NBA

FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Tuesday 5/3/22

Before his ejection in Game 1, Draymond Green was en route to an outstanding fantasy day. Who else should you prioritize on Tuesday's two-game slate?

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.

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 basketball is very reliant on a player's 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 break down today's main slate on FanDuel.

The Slate and Key Injuries

Away Home Game
Total
Away
Implied
Total
Home
Implied
Total
Away
Pace
Home
Pace
MilwaukeeBoston215.5105.5110724
Golden StateMemphis227.5115112.5143


Two of Sunday's key contributors are in danger of missing their respective Game 2s, per Tuesday's official injury report.

The Celtics saw Marcus Smart make several trips to the locker room on Sunday with shoulder and quad injuries. He's officially listed as questionable for Tuesday against the Bucks.

In the nightcap, Memphis might be without Desmond Bane. Bane was noticeably grabbing at his back in Game 1 against Golden State.

Ultimately, I believe both guys play.

Guards

Ja Morant ($10,400): Morant's floor just makes it really hard to even consider Stephen Curry in this same salary tier. Morant has posted at least eight boards and nine assists in each of his last six contests. When that's come with a high-scoring evening, he's detonated the slate. This is an absolute must-win for the Grizzlies or they could very well get swept out of the series outright, so I expect Ja to hog the usage in the fourth quarter plenty -- especially with Bane not at 100%.

Marcus Smart ($6,300): Even nursing the injury, Smart is the end of the line for a full-time role as a guard. Even with great showings, Derrick White and Gary Payton II didn't see enough court time to have the upside needed to be a tournament-winning piece. Considering Smart has nursed this injury most of the season, I still believe in his ability to produce. He is still averaging a decent 0.87 FanDuel points per minute in the playoffs.

Others to Consider:
Jrue Holiday ($8,400): The salary increase hurts a bit but still believe he will benefit from the Boston objective of shutting down Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Jordan Poole ($7,200): Probably best to be underweight given the unlikely ceiling he reached in Game 1 off the bench but just not a lot of guards to consider.

Wings

Jaylen Brown ($7,800): Considering his position, Brown is my favorite play on the slate. He shot just 4 for 13 (30.8%) in Game 1 following a series with the Brooklyn Nets where he posted closer to 49.8% from the field. Now, Milwaukee is a better defense than the Nets, but they also play at a faster pace. Brown should have a better night offensively, and he fits one of my golden rules for this style of NBA DFS with identical slates throughout individual playoff series -- buy low on good players in good roles.

Dillon Brooks ($5,000): While I'll take the under on Brooks' gaudy early projection via our model, he's the lowest-salaried player who has seen at least 30 minutes in his past five contests. He's also taken at least 14 shots in every single one of those games, so the ceiling is enormous should he improve upon his wretched 29-for-84 effort (35.4%) in that stretch. If it's this slate when he catches fire, you're pretty much toast without him.

Others to Consider:
Klay Thompson ($6,600): Like buying low with Brown, I like to buy low with the worst-performing "Splash Bro." That was Klay in Game 1.
Andrew Wiggins ($5,900): Wiggins is now being used as a big for Golden State. Love it. Will boost his rebounding floor long-term.

Bigs

Draymond Green ($6,800): Green's Game 1 ejection was heard around the world, but the larger story for our purposes? His 22.3 FanDuel points in the first half were going to shatter Sunday's slate if he didn't get booted. He still clearly leads this slate in terms of big men, and he's eclipsed 32 FanDuel points in each of his last three full games starting at center. Green's defensive upside (blocks and steals) will always put him in as good of candidacy as any to be inside the perfect lineup.

Al Horford ($5,600): Interestingly, Robert Williams played just 22 minutes in Game 1 as Boston mixed and matched solutions to their Giannis problem. Horford played 36 minutes, and given his reputation as the "Joel Embiid Stopper," it's no surprise the C's are tasking him with guarding "The Greek Freak." In addition to Horford and Williams, this slate -- for two games -- is chock full of big men, including Green, Jaren Jackson Jr., Bobby Portis, Brook Lopez, and Brandon Clarke. Mix and match bigs in tournaments.

Others to Consider:
Jaren Jackson Jr. ($7,000): Have a feeling the salary increase might scare some away, but if he avoids foul trouble, there are minimal Dubs bigs to stop him.
Bobby Portis ($6,200): Steady Eddy. Since entering the lineup four games ago, he's posted 1.02 FanDuel points per minute in a full role.