NBA

FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Friday 6/11/21

Elisha Twerski  —  @ElishaTwerski Jun 11th, 2021
Chris Paul is one of the top plays tonight as the series heads to Denver. Who else should we target on Friday?

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.

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 and COVID-19 situations. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news and we also have player news updates.

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.

Please note: When I'm referencing a player's value figure, it is the number of fantasy points scored for every $1,000 in salary. Typically, a value figure of 5.0 (meaning, 5.0 FanDuel points for every $1,000 in salary) is the minimum baseline we'll be targeting.

Let's take a look at who you should target on tonight's two-game playoff slate, which locks at 7:30 PM Eastern.

All injury updates are via the NBA's official injury report or numberFire's player news.

Point Guard

Chris Paul ($8,200) - The Denver Nuggets struggled mightily to defend opposing point guards over the final 30 games of the regular season, surrendering the fourth-most fantasy points to the position during that stretch, according to FantasyPros. Those struggles have surfaced against in the postseason, as Denver ceded an averaged of 57.6 FanDuel points to Damian Lillard in Round 1, and they've allowed 46.7 and 48.5 fantasy points to Chris Paul through the first two games of Round 2. Look for CP3 to keep pressing this advantage.

Cameron Payne ($4,300) - Payne only managed 11.1 FanDuel points in 15.3 minutes of action in Game 2, but our model sees him bouncing back tonight. The 26-year-old averaged 1.1 fantasy points per minute in the playoffs prior to that game, and numberFire has him projected for 21.9 FanDuel points tonight -- that makes him the top point-per-dollar play at the point position.

Shooting Guard

Devin Booker ($8,200) - Booker is not only our algorithm's top-projected scorer at the two-guard position tonight, but he's also the top value play. The All-Star dropped 47.9, 51.4, and 64.7 FanDuel points in three of the six games in Round 1, and he would only need 41 to accrue five-times value tonight (or 5.0 fantasy points for every $1,000 in salary). numberFire's models have him getting pretty darn close, with a projection of 40.5.

Torrey Craig ($3,600) - That's right -- that's four consecutive players from the Phoenix Suns. Craig looks to be one of the better value plays tonight. Through two games against Denver, the wing has recorded 24.6 and 22.3 FanDuel points, and at tonight's salary, he would only need 18 to achieve adequate value. Roster Craig for key savings tonight.

Small Forward

Danilo Gallinari ($5,400) - De'Andre Hunter is officially out for the remainder of the playoffs, which means that's one fewer body for Gallinari to contend with. The 32-year-old amassed 21 real-life points and 9 rebounds in Game 2, resulting in a fantasy output of 34.8. It was the second time in his last four games that he'd eclipsed 30 FanDuel points.

Danny Green ($5,000) - He might not have the highest of ceilings, but Green has now recorded at least 24.4 FanDuel points in four of the seven playoff games for the Philadelphia 76ers. The veteran's ability to stuff the stat sheet leaves open the possibility of him returning solid value even if his shot isn't falling. That was evident in Game 2, as Green only hit two field goals but still put up 29.6 fantasy points.

Power Forward

Tobias Harris ($8,800) - The Hawks were the league's fifth-most-generous team to opposing power forwards over the final 30 games of the season, and given the lack of upside at any of the forward positions, Harris could be one of the better plays tonight. The 28-year-old is averaging 44.6 FanDuel points in the postseason so far, and that includes at least totaling 41.1 in five of the seven contests. He's our algo's top scorer at the position by 8.6 FanDuel points.

JaMychal Green ($4,200) - Once again we're going to hunt for value so that we can afford to pay up for one of the two stud centers -- and this time it's with JaMychal Green. Prior to his dud on Wednesday, Green had garnered at least 19.4 FanDuel points in his previous four outings, including 23-plus in three of them. And he did all of that while not exceeding 23.5 minutes in any of those efforts. Green is our model's top point-per-dollar play at power forward tonight.

Center

Nikola Jokic ($10,600) - Joel Embiid ($11,000) has been the better player in the second round of the playoffs, but I'm siding with the MVP tonight. Jokic and the Nuggets will be returning home, where he averaged a whopping 56.5 FanDuel points during the regular season (compared to 51.8 on the road). I expect the Serbian to be fully dialed in tonight as Denver tries to avoid the dreaded 0-3 hole. Plus, the $400 in savings doesn't hurt.