NBA DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Primer: Friday (5/10)

This is my final article of the week, and we’re truly winding down to the end of the season. We’re getting to the guts of these Conference Semi-Series, and it’s scary to think that we’ll be down to four teams in about a week. The good news is that every team has a win in each series except for the defending champs. With that in mind, let’s dive into this Friday card!

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

NBA DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Primer:

Schedule and Odds

• NYK at IND (IND -6.5) O/U: 225.5
• DEN at MIN (MIN -4.5) O/U:204.5

Check out our consensus game odds and the odds from each sportsbook at BettingPros.

Injury Report

• Jalen Brunson (foot) Questionable
• Tyrese Haliburton (back) Questionable
• Jamal Murray (shoulder from throwing injury pack)
• Julius Randle (shoulder) OUT
• Mitchell Robinson (foot) OUT
• OG Anunoby (hamstring) OUT
• Reggie Jackson (ankle) Questionable
• Monte Morris (finger) Questionable
• Bojan Bogdanovic (wrist) OUT
• Bennedict Mathurin (shoulder) OUT

Core Plays

Anthony Edwards (SG/SF – MIN): $9,300 DraftKings, $10,300 FanDuel
Two players have seen their stock rise through the roof over the last month, and ANT is one of them. The 22-year-old superstar has scored at least 41 DraftKings points in six straight games, generating a 55-point average in that span. He’s also scored at least 56 fantasy points in four of those and will be hungry in his first home game of this series.

Tyrese Haliburton (PG – IND): $8,300 DraftKings, $8,800 FanDuel
Hali had his best postseason game on Wednesday, collecting 34 points, six rebounds, nine assists, and three steals en route to 64 DraftKings points. That’s the stud we saw earlier in the season, with Haliburton averaging over 50 DraftKings points per game before suffering a hammy issue near the All-Star break. A big game like that could get him going, especially since he’s at home staring at a 0-2 deficit.

Josh Hart (SF/PF – NYK): $7,700 DraftKings, $8,300 FanDuel
Hart has been in this article almost every day over the last two months and will remain in it until he collapses from exhaustion. The feisty forward played over 40 minutes a night in the final month of the regular season but has seen that workload skyrocket in the postseason. He’s played a full 48 minutes in back-to-back games, averaging over 47 minutes across his last seven fixtures. That’s hard to believe, but it’s led to Hart posting a 45-point average in that span!

Cash Game Considerations

Nikola Jokic (C – DEN): $11,200 DraftKings, $12,000 FanDuel
The Joker has averaged at least 60 DraftKings points in five straight years, picking up his third MVP on Wednesday. That’s telling of how absurd this guy is, with the big man scoring at least 40 DK points in all but a handful of games in that span. His floor bumps well above 50 DK points in the playoffs, with the Joker flirting with a 70-point average in the postseason over the last three years. With Denver down 0-2, look for Jokic to do everything possible to cut that series lead in half.

Jalen Brunson (PG – NYK): $9,800 DraftKings, $10,800 FanDuel
Brunson didn’t play the second quarter on Wednesday but returned in the second half to finish with 46 DraftKings points. It’s hard to believe he missed a whole quarter of that game and still had nearly 50 DK points. It’s less surprising when looking at his form, with JB scoring at least 59 DK points in 10 of 14 games before that. He also had a 53-point average in that span and should keep going off against the fastest-paced team in the NBA.

GPP Targets

Michael Porter Jr. (SF/PF – DEN): $6,700 DraftKings, $7,300 FanDuel
MPJ is a volatile shooter, but he’s shown incredible consistency in this postseason run. Porter has scored at least 37 DraftKings points in six of his last seven outings, generating a 37-point average across 39 minutes a night. As long as this guy gets 15-20 shots and 40 minutes, Porter should be $1,000 more on each site. He’s also scored at least 31 fantasy points in four of his last five matchups with Minnesota.

Miles McBride (PG/SG – NYK): $4,200 DraftKings, $4,100 FanDuel
If you know anything about Tom Thibodeau, he doesn’t sit his starters. That was certainly the case when McBride was starting the last few weeks of the regular season, averaging 33 DK points per game across 45 minutes a night in a nine-game starting stretch. Needless to say, that would be the best production of any player in this price range.

Value Plays

Karl-Anthony Towns (PF/C – MIN): $7,000 DraftKings, $8,000 FanDuel
Big KAT has quietly been crushing it recently, scoring 49 and 52 DK points over his last three outings. That’s the form that made him a stud before ANT took over this team, but it’s clear that all of the attention on Edwards has allowed Towns to go off. He’s also averaging 41 DK points per game in three matchups with Denver this year and needs a price bump after seeing his price drop so much.

Isaiah Hartenstein (C – NYK): $5,700 DraftKings, $7,000 FanDuel
Hartenstein averaged nearly 40 DraftKings points per game when Mitchell Robinson went down earlier in the year, and it looks like he will get a similar role in this series. The big man dropped 44 fantasy points across 39 minutes in Game 2. That sort of workload makes Hartenstein tough to avoid because he’s been one of the best per-minute producers over the last few years and faces a 28th-ranked Pacers defense here.

Advantageous Pricing

• Anthony Edwards (SG/SF – MIN): $9,300 DraftKings, $10,300 FanDuel
• Nikola Jokic (C – DEN): $11,200 DraftKings, $12,000 FanDuel
• Isaiah Hartenstein (C – NYK): $5,700 DraftKings, $7,000 FanDuel
• Karl-Anthony Towns (PF/C – MIN): $7,000 DraftKings, $8,000 FanDuel
• Jalen Brunson (PG – NYK): $9,800 DraftKings, $10,800 FanDuel
• Rudy Gobert (C – UTA): $6,900 DraftKings, $7,900 FanDuel
• Donte DiVincenzo (SG/SF – NYK): $6,300 DraftKings, $7,400 FanDuel
• Precious Achiwua (PF/C – NYK): $4,100 DraftKings, $5,000 FanDuel

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