EuroLeague Primer: Playoffs - Game 5

EuroLeague Primer: Playoffs - Game 5

This article is part of our EuroLeague Primer series.

PREGAME UPDATES

STATS AND INFO.

THE SLATE

FC Bayern Munich at FC Barcelona 

Status Check: Darrun Hilliard (BAY), Corey Walden (BAY), Paul Zipser (BAY), Cory Higgins (BAR)

Best Bets for Success: Few gave Bayern a legitimate chance in Game 4, much less in this series. Lo and behold, though, the last team to qualify for the postseason wound up taking top-seeded Barcelona to a Game 5 for the second straight year. The home team is favored by roughly 10 digits, but based on the rest of the series there is reason to believe it will at least be a much tighter game than that. The German team has gotten contributions up and down its roster in this series, so it's tough to know just who will lead the way for their team Tuesday. We listed both Vladimir Lucic and Augustine Rubit here for Game 4, and we're going to keep them here, as nearly everyone on both teams was quiet in a contest that featured only 111 points. The one player who came through in a big way was Nick Weiler-Babb, who topped the 30-point mark on DraftKings for the second time in three appearances. All three players figure to get as many minutes as they can handle, and none of them will run you more than $9,000 on that website. Neither Nikola Mirotic nor Nick Calathes came close to matching their Game 3 output, but they are still both returning some of the most average value on the board. Mirotic could sew up the MVP award with a big night, so he figures to be anything but shy Tuesday. Calathes, prior to his Game 4 dud -- which made his price far more favorable -- put up at least 20.0 DraftKings points in 12 of 13 appearances and hit the 25-point mark five times over that span.

DFS Darlings: The oddsmakers are expecting this to be another low-scoring affair, and the top players on both teams figures to play plenty, so the conditions for value plays aren't too appealing. You may not want to go with both Dante Exum and Nicolas Laprovittola, but the former brings a lot of upside to the table below the $7,000 mark on DraftKings, and Laprovittola has some breakout potential. We're back on board the Alex Abrines train with him dropping double digits in both Game 4 and in Sunday's domestic game, and we will also mention Rolands Smits, as his best two games in the series coincided with Barcelona's wins. It's not known if Walden will play for the visitors, but he has been out a while, so we still like Ognjen Jaramaz at just $7,200. Andreas Obst could be an option if you are looking for a player beneath the $5,000 mark.

AS Monaco at Olympiacos Piraeus

Status Check: Alpha Diallo (ASM), Hassan Martin (OLY)

Best Bets for Success: Even though they are on different days the DraftKings slate covers both games, so we will break down this one even though we don't have a current injury report. Both players listed above affect their respective rotations, but with them missing multiple games, it seems unlikely either will be at full speed Wednesday even if they do return. As has been the case since Diallo went down, Mike James and Dwayne Bacon stuffed the stat sheet and propelled Monaco to a series-tying win in Game 4. James is in a shooting slump and is going to have his work cut out for him on the Greek team's home court, but he put up at least 31.5 DraftKings points in five of his last six matchups with Olympiacos, and he is $500 cheaper on that website than he was his last time out. Bacon has been anything but cold, averaging 20.3 points on 53.2 percent shooting over his last three appearances. His price continues to rise, but he played 29 minutes in each of the last two games and is averaging 26.1 DraftKings points this season when he gets that many minutes. Six Olympiacos players did nearly all the work for their team over the last three games, and it's tough to envision that changing. The top options on the Greek team remain Sasha Vezenkov and Kostas Sloukas -- particularly the former, who averaged 33.6 DraftKings points in Games 3 and 4 and, like James, checks in a few bucks less than he was last time he took the court. Sloukas seems pretty committed to scoring the ball, and his best fantasy games come when he does just that.

DFS Darlings: The spread on this game is closer and the over/under is quite a few points higher, so the players in this section will have an edge on those taking the court Tuesday. None of the other four players contributing for Olympiacos are particularly affordable, but they are also not too expensive, as none check in more than $8,600. Tyler Dorsey seems like the best of the bunch, as he averaged just under 13 shots per game over his last three contests and remains far less costlier than he was in recent months. You could certainly make a case for the three others, but Kostas Papanikolaou looks like the next best option, having hit the 20-point mark on DraftKings regularly since the start of April. You could throw a dart at Shaq McKissic, who can provide a spark in an elimination game and will run you just $6,500. Will Thomas is getting a bit pricey, but it's tough to ignore his production -- and the 33 minutes he averaged -- over his last two games. Donta Hall is even costlier, but if you're going with a Monaco center he remains the one to go after. It's not generally advised to go with players coming off injuries, but should you want to gamble on Diallo if he plays, it should be noted that James is the only player on the board returning more average value. 

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Kevin O'Brien plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: kevob100, DraftKings: kevob100.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin O'Brien
Kevin mans the Packers and Brewers beats and moonlights as RotoWire's Director of Operations.
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