RADIO
Tonight all we have is Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. Kawhi didn't make the trip to Phoenix, so he's out. Chris Paul is still in COVID protocols, so he's out as well. Serge Ibaka's balky back will leave him sidelined as well. There's value to be had, but where should we play them?
For those of you that aren't familiar with how the single-game contests work on FanDuel, it's fairly simple. You get a MVP slot which scores at 2x actual points and Star slot that scores at 1.5x. You then get a Pro slot that scores at 1.2x and two utility slots that score at actual points. You have a $60,000 salary cap for the five slots.
Here are my favorite plays from tonight's game for the FanDuel single-game slate that locks at 9 PM EST.
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Los Angeles Clippers at Phoenix Suns (-5.5) (220 total)
Ideally, you want to have the guy with the highest ceiling scoring double the points. With Kawhi out, this choice is easily Paul George. George has at least 20 real points in every playoff game this year. So much for last year's issues, right? George hasn't been under 50 FanDuel points with Kawhi out of the lineup. Who else is a guaranteed 50 besides maybe Devin Booker?
For GPP purposes, I would say that Booker is a suitable pivot. However, I think you need Booker and George in the MVP and Star slots. They both have huge ceilings and pretty safe floors. That only leaves us with $10,167 for the final three spots, but no one else has close to the ceilings of those two.
Many people will go the same routes as we do at MVP and Star, so don't be shocked if the PRO slot is the most important one on the entire slate. There is no clear-cut third option that stands out above the rest. Reggie Jackson is one of the most inconsistent guys to rely on, but he did put up a solid 35.2 FanDuel points in Game 1. However, I would argue that Deandre Ayton still has the higher ceiling. He was dominating early in Game 1, but tailed off towards the end. Still, with the way that Ayton has played this postseason, it's tough to say he doesn't belong in this slot. .
If you want to get really creative, Cameron Payne could be the way to go. He'll save us some money and he's going to play big minutes again with Chris Paul out. Payne put up 33.1 FanDuel points in 29 minutes in Game 1. Ayton didn't even cross the fantasy point per minute threshold.
You can play Payne or Ayton in the pro slot and also use Reggie Jackson or Mikal Bridges thanks to a secret value weapon: Rajon Rondo. Terrence Mann still got quite a few minutes, but he didn't do nearly as much with them. Rondo put up 25.1 FanDuel points in 22 minutes. Frankly, the Clippers need is playmaking ability. I expect Rondo to be a factor off the bench again in Game 2 and his value opens up a lot of options at the other UTIL slot.
You then have plenty of money to use two of Nicolas Batum, Reggie Jackson, Cameron Payne, and Ayton. The choice is yours. Put one in the pro and the other in the UTIL slot. We really shouldn't have to drop all the way down to Boogie with the way pricing is, but if you want to use him as an alternate to Rondo in a large field GPP, I can get behind that. Keep in mind that Rondo's ceiling is much higher.
Good luck to all of you out there!
