NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 5/30/19

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 hugely 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 ton of other great resources to help give you an edge.

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

Let's take a look at who you should target on today's one-game slate, which follows a different format than typical NBA contests on FanDuel. Your lineup consists of five position-less slots, with one designated "MVP" having their fantasy score multiplied by 2.0, a "STAR" multiplied by 1.5 and a "PRO" multiplied by 1.2, as well as two utility slots receiving their usual points.

Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors ($15,500)

This hasn't been the case often on these one-game playoff slates, but tonight you don't want to be paying up to the top with your MVP. Yes, Kawhi Leonard has been a beast in these playoffs, but Curry's offensive upside makes him the pick for MVP tonight.

Kevin Durant is still on the shelf tonight, and in the last five games without KD Curry has not attempted fewer than 20 field goals or 11 3-pointers in a game, averaging 23.2 and 14.4 per, putting up a massive 35.8 points while also adding 7.6 boards and 6.6 assists per game in that stretch. He has a 34.6% usage rate in that time, playing an average of 38.6 minutes per game even though that stretch includes a 22-point blowout win.

Even though the Golden State Warriors are slight 1.5-point underdogs tonight, FanDuel Sportsbook has Curry as a -120 favorite to lead the game in scoring, with Kawhi's +125 line implying him to be about 10% less likely than Curry.

That offensive upside and likely lower MVP ownership than Kawhi makes him a great play here.