far from an endorsement for either player to crack lineups, but for those crafting 50-plus rosters, they start to become differentiation plays.

Aaron Wiggins entered the game late in the first quarter, getting just shy of two minutes replacing Luguentz Dort. He also started the second and fourth quarters but fell just shy of 10 minutes. He was projected for 14.3 minutes in Game 1, though that has been revised to 8.8 for tonight. He could easily see 12 plus mop-up duty, or it could be Isaiah Joe or Ajay Mitchell getting ahead of him.

Dort of course should be on the court for 30 minutes going against Haliburton and while he is unlikely to be as prolific as he was in the opener, he is far from an offensive zero, it is that he is usually on the court with four better options.

Much like the analysis from Game 1, Joe usually gets early run in the opening frame and again in the third quarter for his offense. That gives him a likely floor of four or so minutes, with upside reaching the low teens. He too is a good bet for mop-up duty, giving him a few paths to upside while being the most likely to avoid a DNP-CD of all the bench players.

Mitchell was a complete surprise to get first half action, starting the second quarter and playing all the minutes SGA vacated. If that holds true again, he could have around three minutes in the first half, though it would take a blowout to get him on the court in the second. He is projected for 4.6 minutes at this time.

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