Daily Fantasy Basketball 2015: NBA DraftKings Best Lineup for April 9

I am positively giddy—only nine days until the playoffs start.

TNT will showcase three playoff teams and one playoff hopeful Thursday night. First, the Heat play Chicago in Miami. Then the Blazers travel to Oakland for their third and final game against the league-leading Warriors.

Most expert daily fantasy players don't love these small two-game slates. Because there are fewer options, there's a smaller margin of error between first-timers and longtime winners. But with the playoffs looming, and a lot of small slates on the horizon, it pays off to get your reps in early.  

Position	Player	Opponent	Price
Point Guard	Stephen Curry	vs. Portland	$9,200
Shooting Guard	Jimmy Butler	@ Miami	$7,800
Small Forward	Mike Dunleavy	@ Miami	$4,500
Power Forward	Udonis Haslem	vs. Chicago	$4,400
Center	Andrew Bogut	vs. Portland	$5,200
Guard	Damian Lillard	@ Golden State	$7,900
Forward	Draymond Green	vs. Portland	$7,200
Utility	C.J. McCollum	@ Golden State	$3,600

Let's start with the point guard matchup in Oakland. The last time these two teams met, both Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry had strong fantasy nights. 

	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Fantasy Points
Curry	33	2	10	55.5
Lillard	29	7	5	50.3

There is a certain fear involved when starting Curry and/or Dame Lillard. Both the Blazers and Warriors are locked into their respective playoff spots. But head coaches Terry Stots and Steve Kerr have shown few signs of limiting the minutes of their stars.

According to DraftKings, neither point guard has seen a significant decrease in minutes over the past few games. Steph is playing 32 minutes per game over his last 10 days, just half a minute less than his season average. Lillard has shown a slightly higher drop off, but he's still playing 32 minutes a night. 

Derrick Rose just returned from (another) injury. He'll be on a minutes limit until further notice. His re-emergence greatly reduces Aaron Brooks' fantasy value. 

Goran Dragic is a nice alternative at point guard. According to rotogrinders.com, the Bulls have allowed the fifth most fantasy points per game to opposing point guards this season. Both Derrick Rose and backup Aaron Brooks have defensive ratings above 108 despite Chicago's recent reputation for stout defense. 

*If you're stacking one of the games, make it the late game. 

DraftKings allows its players to play as many as seven players from a single game. With only two games to choose from, it's pretty hard not to stack one of them. Chances are, the nightcap will provide a faster pace of play, more scoring, and thus, more overall fantasy points:

Team	PPG (rank)	Opp. PPG (rank)	Pace (rank)
Bulls	99.5 (13th)	98.2 (11th)	92.7 (23rd)
Heat	97.1 (25th)	97.3 (7th)	90.8 (29th)
Blazers	101.9 (8th)	98.0 (10th)	94 (12th)
Warriors	112.9 (1st)	99.3 (14th)	98.2 (1st)

If you're playing in the massive 55,000 person GPP tonight, you can go contrarian and stack the Heat-Bulls game. But in any head-to-head, 50/50, or cash game, I strongly suggest leaning on the game out west.