NBA DFS Play-In Tournament (April 15, 2022)
Happy Friday! After a day off from the NBA postseason, we are back at it again to kick off Easter weekend. Both of today's games are do-or-die so we should see a very high level of intensity.
As usual, the link below displays a spreadsheet containing the projections from my model.
In the spreadsheet you will find the top 10 optimal lineups for both DraftKings and FanDuel. Usually I recommend to make some modifications to the optimal lineups since the model will tend to favor the high-end players and jam in a bunch of low priced options with high minutes (i.e. Isaac Okoro). However, the optimal lineups look really good today thanks to Paul George being ruled out due to COVID. That means we won't need to get creative by rostering bench players. I highly urge you to play the top optimal lineup in the spreadsheet above. To make it easy on you, here are those optimal lineups for both DraftKings and FanDuel.
DraftKings
PG: Trae Young
SG: Norman Powell
SF: DeAndre Hunter
PF: Danilo Gallinari
C: Isaac Zubac
G: Reggie Jackson
F: Herbert Jones
UTIL: CJ McCollum
FanDuel
PG: Trae Young, Reggie Jackson
SG: Normal Powell, Darius Garland
SF: Brandon Ingram, DeAndre Hunter
PF: Danilo Gallinari, Marcus Morris
C: Jarrett Allen
The games start in about an hour from now so no time for long writeups on each player. However, you will want the Atlanta and LA Clippers core. Trae Young correlates well with DeAndre Hunter and Danilo Gallinari. Remember how the Brooklyn frontcourt dominated the Cavaliers bench? Run it back tonight. Capela has been a beast lately but with the return of Allen, I say we fade Capela. Allen is a fierce defender and is well rested. As for the Clippers, there is clearly a void with the loss of George. I would package Powell with Jackson and either Morris or Zubac. Morris is priced better on FanDuel while Zubac has a more favorable pricing on DraftKings.
Of course we would be crazy to not roster anyone from Cleveland or New Orleans. The FanDuel lineup has both Garland and Allen as well as Ingram. The DraftKings lineup is assuming an Atlanta route but a closer game between LA and New Orleans which probably explains the pairing of McCollum and Jones. We will do full-on fades for LeVert and Love now with Allen back. Likewise with Valanciunas given that Zubac is a very good defender in the paint. Plus I am not sure if I want to pay up for Valanciunas with so many other great options.
Get your lineups submitted and good luck!