RADIO
Wednesday night was an entertaining double dosage of playoff goodness. The Raptors forced a game seven against the Celtics by beating them by three points and it took two overtimes to find a winner. Kawhi had a classic-Kawhi line of 30/11/9/4/2 as the Clippers pushed the Nuggets to the brink of elimination with a 3-1 lead.
We have just one game on the slate today with the Lakers/Rockets game, meaning only Showdown contests are available on DraftKings. We will need to determine who makes sense as the Caption (1.5x points) pick, and who we should be considered as options for the final five Utility roster spots.
Here are our daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 9/10/20. You can also check out today's FanDuel lineup picks. Remember to monitor injury news as the slate can completely change before lock.
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Los Angeles Lakers (-5) (112 total)
Anthony Davis - PF/C, ($11,600)
Davis has been extremely consistent as of late as he has exceeded 51 DK points in eight of his last nine games played. He's coming off a 26/15/6 line (55.25 DK points) in game three where he shot 9-for-13 from the field and recorded four turnovers and no blocks. There's no reason to expect The Brow's numbers to decline in game four as the Rockets didn't sign Chris Anderson overnight, so they're still working with Covington and Tucker (both small-ball PF's) attempting to defend him. One has to predict that Davis won't have consecutive games with zero blocks since he averaged 2.2 blocks/game this year, and he will most likely take more than 13 shots tonight. He's a core play today and should be strongly considered for the Captain slot on this slate.
LeBron James - PG/SF ($12,800)
LeBron comes in next but I have some hesitancy rostering him today with his price being where it is. He has the highest salary on the slate at $400 more than Harden and a full $1,200 more than A.D. You'll have to do you own assessment as to whether or not you think he will continue to spike for at least 63.25 DK points, which he has pulled off in three of his last four (and four of his last six) games. He very, very rarely misses reaching value in games that aren't blowouts. You'll get no argument from me if you want to use him in your Captain slot, but I'll be looking at the other three studs as priorities before going to James at his salary.
Rajon Rondo - PG ($5,200)
Rondo has returned to a seemingly-steady 30-ish minute role and he has had great success, going for 22.75, 37.25, and 39 DK points this series. He's coming off a 21/2/9/1 line in game three and looks like a solid option on today's Showdown slate. He's very affordable and with his current form and season-long 21.9% usage rate (0.88 fpts/min), he will be a top priority in my lineups today.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope - SG/SF ($3,600)
Man, has it been brutal for KCP. He's out there for his defensive abilities but he's supposed to be able to knock down open shots that a LeBron/Davis-led offense provides, but he has just been shooting bricks all series. He's shooting 28.6% from the field and 30.8% from three through three games, and his best fantasy game consisted of just 15 DK points in game three. He gets upper-20's/mid-30's minutes every game, which is what we want to attack on a Showdown slate with expectedly-thin value. He may or may not provide value here, but he looks to be the best option within his salary range.
Longshot GPP play(s): Alex Caruso, Markieff Morris, Danny Green
Houston Rockets (+5) (107 total)
Russell Westbrook - PG, ($10,000)
Westbrook has had solid shooting nights in four of his last five games, and he's an exciting DFS player to roster when that is the case. He shot 13-for-24 (54.2%) and finished with a 30/8/6/1/2 line in game three. He finally limited his turnovers a bit as well and finished with 54.5 DK points, his highest output since 7/31. The Lakers rank 13th in DvA and 23rd in DEFF against PG's this season as the Caruso/Rondo combo have very little chance of successfully defending him one-on-one. He's a great GPP option and can slide in as a contrarian Captain pick as well.
James Harden - SG, ($12,400)
Harden has been inching closer to putting up one of his true "ceiling" games recently, as he just put up 33/9/9 in a 58.75 DK point effort in game three. He has scored 30 or more real-life points in six of his last eight games and has been very efficient from the field. He's also putting up plenty of peripherals as he continues to lead the team in usage rate (37%) and fpts/min (1.60). The Lakers rank 13th in DvA and 21st in DEFF to SG's this season. No one can really guard James Harden, but the KCP/Danny Green combo is certainly not one to make us hesitate to click on Harden tonight.
Jeff Green - C, ($4,600)
One interesting strategy to consider on Showdown slates is being very unique with your Captain pick. The masses will select James, Davis, Westbrook, or Harden, but their huge salaries make it nearly impossible to fit three of the studs in one lineup. Picking a guy like Jeff Green (who got 35 minutes last game and is at 0.76 fpts/min this season) in the Captain spot allows you to get three studs in the lineup (ex. you can comfortably fit Harden, Davis, and Westbrook in a lineup with Green in the Captain slot). He's still a great value as a utility man on this slate.
Note: Green becomes close to an auto-play if Robert Covington (questionable) is inactive.
Eric Gordon - SG/SF ($6,800)
Gordon has seen steady minutes in the mid-to-upper 30's in the playoffs, and that hasn't changed with the return of a full-go Westbrook. His usage rate and shot attempts have decreased since Westy's return, but that was to be expected. He had still put up three straight games of at least 31.75 DK points prior to a dud in game three, and he should be able to get back on track tonight as long as he gets back to his normal amount of shot attempts and threes made tonight. He may also be slightly contrarian coming off the one bad game, which is very notable on a one-game slate where we need to find leverage somewhere.
Longshot GPP play(s): Austin Rivers, Ben McLemore
