We have our final eastern conference play in game tonight, as the Wizards face off against the Pacers for the eight and final spot in the playoffs. This is our only game today, so we have a showdown slate for DFS. Showdown slates are all we have come the conference finals and are important to playing daily fantasy in the playoffs. The biggest difference strategically with showdown slates is that you pick a captain or MVP depending on what site you are playing. The captain style adds a new aspect to DFS, as your entire lineup will be determined by how much salary you committed to the captain spot. For tonight’s slate specifically, we are quite strained on salary. That is because we must captain a superstar with these two teams, and the value plays at the bottom of the slate are ugly. No doubt we must take a few punts tonight, but we have put together a very solid lineup that captures all the studs we might need for this one.
Here’s a showdown lineup For DFS Basketball 5/20/21 (using DraftKings Values)
| Captain | D. Sabonis | $16,800 | |
| Utility | B. Beal | $10,200 | |
| Utility | J. Holiday | $5,000 | |
| Utility | A. Len | $2.400 | |
| Utility | R. Westbrook | $13,400 | |
| Utility | R. Lopez | $2,200 |
The stars on this slate look like the clear-cut caption options, as the cheaper guys just do not have consistent production. If you are not captaining one of our studs tonight, you are just hoping for a fluke game where Davis Bertans hits nine threes or Robin Lopez has a big double- double. With that said we have a tough call which stud we want to bet on tonight, but Sabonis is our favorite. Sabonis has been fantastic for a while, and the Pacers are missing a high usage guy in Caris LeVert. Russell Westbrook is an enticing captain option due to his production over the last few months of the season. However, his captain price at $20,100 really limits the rest of the lineup. We expect all three of the stars tonight to play big minutes, and Sabonis has been keeping up with Westbrooks’s production for a little while. The savings we get from taking Sabonis at $16,800 over Westbrook is crucial to the rest of our lineup. We also love this matchup; the Wizards have awful big man options, and it would be surprising if Sabonis gets stumped here.
The main reason we want to captain Sabonis over Westbrook tonight is that allows us to also roster Bradley Beal. Beal is quite a bit cheaper then the other two studs tonight, but he has just as good upside. Looking at the options on the slate, the guys we are getting in the $8,000 range are simply not worth the saving over getting a bona fide superstar in Beal. It would not be surprising if Beal gets under-rostered tonight, as people feel rightfully inclined to play both Sabonis and Westbrook. In playing all three stars, we do have to sacrifice and make some punts elsewhere. However, if all our studs perform we do not need much from our punt plays.
We just mentioned that we are going to have to rely on some punt plays here. Alex Len is one of those punts. We have a lower minimum salary for showdown games, so we are getting Len at only $2,400. Len scored 9.5 FPTS in only 11.4 minutes last game. However, we are hoping the Wizards use there centers more tonight as they will need some size against Sabonis. If Len can get around 15 FPTS here, that is all we need from him with all the studs we are able to play. The Wizards went small against Boston for the matchup, but we expect to see a lot more use of their front court here. The Wizards centers are uncomfortable plays, but they are the only viable punts under $3,000.
The only significant player sidelined tonight is Caris LeVert, who will remain sidelined due to injury. We expect Justin Holiday to start for the Pacers and he is cheap here at only $5,000. Holiday should be in for a lot of run here as the Pacers are thin at the wings. Holiday has a lot of upside and he is a lot cheaper than the other Indiana guys who we expect to see significant run. Holiday is cheap enough to fit in our top-heavy build and we expect him to bring some decent production himself.
Russell Westbrook is a play that is hard to get away from. In taking Westbrook or Sabonis in the utility spot tonight, they are not the guy you are betting on. Not taking Westbrook is a massive risk that is not that necessary here, as we know he can easily go for over 70 FPTS. Westbrook does have the best potential on the slate in terms of raw FPTS, and he will be in most lineups for sure. Westbrook is a good captain play, but that does make it extremely hard to play both Beal and Sabonis as well.
Our favorite cheap punt on tonight’s slate is Robin Lopez, who is only $2.200. Lopez and Len do somewhat cannibalize each other but we do not need a big game from either of them. We expect Lopez to play about 20 minutes tonight, which would be more then enough for him to provide solid value at this price. For this slate, getting super cheap guys who are at all viable is valuable. Which is why we are highlighting the Washington big men as important plays.
Here’s a showdown lineup For DFS Basketball 5/20/21 (using FanDuel Values)
| MVP | R. Westbrook | $16,000 | |
| Star | D. Sabonis | $15,000 | |
| Pro | O. Brissett | $11,500 | |
| Utility | D. Bertans | $9,000 | |
| Utility | R. Lopez | $8,000 |
Oshae Brissett – Pro (11,500 FD) On FanDuel it is tough to try and play all three of the stars on the slate. We are looking to Brissett in the pro spot as he has been fantastic, and we expect the Pacers to play him big run this game. We saw the rotation that Indiana went with for the first play in, and there was a huge role for Brissett. We expect him to see another nice opportunity here and athletic players like Brissett often benefit from fast-paced matchups like this.
Davis Bertans – Utility (9,000 FD) Bertans looks good tonight on both sites, as we expect he is in for a lot of run. The Wizards do not have a lot of strong forward options which leaves a big opportunity for Bertans. Bertans played over 30 minutes last game and missed all seven of his three’s. However, the matchup is a lot easier tonight, and he has a ton of upside if the shots are falling.
Go win your lineup and tell us how you did. Twitter (@FantasyDFSX) is a good place for that.
