Yahoo NBA DFS Primer: Friday (5/13)

I’m excited about this weekend! We have all four series featuring a Game 6, which means we have four elimination games to look forward to! It’s hard even to judge who the best team is at this point, and it’s leaving all of these series up in the air. The more Game 7s we have, the better! With that in mind, let’s take a look at this Friday card on Yahoo!

Check out our consensus game odds as well as the odds from each sportsbook at BettingPros

Injury Report

• Ja Morant (knee) OUT
• James Wiseman (knee) OUT
• Otto Porter () Questionable
• Robert Williams (knee) Questionable
• Khris Middleton (MCL) Questionable
• Gary Payton II (shoulder) OUT

Core Plays

Giannis Antetokounmpo (PF – MIL): $58
The Bucks pulled off one of the biggest wins of the postseason in Game 5, and Giannis is doing everything possible to repeat right now. The former MVP has at least 37 Yahoo points in all but three games this season, generating a 57-point average for the year. That’s the highest total on this slate, and it eclipses every other player by 12 Y! points per game! That’s scary since he has 133 combined Yahoo points over the last two games of this series.

Tyus Jones (PG – MEM): $20
Jones was the best player in that Game 5 beatdown, and some people think this team is better with Tyus at the point guard position. He’s started 25 games for Ja Morant this season, averaging nearly 30 Yahoo points per game. He’s been even more absurd in this series, combining for 83 Yahoo points per game in the two outings since Ja went down. A 42-point average from a $20 player is excellent, and it’s going to lock him in every lineup out there.

Cash Game Considerations

Stephen Curry (PG – GSW): $37
Curry had a rare dud in Game 5, but so did every other Golden State player. Chef Curry had at least 37 fantasy points in each of his previous eight games before that, averaging 46 Yahoo points per game in that span. The motivation plays a huge factor in this play because there’s no way Curry and the Warriors will play as they did on Wednesday. Getting up 25 shots and playing 40 minutes seems like a real possibility here, and Curry should be $50 if those two things are in play.

Jaren Jackson Jr. (PF – MEM): $28
It’s weird that a point guard injury opens things up for a power forward, but JJJ is the focal point of the offense when Ja is out of the lineup. In fact, Jackson leads the team with a 32 percent usage rate with Morant on the mend, averaging over 1.3 Y! points per minute. That means if he plays a modest 35 minutes, JJJ is in line for 45-50 fantasy points! Not many sub-$30 players can do that.

GPP Targets

Dillon Brooks (SF – MEM): $20
Brooks has been one of the worst players at times in this series, but he’s being asked to do more with Ja injured. He had 12 points, five rebounds, and eight assists in the first game without Morant and followed it up with 12 points, four rebounds, and four assists in Game 5. He posted the ladder line across 24 minutes, but he would have flirted with 40 if that weren’t a 50-point game in the third quarter. He did take 13 shots in those 24 minutes and 19 shots in the loss prior, so we have to believe 20 shots and 40 minutes are in play for this streaky player.

Brook Lopez (C – MIL): $16
It’s hard to predict when Lopez will perform, but he’s earned a spot in the GPP section. Bro-Lo put up a stinker in Game 5 but had a 28-point average across his previous 12 outings. Getting nearly 30 fantasy points from a sub-$20 player is ridiculous, and Bro-Lo has shown us $25 potential in the past. All of that makes him a worthy risk because all you need is 25 Y! points for Bro-Lo to be a great value.

Value Plays

Marcus Smart (PG – BOS): $19
We keep throwing Smart in here on Yahoo, and it’s going to remain the case as long as he sits around $20. The Defensive Player of the Year is averaging nearly 30 Yahoo points per game across his last 33 outings. We love that since Smart is averaging 32 Yahoo points per game across 39 minutes in the last two games of this series. If this dude plays 40 minutes, he shouldn’t be below $20!

Steven Adams (C – MEM): $12
This guy has changed this series. They decided to start him once Ja went down, and he’s been the most potent force in the paint. Adams had 27 and 37 Yahoo points since recapturing this role, doing that damage in just 24 minutes a night. That’s truly outstanding from such an affordable player, and it’s hard to understand why the Kiwi remains so inexpensive with how he’s performed in the past and in this series.

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