Phil Naessens 
The Wizards stole one from Philadelphia, but the real headline was Joel Embiid’s knee injury; Utah took care of Memphis behind Donovan Mitchell’s All-NBA play and are now on the brink of advancing to the second round, proving they are quite the challenge for anyone in the West. Some great NBA Playoff ball was provided to us again last night, and tonight’s action sees Brooklyn attempting to advance to the second round, while Portland, Denver, LA, and Phoenix all battle for a 3-2 series lead, respectively. It’s Taco Tuesday’s edition of the Gems – let’s ride.
Before running to the DraftKings, FanDuel, or Yahoo lobby to construct your NBA DFS lineup after reading this article, please make sure to utilize the abundance of tools we have at Win Daily:
NBA Core Member #1: LeBron James ($10,000 FD / $9,800 DK)
As much as I am not a LeBron guy, a few things to key in mind with NBA DFS is to have a short memory if a player lets you down on a given night, and to never let personal bias get in the way of playing the best players on a given slate. Enter King James, who will likely be without Anthony Davis tonight; sporting a 32.2% usage rate this season with AD out of the lineup, Bron posted a 24.9/7.9/7.8 scoring line and finds himself in as close to a must-win game as it gets for the Lakers right now.
NBA Core Member #2: Payton Pritchard ($4,500 FD / $3,200 DK)
Not a necessity on FD, but the idea of getting a cheap PG2 is. Moreover, on DK, Pritchard’s price just doesn’t make sense for the role he’s going to play in an elimination game for the Celtics – Kemba Walker is doubtful to play for the second straight game, and Pritchard’s scoring is needed much more than NeSmith’s defensive capability and Langford’s – well, nothing. Pritchard played 24 minutes last time out, dropped 12/2/3 while shooting 5-for-9 from the field, including 2-for-4 from deep, making him one of the best value plays on tonight’s NBA slate.
NBA Core Member #3: Deandre Ayton ($7,800 FD / $7,400 DK)
Is everyone done smack talking Ayton? Yes? Word. Been on him since the beginning of the NBA Playoffs and I’m not coming off the train anytime soon; with no AD tonight – potentially – or a hobbled one, Ayton should continue to feast on the Lakers frontcourt, who have been leaving him wide open in the paint as they attempt to switch constantly onto CP3 and Booker. Sporting a mere 16.4% usage rate in the series, Ayton has posted a 19.8/13.5 stat line, shooting a ridiculous 80.9% from the field and scoring 41.25 DK points/game.
NBA Core Member #4: Lakers Role Players
There is no said second Laker that I can write up, but I did want to touch on each of them briefly before the livestream at 6pm EST. Kyle Kuzma comes in as the industry’s favorite, while also being the highest owned despite having a tough matchup versus Jae Crowder. While we can see Crowder switch onto LeBron, Kuz still has to deal with Mikal Bridges on the wing, which I am not too fond of, however the low price on both sites keep him firmly in place. The center duo of Drummond/Gasol is certainly intriguing, although I do give the nod to the savvy veteran over Drum because of his defensive consistency and ability to stay out of foul trouble. Caruso and KCP (if active) will be popular because of their prices, while Wes Matthews will draw some ownership if KCP is inactive for a second straight, but let’s not rule out “paying up” for Dennis Schroder – in 31 games without AD this season, Schroder posted a 16.7/3.5/6.4 scoring line while sporting a 24.7% usage rate. Either way, you need an additional Laker next to LeBron in your lineups tonight.
Value Gems: Check the projection model.
I will continue to stress the importance of having both the projection model and cheat sheet open when building lineups for a further player pool and to ease a decision between two players, in addition to finding additional value plays.
You can find me on Twitter @DFS_Ghost
