This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
After an exciting Play-In Tournament, the eight seeds in each conference are set and the playoffs begin with a four-game, all-day slate Saturday. We should be in for a treat as DFS players, considering all eight clubs are well-rested following nearly a week off since the end of the regular season, and many front-line players having had even a bit more rest since many sat out their teams' finales. As such, we also have a very light injury report that essentially affords us a full player pool.
Slate Overview
For the latest spreads and over/unders, visit RotoWire's NBA Odds page. There, you can also find player props, futures, picks articles and sportsbook bonus codes.
Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Saturday, 4/19 @ 12:00 a.m. EDT:
Milwaukee Bucks at Indiana Pacers (-5.5) (O/U: 224.5)
Los Angeles Clippers at Denver Nuggets (-2.5) (O/U: 224.0)
Detroit Pistons at New York Knicks (-7) (O/U: 220.5)
Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers (-4) (O/U: 216.5)
With the arrival of the postseason, we should be treated to a fair amount of games with relatively narrow spreads. Such is the case for Saturday's slate, and even the game with the largest projected advantage for the favorites, the Pistons-Knicks battle, could be a lot closer than expected considering Detroit won the regular-season series by a 3-1 margin (two nine-point wins and a five-point victory).
Projected totals can also be expected to be lower on average during the playoffs considering the quality of defenses does go up, and Saturday's slate is also a fitting example of that trend. The best combination of spread and total is clearly the Clippers-Nuggets clash, and it's worth noting both Denver and Los Angeles each produced 126-point tallies during the regular-season series, while the Nuggets also had a 120-point effort.
Injury Situations to Monitor
For all the latest updates, visit RotoWire's NBA Injury News page and our comprehensive NBA Injury Report.
Damian Lillard, MIL (calf): OUT
Lillard no longer needs blood-thinning medication for his deep vein thrombosis, but he'll remain out for the start of the Bucks' first-round series. Kevin Porter and Ryan Rollins should continue handing the majority of point-guard minutes in his absence.
Other notable injuries:
Rui Hachimura, LAL (knee): QUESTIONABLE
Elite Players
We have five players with a five-figure salary on Saturday's slate: Nikola Jokic ($12,600), Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,800), Luka Doncic ($11,000), Cade Cunningham ($10,200) and Karl-Anthony Towns ($10,000).
Jokic closed out the regular season with over 60 FD points in eight of his last nine games, and although he did play 30 minutes in Denver's final regular-season game Sunday, he still has a full five days of rest to work with facing a Clippers team he shot 52.4 percent from three-point range against during the season.
Antetokounmpo will continue to play without Damian Lillard to open the first-round series and averaged 62.2 FD points without his teammate over the last 10 games of the regular season. He also produced two tallies of more than 60 FD points in four meetings against the Pacers this season.
Doncic posted 72.6 and 58.1 FD points in his last two games of the regular-season before getting the regular-season finale off, but he notably struggled against Minnesota during the regular season with averages of 19.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting 37.5 percent in three games.
Cunningham ramped up both his minutes and production over the last four games of the regular season after overcoming a calf strain, and he's now been off since April 11, when he closed out his campaign with 63.2 FD points against the Bucks.
Towns missed the final two games of the regular season with knee soreness but is off the injury report for Saturday, and he averaged a double-double of 24.0 points and 11.0 rebounds, as well as 1.3 steals and 43.8 percent three-point shooting, in three games versus the Pistons during the regular season.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Anthony Edwards, MIN ($9,700)
Edwards contributed 67.7 FD points over 40 minutes against the Jazz in his final regular-season game on Sunday, and his upside and sub-$10K salary should keep him very highly rostered on the four-game slate.
James Harden, LAC ($9,600)
Harden put a bow on a resurgent season with 68.4 FD points in 48 minutes against the Warriors on Sunday, but he's had plenty of time to rest up and should be very popular for the playoff opener.
LeBron James, LAL ($9,500)
LeBron is always highly rostered and even more so when his salary is several hundred dollars below $10K. The fact he also has extra rest should help his popularity.
Kawhi Leonard, LAC ($9,300)
Kawhi wrapped up the regular season averaging 49.1 FD points while shooting 53.7 percent, including 50.0 percent from distance, and his upside relative to salary should ensure he's in plenty of lineups Saturday.
Jalen Brunson, NYK ($8,600)
Brunson has gotten some valuable rest for his previously sprained ankle and is sporting a very modest salary by his standards, factors that should endear him to plenty of DFS players.
Key Values
Kevin Porter, MIL at IND ($6,300)
As mentioned earlier, Porter is due to continue seeing plenty of minutes in the absence of Damian Lillard in Game 1, and the former has had some time to rest a previously ailing wrist. Porter finished the regular season with a flourish, averaging 44.6 FD points, 20.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 2.8 steals and 50.0 percent shooting over his last five games. Despite only drawing a start on one occasion in that span, Porter still averaged 13.2 shot attempts and 30.6 minutes per contest, and he therefore profiles as a very appealing play at his salary in Saturday's Game 1. Porter also recorded 29.2 FD points against these same Pacers back on March 15, and Indiana finished the regular season surrendering 46.2 FD points per contest to point guards in the final 15 games.
Aaron Gordon, DEN vs. LAC ($5,800)
Gordon wrapped up a strong regular season with an average of 33.9 FD points in his final six games, a stretch where he shot 55.0 percent and produced tallies of 45.0 and 48.1 FD points in a pair of contests. Gordon also shot a career-best 43.6 percent from behind the arc during the regular season, and he shot 37.5 percent from distance against the Clippers specifically. Los Angeles presents a tough defensive matchup overall, but the Clips did surrender an elevated 44.5 FD points to power forwards in the last seven games of the season. Given Gordon's key complementary role in the offense and the fact he provided over a 5x return on his current salary in 21 of 51 regular-season games, he's certainly worthy of consideration as a value option.
Naz Reid, MIN at LAL ($5,500)
Reid finished the regular season in relatively modest fashion, but he still averaged 21.2 FD points while shooting 48.2 percent over his last nine games. The versatile big man flashed much more upside earlier in the campaign, however, eclipsing 40 FD points twice in his bench role and scoring 41.6 to 57.7 FD points in 10 games overall. In all, Reid delivered more than a 5x return on his current salary in just over half (41) of his 80 games, and he should be locked into his usual allotment of mid-20s minutes at minimum. Reid had one tally of 29.4 FD points against the Lakers this season and Los Angeles also ranked No. 27 in offensive efficiency rating surrendered to power forwards (27.3), furthering the case for the versatile big man to snap out of his recent downturn.
ALSO CONSIDER: Bobby Portis, MIL at IND ($6,700)
