Daily Fantasy Basketball 2015: NBA DraftKings Ideal Lineup for May 19, 20
The Conference Finals are set. Four teams remain, and, go figure, they're the top two seeds from each conference.
Tonight, the Rockets head to Oakland to take on the top-seeded Warriors. Tomorrow, the Cavs kick off their series in Atlanta against the Hawks.
Draftkings.com has set up a two-day slate so you can pick players from tonight's game and tomorrow's. Now you'll have plenty of time to tinker before the first game starts, but also between games. As always, try to do one final sweep of draftkings.com, twitter.com, and rotogrinders.com right before each tip-off to make sure you've selected the right group of guys.
| Position | Player | Opponent | Price |
| Point Guard | Steph Curry | vs. Hou | $10,400 |
| Shooting Guard | Klay Thompson | vs. Hou | $7,300 |
| Small Forward | Harrison Barnes | vs. Hou | $4,900 |
| Power Forward | Terrence Jones | @ GS | $4,400 |
| Center | Andrew Bogut | vs. Hou | $5,000 |
| Guard | Jeff Teague | vs. Cle | $7,300 |
| Forward | Josh Smith | @ GS | $5,500 |
| Utility | Iman Shumpert | @ Atl | $5,200 |
Tempo Tempo Tempo
At first glance, you might notice a trend. Six of my eight players (75 percent) hail from the Rockets-Warriors game. But there's a reason for my lopsided lineup. Per statmuse.com, the Rockets have allowed more than 111 points per game in the playoffs this season. They've surrendered 9.2 more points per game than the Warriors. Neither the Cavaliers nor the Hawks are giving up more than 100 points per game.
According to statmuse.com, the Warriors led the league with 110 points and 97.8 possessions per game in the regular season. However, in ten postseason games, the Dubs averaged just 92.7 possessions per game—a relative crawl. Memphis and New Orleans, Golden State's first two playoff opponents, used plenty of shot clock and limited the fast break. The Rockets won't. They lead all playoff teams with 102.2 possessions per game.
In four fast-paced games against Houston this season, the Warriors averaged over 115 points. Granted, the Rockets were Dwightless for two of those contests. But they'll still be without the league's most well-known point guard harasser—Patrick Beverley.
Of the three high-priced stars, Curry, LeBron and Harden, I went with Curry. According to draftkings.com, he's averaged 1.42 fantasy points per minute against the Rockets this season. By that math, if he plays his playoff average of 38.7 minutes tonight, he'll likely drop 55 fantasy points tonight.
Klay Thompson has had three straight quality games against Houston, including back-to-back outings with at least 47 fantasy points. Nobody on Houston is fully equipped to cover the sharpshooting 2-guard. He'll have to guard Harden, which could mean early foul trouble and long stints on the bench, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.
Believe it or not, Harrison Barnes was the best Warrior in the series against Memphis. He's playing his best ball of the year and averaging nearly 33 minutes per game. Though he's rarely the first or second option, Barnes gets a lot of quality touches in the league's second-most potent offense. He also thrives in uptempo games, where he's allowed to show off his athleticism.
Per statmuse.com, Timofey Mozgov tallied just 13.3 fantasy points in his only game against the Hawks as a member of the Cavaliers. That makes Andrew Bogut the least expensive trustworthy center on the board. He struggled to score in the plodding Memphis series, but he'll get many more opportunities against the high-flying but often careless Rockets frontcourt.
Neither Josh Smith nor Terrence Jones played much against the Warriors this season. Jones was activated from the disabled list after the Rockets' final regular-season bout with the Warriors. Smith was a recent acquisition when the two teams last played. The two undersized power forwards have vacillated between stellar performances and weak outings throughout the playoffs. Jones was completely outclassed when defending Blake Griffin, but Draymond Green presents fewer problems. Jones will hold his own in that matchup.
J-Smoove was the key to that Clippers series. He held his own on the interior against Blake and made his threes on the other end. His interior passing helped dismantle Dallas in Round 1. I'm prepared to ride the Josh Smith emotional roller coaster for at least one more night.
Kyrie Irving says he'll play in Game 1, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. Jeff Teague should be licking his chops while he watches tape of Derrick Rose repeatedly getting to the rim. Teague should encounter little resistance en route to the hoop from a hobbled Kyrie Irving.
Shumpert will surely be called upon to chase around Kyle Korver. Shumpert was excellent for the Cavaliers in Round 2. He defended well and made his jump shots. Per draftkings.com, Shumpert has exceeded value in five of his last seven games. The Cavs will probably skew small with LeBron at the power forward position against the shape-shifting Hawks. If that's the case, Shumpert will see a ton of minutes.
