This article is part of our DraftKings NBA series.
Team Analysis
Defense to avoid: Golden State Warriors, vs SA - Standard disclaimer: don't avoid any entire defense at this stage of the game. With that said, the Celtics vs Wizards shapes up to be an unpredictable shootout in which both teams have shown big offensive upside against the other. The Warriors have the best offense in the NBA, and are playing at home. This leaves the Spurs as the potential weak link on offense. They're playing on the road, with their best player coming off injury, and are facing a team with the definite potential to blow them out.
Offense to Use: Boston Celtics vs WAS - This series has been the most consistently high-powered on offense for at least the winning team, if not both squads, and the home team has won all ten games between these two teams this year. The Celtics have been strong on offense at home, with pretty much all of their skill players producing at high levels, so they make the slightly better bet to put up a huge offensive number than their Wizards counterparts.
Player Recommendations
Isaiah Thomas, BOS vs WAS ($8600): Thomas has scored 75 fantasy points to John Wall's 72 in the last two games of the series, and Thomas is averaging more than 51 fantasy points in the three games in Boston in this series. Yet, his price is much lower than Wall's, making him the better buy as a potential lead guard in this contest.
Avery Bradley, BOS vs WAS ($5800): Similar to the point guards, Bradley has outscored counterpart Bradley Beal 82 fantasy points to 72 in their last two games, and Bradley has averaged almost 37 fantasy points in three games in Boston. He therefore makes a better value play, with higher upside at a lower cost, than his rival for the day.
Manu Ginobili, SA at GS ($3400): Ginobili is the standard punt play since his price is so low, and he doesn't always pan out, he has an upside of 30 fantasy points like he showed two games ago against the Rockets. In three games against the Warriors this season, Ginobili has averaged 21.6 fantasy points in 18.5 minutes.
Kevin Durant, GS vs SA ($9900): Durant and Kawhi Leonard are the two highest-end small forwards in this contest. Durant is coming off two games over 54 fantasy points in his last three outings, with the third a blowout in which he didn't play many minutes. Leonard is coming off an injury that has kept him out of the last game, and though he is expected to play he has more question marks of the two in addition to his higher price.
Draymond Green, GS vs SA ($7900): Green has very arguably been the best fantasy option on the Warriors this postseason, is coming off a 55.9 fantasy point closeout in his last game, and is averaging 45.9 fantasy points in his last three games. He averaged 36.8 fantasy points in his two games against the Spurs this season, but his postseason has far outstripped his regular season so his expected value on Sunday is higher.
Markieff Morris, WAS at BOS ($5900): Morris is the lowest-priced forward option with legitimate front-end value, with those below him having definite question marks. Morris is coming off a 37.8 fantasy point effort in Game 6, and overall is averaging 30.3 fantasy points in the last four games.
Al Horford, BOS vs WAS ($7100): Horford is coming off 34 fantasy points in Game 6 in Washington. Meanwhile, in the three games in Boston, Horford has scored 49.8, 41 and 44 fantasy points. He therefore projects as a big impact player, in Boston, for Game 7.
LaMarcus Aldridge, SA at GS ($7000): Aldridge came to life late in the series against the Rockets, scoring between 39.5 and 53 fantasy points in three of his last four games. Aldridge also had a lot of success against the Warriors this season, averaging 43.4 fantasy points in their two regular season meetings.
Marcin Gortat, WAS at BOS ($5500): Gortat scored 26.3 fantasy points in Game 6, and is thus averaging just over 22 fantasy points in the last three games of the series. But, he did average almost 40 fantasy points in the first three games of the series, and thus has that upside as well.
