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We have a small two-gamer on the docket tonight, both featuring Western Conference teams facing elimination. Denver tries to close out the Blazers in Portland before the Suns try to close out the Lakers down in L.A. Will the Lakers be beaten into submission again, or is this going to lead to a monster Game 7? Does Portland have anything left after dropping a double overtime thriller? It's going to be a fun night!
Will A.D. be joining Will Barton and P.J. Dozier on the bench, living up to Charles Barkley's new nickname for him? Or will he return in a must-win for the Lakers to try and help them past a driven and high-energy Phoenix team? That's the only injury news that we're waiting on. I tend to think that even if Davis is able to go that he wont be enough of a factor to pay that much for him. I will ignore him for DFS purposes, but it could impact other players and their upside. We still have to keep an eye on that situation.
This article will supply you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for the DraftKings on 6/3/21. You can also check out today’s FanDuel lineup picks. It’s also important to monitor injury news as a result of COVID-19 as the slate can completely change before line-up lock. Without further ado, let’s dive into the picks!
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Damian Lillard - PG, vs. Denver ($10,300)
The Blazers ruined a career night from Dame to lose a pivotal Game 5. Teams that lose Game 5 in a tie series go on to lose the series 83% of the time. The odds are firmly against the Blazers now. The only thing that I know for sure is that Lillard is going to have a big game. Game 4 was the outlier. He has been off the charts in the four other games, especially in the double overtime thriller on Tuesday. You can't fade Lillard in cash. It's really hard to do in GPP's as well.
Cameron Payne - PG, at Lakers ($5,400)
Paul only played 23 minutes in the big Game 5 blowout, but he wasn't all that effective when he was in there. Particularly telling was that Phoenix only let Payne play 19 minutes. That means he wasn't out there in garbage time. Which means he is a consistent part of this rotation right now. Payne struggled in Game 1, but he has 128.5 DraftKings points in the four games since then. That's a nice return for this price.
Monte Morris - PG/SG, at Portland ($4,700)
Facundo Campazzo did start again, but he played just 21 minutes in a double overtime game. The tables have shifted to Morris. Denver has realized that no one can really guard Lillard, so they are using their best offensive threats, which are Morris and Austin Rivers. Morris played 41 minutes in Game 5. He wont see that mark again barring another double overtime game, but I would say that he plays the most minutes amongst the guards again.
Bonus Guards: CJ McCollum ($7,600), Chris Paul ($6,500), Austin Rivers ($4,500), Talen Horton-Tucker ($3,300)
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DraftKings DFS Forwards
LeBron James - PG/SF, vs. Phoenix ($10,100)
LeBron usually comes up big with his back against the wall. The only exception that comes to mind right away is the 2010 series against Boston. Even then, it was Game 5 that he had a horrible game in. He still had a triple-double in the Game 6 loss. The Suns have handled him well in this series. They have actually handled the whole Lakers team well. If you believe that LeBron is still elite and hasn't mailed it in, you'd be a fool not to play him. It's easy to feel like Father Time finally caught up to LeBron and dropped him to the turf this year. If you believe that, this is an easy fade. This feels a lot like that 2010 Boston series to me. LeBron mailed it in after Game 5. He had a good Game 6, but didn't look his best. If you take his stats from Game 6 of that series, he still hits value at this price, for what it's worth.
Michael Porter Jr. - SF/PF, at Portland ($6,900)
It has been an up-and-down series for Porter. He had his worst game of the series in Game 4, posting just 8.75 DraftKings points in 23 minutes. In Game 5, he only missed three shots, played 48 minutes, and racked up 51 DraftKings points. The inconsistency is maddening, but Porter easily has the most upside of any player at his price. You want some exposure to him in GPP formats, but I wouldn't go all-in due to his inconsistent play.
Robert Covington - PF/C, vs. Denver ($5,100)
After putting up just 30.5 DraftKings points in 71 minutes over the first two games of this series, Covington has put together three straight games of over 5x value. RoCo has never been a huge FPPM guy. His value lies in the fact that he plays a ton of minutes and is a really good defensive player. Portland looked good with Covington more involved in the offense, so I think we'll see more of that in Game 6. Whatever the case, you can bet that RoCo plays at least 35 minutes. His minutes low in the series was 34 in Game 1. On a two game slate, I want this kind of minutes volume in a value play.
Bonus Forwards: Anthony Davis ($9,400), Aaron Gordon ($5,300), Mikal Bridges ($5,000), Jae Crowder ($4,900)
DraftKings DFS Centers
Nikola Jokic - C, at Portland ($10,700)
It should surprise absolutely no one that Jokic had a monster game in 46 minutes of the double overtime win in Game 5. Game 4 was the outlier in this series. The whole Denver team played poorly. Games 1-3 and 5 are what we can expect from Jokic here. He's getting somewhere north of 50. Whether than means Canada or the North Pole is anyone's guess. All I know is that Jokic is the most sure bet for 5x value.
Jusuf Nurkic - C, vs. Denver ($7,300)
I'm not messing with a Lakers center regardless of the status of Davis, so that leaves us with Nurkic. Not that he's a bad option. I just don't think he hits 5x value at this price. Nurkic has been solid all series and has a decent floor, but he has only hit value at this price twice in five games. One of those wasn't even in the double overtime game. The price is the only deterrent here. He can certainly hit value at this price, but he needs to stay out of foul trouble to do it.
Bonus Centers: Deandre Ayton ($7,700), Andre Drummond ($5,600)
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