Joel Bartilotta | Tue, Apr 18th 2023, 7:01am EDT

NBA DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Primer: Tuesday (4/18)

This is my favorite time of the season! Watching playoff basketball is like nothing else, and I’d take it over March Madness all day. That might be an unpopular opinion, but I prefer to watch players at the highest level playing rather than a bunch of college kids making mistakes on every possession. We have two of my favorite series happening here, so let’s go ahead and get into it!

View the best player prop bets for tonight’s slate with our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet

Schedule and Odds

ATL at BOS (BOS -10) O/U: 230

NYK at CLE (CLE -5.5) O/U: 214

LAC at PHX (PHX -7.5) O/U: 225.5

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

View the best player prop bets for tonight’s slate with our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet

Schedule and Odds

ATL at BOS (BOS -10) O/U: 230

NYK at CLE (CLE -5.5) O/U: 214

LAC at PHX (PHX -7.5) O/U: 225.5

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

Injury Report

Paul George (knee) OUT
Josh Hart (ankle) Doubtful
Cameron Payne (back) Questionable

Core Plays

Kawhi Leonard (SF/PF – LAC): $9,400 DraftKings, $10,300 FanDuel
Playoff Kawhi has been activated! If you didn’t catch this guy in the 2018-19 Finals, Leonard was the best player in the NBA. He flashed some glimpses of that in Game 1 of this series, scoring 56 DraftKings points. That’s no surprise since he’s seeing a massive boost in usage with PG13 out, guaranteeing him 35-40 minutes and 20 shots. He’s also got at least 52 DK points in back-to-back games against Phoenix and needs to be $10K on both sites.

Julius Randle (PF/C – NYK): $8,600 DraftKings, $8,500 FanDuel
It’s strange to see Randle in this price range. The big man averaged over 43 DK points per game in the regular season and was closer to $10K throughout the majority of the year. He’s also killed the Cavs in their two most recent meetings, averaging over 52 fantasy points per game. That’s scary since Randle could be looking at 40-45 minutes and 20-plus shots as the focal point of this Knicks offense.

Cash Game Considerations

Jayson Tatum (SF/PF – BOS): $9,800 DraftKings, $10,800 FanDuel
Tatum is the highest-priced player on the slate, and he needs to be in every cash game lineup out there. The All-Star has scored at least 35 DraftKings points in 71 of 74 games this season. He’s also leading all players on this slate with 52 DK points per game, averaging 53 fantasy points per game in his three matchups with Atlanta. That’s far from surprising since Atlanta allows the most fantasy points to opposing forwards.

Darius Garland (PG – CLE): $7,400 DraftKings, $7,300 FanDuel
This is some pricing that I don’t understand. Garland is an All-Star player who should never be this close to $7,000. The Cleveland guard averaged over 39 DK points per game in the regular season. That’s absurd from a player in this price range, and he should be locked into 40 minutes in this must-win game. New York is not a scary matchup either, posting a 22nd OPRK against opposing point guards.

GPP Targets

Al Horford (PF/C – BOS): $5,500 DraftKings, $5,700 FanDuel
Now that we’re in the playoffs, Boston should lean on their veteran big man. That’s what we’ve seen in the past, with Big Al averaging nearly 35 DraftKings points per game in his playoff career. We love that when examining his recent form, posting a 29-point average over the final month of the season. We also saw him drop 27 fantasy points across 38 minutes in Game 1, and this former All-Star needs to be $7K on both sites if he’s going to play over 35 minutes.

John Collins (PF/C – ATL): $4,600 DraftKings, $5,500 FanDuel
It’s wild to see Collins sitting at just $4,600. This guy has been a $7K player for most of his career, and he’s played closer to that than this sub-$5K price tag. JC averaged 27 DK points per game across his final 16 regular season outings and has a 37-point average against Boston dating back to last season. All you need is 25 fantasy points for Collins to be a good value, and that’s a safe bet when looking at prior statistics.

Value Plays

Marcus Smart (PG/SG – BOS): $5,900 DraftKings, $6,500 FanDuel
Smart has always been a stud in the postseason. This guy was held to 32 minutes a game in the regular season, but 35-40 minutes will be a regular thing from here on out. That’s made Smart a $7K player in the past, scoring 40 DK points in Game 1. He also averaged nearly 30 fantasy points per game in the regular season and should never be this cheap in that potential 40-minute role.

Ivica Zubac (C – LAC): $5,000 DraftKings, $6,100 FanDuel
Zoo has been massive for the Clips in the second half, and it blows my mind that he’s just $5K on DraftKings. The big man scored 31 DraftKings points in Game 1, which is right on par with his average over the final two months of the season. That’s all you can ask for from such an affordable player, and they need him to step up with George sidelined. He’s had success against this stingy Suns defense, averaging 25 DK points per game against them.