NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks for Saturday, May 1st | Stephen Curry

Tonight should be a tremendous tournament night with star players sidelined on over half of the teams in action. There will be plenty of NBA DFS picks to choose given all the players sitting out, and here we will discuss the top plays for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. Houston is missing the vast majority of its players, though Christian Wood and Kevin Porter Jr. should see heavy minutes tonight. Detroit is resting everyone, so value will be plentiful. If you are feeling frisky look to the Raptors playing the Jazz in Utah with both teams missing key defenders. Let’s see what else we can uncover.

Don’t forget to head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS HOME PAGE for more great written daily fantasy basketball content, including the FREE Deep Dive — the most in-depth article in the industry.

***Get a SNEAK PEEK with our free premium data, tools and content of the day, the Awesemo Premium NBA Big Board.***

NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Saturday, May 1st

Yahoo Play of the Day — Kevin Porter Jr: Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors

  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 39.72 | DraftKings: 42.57
  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 14.8% | FanDuel 40.2% | DraftKings 16.2%
  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $29 | FanDuel $6,100 | DraftKings $7,400

On Thursday, Porter Jr. laid down a career-high 50 points on the Bucks along with five rebounds and 11 assists on his way to a 70.5-Yahoo-fantasy-point night. Now, that most certainly is not going to happen again this season, however, the salary is incredibly enticing tonight. We know that he should see upwards of 35 minutes and his usage, assist rate and fantasy production is through the roof without John Wall on the court. The former Washington Wizard is out for the remainder of the season, so Porter Jr. is a virtual lock as an NBA DFS pick until the salary increases another 20%.

Christian Wood: Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors

  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 47.2 | DraftKings: 48.13
  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 39.8% | FanDuel 23.8% | DraftKings 22.4%
  • FS Salary: Yahoo $36 | FanDuel $8,700 | DraftKings $8,700

This is a nice spot for the Rockets and Wood. Clearly, they are tanking while also resting some of their key players. However, those that do play and/or start tend to get a healthy share of minutes with the number of legitimate injuries the team is dealing with at this juncture. Wood should see 35-37 minutes tonight with a couple more within range if the game stays competitive. Houston plays again tomorrow and my guess is that it is willing to leave Wood uncapped tonight and then potentially give him Sunday off. There is a decent chance he is overlooked when gamers begin their starts and scrubs roster construction. However, with 40 fantasy points as a legitimate floor and 50-plus as an upside, he should weigh heavily in our plans on Saturday.

Stephen Curry: Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets

  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 48.86 | DraftKings: 51.61
  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 3.6% | FanDuel 22.6% | DraftKings 19.4%
  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $56 | FanDuel $11,000 | DraftKings $11,000

The Warriors avenged their shellacking at the hands of the Mavericks, which included being on the short end of an 28-0 in-game run. Curry led the way in Minnesota with 37 points, six rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Golden State is in “must-win” territory if it wants to keep hope alive of a postseason appearance. Curry has been off the charts since the All-Star break, averaging just over 14 3-point attempts per game with a 47.2% success rate. He also is chipping in with half a dozen rebounds each game and a handful of assists, while seeing 35-37 minutes in each tilt. Pairing him with Wood or Porter Jr. makes for a very nice synergy strategy.

Good Value

Detroit Pistons at Charlotte Hornets

It is a rest day for Mason Plumlee, Jerami Grant, Wayne Ellington and Cory Joseph as the Pistons continue their tanking strategy. Dennis Smith Jr. is out for the next 10-plus days with a knee injury and it has been a month since we have seen Rodney McGruder in action. Hamidou Diallo is also doubtful, which is one less player to take minutes tonight.

Josh Jackson, Saddiq Bey, Killian Hayes and Isaiah Stewart should all see 30-32 minutes, which make them excellent options tonight against the Hornets in Charlotte. Sekou Doubouya benefits without Diallo, which should get him around 26-28 minutes and Frank Jackson should see 26-28 minutes as well as backing up Hayes and Saben Lee for a few point guard minutes as well as getting time at shooting guard. Speaking of Lee, we can leave him out of our plans as he has topped 17 minutes only once in his last 13 games.

Risky Value

Miami Heat at Cleveland Cavaliers

This is a back-to-back game for the Cavaliers, who were crushed last night by the Wizards. Miami is coming into this game favored by a dozen points on the road. The biggest fear is just how much will their key players need to contribute tonight. While Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo could easily have 40 fantasy points through three quarters but not step foot on the court in the final frame. Tyler Herro is out until early next week with his foot injury, and while this opens up minutes for the guards, it is hard to pinpoint who will benefit the most between Goran Dragic – who could get rest – Kendrick Nunn – who has seen a salary hike on most DFS sites – and Duncan Robinson – who is wildly dependent on the fate of his three-ball success.

Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies

  1. Gary Harris: ORL vs. MEM – $12
  2. Moritz Wagner: ORL vs. MEM – $10
  3. Edmund Sumner: IND at OKC – $10

Final Thoughts on the Saturday, May 1st NBA DFS Slate

There are 10 games tonight with tip-offs spanning from 7 p.m. through 10 p.m. ET. This will likely lead to late-breaking news that needs to be monitored. Keep in mind that salaries and scoring formats differ across the various fantasy sites, and a slam-dunk play on Yahoo may be a below-average NBA DFS pick on DraftKings or FanDuel.

Eric "EMac" MacPherson won the 2007 Fantasy Baseball grand prize (trip for two to the MLB All-Star game) in the Roto format on ESPN. He won again in 2008, this time in the H2H format. As one of the early adopters of daily fantasy sports, EMac has been providing content for baseball and basketball as well as both professional and college football since 2012 for a variety of websites including DraftKings Playbook, FanVice, RotoWorld, Daily Fantasy Bootcamp, and RotoGrinders. He is well into his third decade of fantasy sports and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Follow him on Twitter @EMacDFS or contact EMac by emailing [email protected].

Stokastic +

Premium Data and Tools
PREMIUM TOOLS
Lineup Generator
Stokastic Sims MLB
PREMIUM DATA
Projections
Top Stack %s
MLB Data Central
FREE DATA
SoRare MLB Rankings
DraftKings Night Owl
FANTASY CRUNCHER (ADD-ON)
MLB Lineup Study
COMMUNITY
MLB Discord Server
PREMIUM DATA
Projections
Ownership Projections
PREMIUM TOOLS
Fantasy Cruncher (ADD-ON)
NHL Lineup Study
COMMUNITY
NHL Discord Server
PREMIUM TOOLS
Lineup Generator
Stokastic Sims PGA
PREMIUM DATA
Ownership Projections
Top Golfers Tool
PGA Tournament Models
FANTASY CRUNCHER (ADD-ON)
PGA Lineup Study
COMMUNITY
PGA Discord Server
Ownership Projections
Top Drivers Tool
NASCAR Discord Server
NASCAR Fantasy Cruncher
USFL Projections
USFL Discord Server
Ownership Projections
Top Fighters Tool
MMA Discord Server
MMA Fantasy Cruncher
NFL Betting Tools
Stokastic Discord Server
Best Ball
Best Ball Rankings
Best Ball Stat Projections
Stokastic Discord Server
Season Long Fantasy (Coming Soon)

DFS Winners from the Stokastic Community

Subscribe to the Stokastic newsletter

DFS advice, exciting promos, and the best bets straight to your inbox

Stokastic.com - Daily Fantasy Sports and Sports Betting Data, Tools, & Analytics

Please play responsibly. Only customers 21 and over are permitted to play. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.