Game one of the Eastern conference finals kicks off tonight between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks. The Bucks are big favorites going into the season, which is not surprising at all. The Bucks have been contenders all season, while it is a surprise to most that the Hawks have made it this far in the playoffs. We have a tough slate to tackle for DFS tonight, as we have some expensive superstars without the value to easily pay up for them. We are going to have to look at risky punts for value today, as we want to squeeze in a few stars at all costs.
Here’s a showdown core For DFS Basketball 6/23/21 (using DraftKings Values)
| Captain | G. Antetokounmpo | $18,600 | |
| Utility | |||
| Utility | O. Okongwu | $6,200 | |
| Utility | |||
| Utility | T. Young | $11,200 | |
| Utility |
Giannis Antetokounmpo is expensive here, but he is definitely our priority for Captain tonight. If you are playing cash games, you want to captain Antetokounmpo. For tournaments, there is some merit to going to a cheaper option as we must pay $18,600 to get Antetokounmpo in the captain spot tonight. Unfortunately, all the studs in this one of have been priced up a lot, due to the fact that they were playing a ton of minutes in the last few games of the second round. Antetokounmpo averages 9 FPTS more then anyone else on the slate, and he is who you want at captain if everyone has an average game. The salary is hard to get to here, but we will have to find some savings elsewhere.
We want to captain Antetokounmpo tonight as well as roster two other studs. We will need a lot of extra salary and we do not have the best value options tonight. As a result, we are looking at cheap punts near the minimum price, so if they do not produce much we are not dead in the water. One guy who is a priority for us here is Onyeka Okongwu who we can roster for only $1,000. The price tag on Okongwu opens a ton of savings for us, and he allows us most of the salary we need to roster our studs. Okongwu has been decent the past few games, scoring somewhere between six and sixteen FPTS. If Okongwu can manage to score about 10 FPTS here, he will likely be one of the top plays on this slate just because of the lineup he allows.
One reason why we need so much value tonight is we want to roster Trae Young alongside Antetokounmpo. Young has some of the best upside in the league, and no one on this slate can keep up with Young and Antetokounmpo. If both the superstars have a good game you will need them both. The midrange plays on this slate are a lot less appealing than the studs at the top, so we are looking to the stars and scrubs style build.
Here’s a showdown core For DFS Basketball 6/23/21 (using FanDuel Values)
| MVP | G. Antetokounmpo | $16,500 | |
| Star | T. Young | $15,000 | |
| Pro | |||
| Utility | |||
| Utility | O. Okongwu | $6,500 | |
Now what do you get if you sign up now?
• A few of our favorite studs and value options for the night
• Some general strategy for the night
• Get 7-days for free and all-access for all sports for $99 per year after
Khris Middleton – ($10,000 DK) Middleton has been fantastic the last couple of slates, as he has scored 70 and 55.5 FPTS respectively in his past two games. However, he had been playing a ton of minutes to try and close out the series with the Nets, as we saw him play 52 minutes in overtime last game. Middleton has gotten expensive here, and it is tough to fit him alongside both the superstars tonight. We like getting to some Middleton if you are playing multiple lineups, but he is not a priority for us at this price.
Jrue Holiday – ($9,400 DK) Holiday is also expensive here, but he is a lot easier to get to then Middleton. Holiday had a bad shooting series against Brooklyn, but we do not expect that to continue for the entire playoff run. Holiday has been playing a ton of minutes and taking good usage. His poor shooting prevented him from putting together many great games last round, but we are still looking to him for upside here.
Pat Connaughton – ($2,200 DK) Connaughton is another cheap punt we really like using for tonight, as he has been playing solid minutes and we need his salary. Connaughton has played over 20 minutes in each of his last four games, and we expect that trend to continue here. Connaughton has scored well over 15 FPTS in two of his last three, which would be fantastic value for this situation.
Clint Capela – ($8,600 DK) Capela is an interesting option here, as he was not able to show any upside in the tough match up against the Sixers. However, we know Centers can have big games against the Hawks and Capela has fantastic upside. He has been playing a lot of run which we expect to see. If he can have a big game here, he gives us another star option much cheaper then Middleton or Holiday on the Bucks.
General strategy
We have a tough one tonight, and as we have mentioned in the past it can always be tough trying to predict what rotations look like in game of a series. Often Coaches change up what they are doing based on matchups, and we see some guys start playing a lot more or a lot fewer minutes. For tonight the one guy we have no concerns with is Antetokounmpo, not that he cannot have a bad game, but there is no reason to predict it. The rest of the studs are all riskier and expensive tonight, which is why we really like getting to some Capela. The midrange guys will probably be less owned tonight, so they could be nice pivots for tournaments.
Go win your lineup and tell us how you did. Twitter (@FantasyDFSX) is a good place for that.
