FanDuel Daily Fantasy Helper: NBA Finals Game 2

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach -- and that's especially the case now.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

Daily fantasy NBA is very reliant on opportunity, so you'll need to make sure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's take a look at who you should target in Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat, which locks at 9:00pm.

MVP Considerations

The most important thing to note for Game 2 is that Goran Dragic (foot) and Bam Adebayo are both doubtful. That creates the rare potential to unearth some real value on a one-game slate.

Anthony Davis ($14,500), LeBron James ($15,500), and Jimmy Butler ($14,000) are the only three players with a ceiling projection greater than 50 FanDuel points. The next closest player is well below 40.0, so we'll focus on those three for now.

In 155.6 minutes in the bubble without Bam or Dragic on the court this season, Butler's usage rate was 30.1%. Butler's had a usage rate of 27.0% or higher four times this postseason -- he totaled 51.6, 49.6, 53.8, and 48.4 FanDuel points in those four contests.

LeBron posted 55.1 FanDuel points in Game 1. James was rostered in the MVP spot in 53.2% of lineups on Wednesday, and that percentage is not likely to go down much. Davis outscored LeBron, recording 60.3 FanDuel points. AD was rostered in the 2X spot in 30.7% of lineups, though that could rise for Game 2. Given LeBron's history of Finals dominance, I'd roster LeBron in the top spot in the hope that he's got a monster performance in him.

You can easily roster all three with the values available (more on that soon), though you'd have to surpass on rostering Tyler Herro ($11,000). Herro played a team-high 291.3 minutes without Bam and Dragic on the court in the bubble, and he sported a usage rate of 23.6% in those minutes. Expect that rate to go up, though it's worth noting that his per-minute fantasy scoring actually dropped without those two on the court. I'd roster the three studs and construct my lineup with some value plays.

Utility Considerations

Let's start with Kendrick Nunn ($6,500), who is dirt-cheap and could have a rather large role tonight. In 238.2 bubble minutes without Bam or Dragic, Nunn averaged an additional 0.22 fantasy points per minute. At that same salary, you can also roster Kelly Olynyk ($6,500). Olynyk's more than capable of posting a decent fantasy night in a short stint, though he should get more run without Bam on the court. Olynyk totaled 21.0 FanDuel points in 18.1 minutes on Wednesday.

Jae Crowder ($9,500) is another player you can use while still rostering all three studs. Crowder's posted 27.0 or more fantasy points in 8 of his last 11 contests. His ceiling could be higher given the injuries. Andre Iguodala ($7,500) has recorded 26.1 and 24.0 in his last two. He could also see a minutes and usage bump in this one.

For the Lakers, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($8,500) should garner consideration. KCP's played valuable minutes throughout the entire postseason, and he's had three games with at least 23.4 FanDuel points.