This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
It's been far from easy for the Thunder, but OKC heads into Thursday night with a chance to close out the feisty Nuggets on their home floor. Denver has kept two of its three losses in the series very close, and with this elimination scenario in enemy territory for the Thunder, another wire-to-wire battle would appear to be highly likely.
With only one matchup, we're dealing with FanDuel's single-game contest rosters comprised as follows:
MVP- (Garners points at 1.5x the normal rate)
Five Utility spots- (Garner points at normal rate)
With salaries also being different than in conventional FanDuel contests on multi-game slates and top players inevitably headed for heavy rostering, there are definitely strategic elements particular to single-game lineups. Finding key value plays for some of utility spots is undoubtedly key, as it enables you to roster a superstar in the MVP slot, where salaries for each player are 1.5x higher than if you were rostering them in a Utility spot.
Slate Overview
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Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Thursday, 5/15 @ 12:30 a.m. EDT:
Oklahoma City Thunder (-5) at Denver Nuggets (O/U: 216.5)
The Thunder are unsurprisingly solid road favorites, but oddsmakers are still hedging a bit by keeping the number reasonable in deference to Denver's home-floor setting and how tough a matchup the Nuggets have proven to be for OKC during the series. Throwing out the Game 2 outlier in which the Thunder atoned for a surprising Game 1 loss by dishing out a 43-point walloping, the other margins of victory during the series have been nine points or fewer.
The total is also in line with the expectations the non-Game 2 contests have set, as the other four games in the series have finished with an average of 213.3 points. This is also the point in the series when both teams are intimately familiar with what the other will try to do, which has the potential to temper scoring.
Injury Situations to Monitor
For all the latest updates, visit RotoWire's NBA Injury News page and our comprehensive NBA Injury Report.
Hunter Tyson, DEN (ankle): OUT
Elite Players
The two players with the highest MVP salaries on Thursday's slate are Nikola Jokic ($25,800) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($21,300).
Jokic bounced back offensively in Game 5 after three straight games with sub-par shooting, draining 17 of his 25 attempts on his way to 73.5 standard FD points. It's the second time he's eclipsed 70 standard FD points in the series and he's been over 52 on four occasions overall, making him worthy of being the highest-salaried player on the slate.
Gilgeous-Alexander had his most productive fantasy performance since the series opener in Game 5, tallying 55.7 standard FD points on 12-for-23 shooting. He hasn't scored less than 44.2 in any of the five games, giving him a very safe floor at a salary that offers fairly significant savings over Jokic.
Expected Chalk
With only one matchup, the likes of Jalen Williams ($9,600), Jamal Murray ($9,000) and Chet Holmgren ($8,600) should also be very popular.
Williams has eclipsed 40 FD points twice in the series, including once in Denver, and scored 37.8 in Game 5, which should lock into plenty of lineups Thursday.
Murray has had a couple of sub-30-FD-point games in the series, but he also three tallies of more than 36, including 56.8 at Ball Arena in Game 3. His guaranteed usage and the direct straights for Denver should ensure he'll be very popular Thursday.
Holmgren has eclipsed 33 FD points in four of the last five games, and he should continue in his usual secure complementary role Thursday.
Key Values
The following players make for strong candidates for the Utility spots:
Aaron Gordon, DEN ($7,400)
Gordon has seen a notable increase in salary, but it's been well-earned after he scoring over 39 FD points in four of his last six postseason games dating back to the final installment of the first-round series against the Clippers. The versatile big man did see a dip to 23.5 FD points in Game 5, but he still shot a solid 6-for-13 from the floor. Gordon also has 14- or 16-rebound contributions during the series, and given OKC's ability to force plenty of misses, another hefty total on the boards is always in play. Gordon's versatility and the stakes of the game for Denver should ensure he sees plenty of opportunity Thursday.
Isaiah Hartenstein, OKC ($7,200)
Hartenstein has played his role to perfection during the series, averaging 32.0 FD points on 11.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 blocks across 29.6 minutes per game. Hartenstein has one double-double and two double-digit-rebound efforts overall during the series, and it's also worth noting he'd eclipsed 34 FD points twice during the first-round sweep of Memphis. Given his success down low against Denver, which has also included 54.0 percent shooting in the series' first five games, Hartenstein could certainly deliver another strong return on investment.
Christian Braun, DEN ($5,800)
Braun had a major clunker in Game 2 of the series (6.4), but he scored 33.1 in Game 1 and has averaged 29.2 FD points in the last three contests as well. Braun managed that solid figure despite shooting just 32.3 percent in the latter span, so if he sees even a slight uptick in efficiency Thursday, he could generate even better returns. Braun has taken double-digit shot attempts in the last two games as well, and with everything on the line for Denver, the third-year guard could see an increase in offensive usage again.
ALSO CONSIDER: Russell Westbrook, DEN ($4,400)
