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The top daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on April 27, 2018. Kevin Luchansky's NBA DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
Thanks to teams forcing games sixes and pushing these series further along, we get a nice little three-game slate for Friday evening. Playoff basketball (in potentially series' deciding games!), the NFL Draft continues, and a 14-game main slate in MLB is a really nice way to kick off the weekend.
My first thought about this slate comes from looking through Vegas projections, spreads and over/unders - and the thought is that we are likely to see some defensive battles! Just one game features both teams with a point projection of 105 or greater (Toronto and Washington) and the other two games have totals projected for under 208. That's certainly fine as this is all relative - and it's not as if the Toronto at Washington game is a must-stack, seeing as the point totals aren't that much higher than the other two games - but that is the game I'd like to lean on the back courts of.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on 4/27/18. These DFS lineup picks can vary from higher-priced players and elite options to lower-priced players and value picks on FanDuel. You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for sites like DraftKings.
FanDuel DFS Guards
John Wall - PG, vs TOR ($10,800)
As I mentioned above, I like making a back court pairing out of this game. Specifically, pairing John Wall and DeMar DeRozan as this game projects to be both the highest scoring and fastest paced. Wall has been fantastic of late from a DFS standpoint, beating out his price implied value in five games. In particular, he's been excellent at home in Washington D.C., which just so happens to be the location for Game Six this evening. Wall has done more than just commandeer wins at home - dating back to last season, he's averaged 27 points and 11 assists per game at the Verizon Center in the playoffs. With their backs against the wall tonight, I'm expecting big things out of John. Over the last month, he's been averaging 1.46 FanDuel points per game. Pretty outstanding when you consider his season average (which is also impressive) was 1.25. Tonight, Wall projects to play 38+ minutes with a Usage rate right around 32%.
Also Consider: Russell Westbrook - PG, at UTA ($11,000) - GPP; Ricky Rubio - PG, vs OKC ($7,600) - Value; Corey Joseph - PG, vs CLE ($4,000) - Punt with upside
DeMar DeRozan - SG, at WAS ($8,600)
DeRozan seems to be following an "explore every other game" plan this series - crush value in one, scrape it in the next, repeat. As such, he's due for a big game this evening. I'm kidding, but he has been providing excellent ceiling games in this series and when he doesn't go off, he's been right at cash value essentially. With their bench mob unit struggling, Toronto has really relied heavily on their starters, and that is a great thing for anyone backing DeRozan and Co. this evening in a pivotal game. Projections I am seeing have DeMar playing 35+ minutes with a Usage rate right around 35%. Those are really attractive figures, and the price tag is manageable.
Also Consider: Donovan Mitchell - SG, vs OKC ($8,700) - Cash/GPP; Victor Oladipo - SG, vs CLE ($9,000) - GPP; J.R. Smith - SG, at IND ($3,700) - Value
FanDuel DFS Forwards
LeBron James - SF, at IND ($12,300)
His price continues to climb, but certainly not enough to keep me from feeling confident about playing LeBron this evening in a pivotal game in this series. He has been fantastic through four games, failing to reach his price implied total just once. He's put the team and the entirety (it seems) of their responsibilities on his back, and we all know that Point-Forward LeBron is the most valuable of the LBJ DFS assets. Seeing as he is in incredible shape and played more than 40 minutes in each of the last three contests, I think we can expect more of the same in that regard this evening. The extra minutes help him push past value even on poor shooting nights. That said, his "worst" shooting performance of this series was a 10-for-22 spot a few nights ago. I guess you could say he's pretty locked in right now!
Kelly Oubre - SF, vs TOR ($4,200)
I had some interest in Kelly tonight thanks to his ever-slightly-improving play in this series - and that was before I had heard the news that Otto Porter remains Questionable this evening. As we saw throughout parts of the regular season, Oubre being inserted into the starting lineup doesn't always equate to a lot more shot opportunities for him, but the increase in minutes bodes well for someone who has been active on the glass this series and has a knack for swiping a steal or two. That said, he has been getting good looks in this series and has produced no less than 10 points from the field in each of the past four games.
Also Consider: Lance Stephenson - SF, vs CLE ($4,100) - Value; C.J. Miles - SF, at WAS ($3,600) - GPP
FanDuel DFS Centers
Marcin Gortat - C, vs TOR ($4,700)
After falling flat on his face to open the series, the Polish Hammer has really turned this around. He has seen his minutes and FanDuel point totals increase in each of the last three games, and the minutes increase certainly bodes well for him tonight. His 0.82 FD points per game aren't fantastic, but his production is pretty steady - it's the minutes that have been in question. There's no doubt Washington will need him to be active on the glass tonight in what should be the "shootout" of the night.
Also Consider: Jonas Valanciunas - C, at WAS ($6,100) - Value; Rudy Gobert - C, vs OKC ($7,900) - GPP
