Tuesday, April 19, brings us three new series of Game 2 action tipping off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel. Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks today for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. As always, you can head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS & Fantasy Basketball home page for all the fantasy basketball content you need for any given slate.
NBA DFS Picks: Fantasy Basketball Building Blocks Today | Tuesday, April 19
Yahoo Play of the Day — Chris Paul: Phoenix Suns vs. New Orleans Pelicans
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 40.27 | DraftKings: 40.65
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 18.6% | FanDuel 15% | DraftKings 19.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $38 | FanDuel $9,600 | DraftKings $8,300
There are several top-tier options at point guard tonight with youngsters Ja Morant and Trae Young leading the way. However, do not overlook veteran Chris Paul, as he is clearly the maestro in charge of the Phoenix offense. The faster the Suns can take care of business in this series, the sooner Paul will get to take it easy until the second round. Tonight marks the 131st postseason game for Paul, who will be celebrating his 38th birthday in a couple weeks. The veteran facilitator should be ready to roll again tonight, as this is just his third game in the last 11 days. In this matchup 40 fantasy points is a solid baseline expectation, and if Paul continues to look for his shot, he should easily flirt with 50 fantasy points against an overmatched Pelicans squad.
Anthony Edwards: Minnesota Timberwolves at Memphis Grizzlies
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 38.99 | DraftKings: 40.11
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 29.2% | FanDuel 17.3% | DraftKings 20.0%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $33 | FanDuel $9,300 | DraftKings $8,200
On Saturday second-year wing Anthony Edwards announced his presence with authority, leading the Timberwolves to a 130-117 road upset of the Grizzlies. Memphis is not likely to be surprised twice, though even as 7.5-point favorites tonight, the outcome of this game is far from certain. Edwards authored a 54.4-fantasy-point performance in 40 minutes, though aside from two blocks, none of his statistics were outlandish by any stretch. Tonight he should see around two dozen field goal attempts, and with the ball in his hands on most possessions, he should continue to find his way into a few assists and rebounds. The Game 1 results clearly were not a flash in the pan, and anything less than another 40-plus fantasy points tonight will be a disappointment.
Centers of Attention
Karl-Anthony Towns completely outplayed the defensive-minded Steven Adams, who played only 24 ineffective minutes. While Adams is a veteran and should rally, his body has seen a lot of wear and tear over his nine seasons in the league. Towns has a sublime inside-out game and is also active on the glass. This should, once again, lead to a 20-10 performance and a strong chance that he posts the best fantasy score of the slate.
Bam Adebayo (quad) is expected to play, though it remains to be seen if his injury will cause any limitations. In 28 Game 1 minutes, he managed only 22.7 fantasy points. Clint Capela (knee) has been ruled out through the weekend, which should give Adebayo plenty of opportunities in the paint on offense.
The key to Deandre Ayton having fantasy success is taking at least a dozen field goal attempts. The fourth-year center is reticent to look for his shot, but when he does, he has a 63% conversion rate over the last two seasons. Ayton is a near lock for double-digit rebounds, and he is one of the best point-per-dollar options at his position on Tuesday.
Jonas Valanciunas had 25 — yes, 25 — rebounds in Game 1 of this series to go with 18 points and three assists. While that is unlikely to be repeated tonight, he should be in the mix for a 15-15 type performance with upside at a reasonable salary.
Yahoo Discount Dandies
Kyle Anderson – Memphis Grizzlies vs. Minnesota Timberwolves ($12): The key thing in Kyle Anderson’s favor is that he can contribute in many ways and play multiple positions effectively. Even though he is coming off the bench, he should play between 21 and 24 minutes with upside should any of the Memphis wings or guards get into foul trouble.
Brandon Clarke – Memphis Grizzlies vs. Minnesota Timberwolves ($13): There could be a changing of the guard in Memphis, as Brandon Clarke has a far better offensive game than Adams and even coming off the bench he should see more minutes. Clarke was on the court every minute that Adams was on the bench, and the duo also played together for nearly four minutes in Game 1. There are plenty of center options tonight, but Clarke is an intriguing differentiation play and someone to target on any DFS site where he is power forward eligible.
Jae Crowder – Phoenix Suns vs. New Orleans Pelicans ($14): Though Jae Crowder disappointed in Game 1, he deserves another chance tonight against the Pelicans if he remains in the starting lineup. In the postseason, Crowder knows his role and happily turns into a 3-and-D wing, but he can still chip in across the board and provide enough fantasy production to outpace his reasonable salary in this matchup.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks for the Tuesday, April 19 Fantasy Basketball Slate
Tonight the home teams all are favored by at least 7 points. However, this is the playoffs, so there is no need to plan for “blowout” run with six teams in action. While a lopsided game could curtail fourth-quarter minutes for the key contributors on the losing team, the game would need to be completely out of hand before that coaching move is in play. On average, that will cost the stars potentially three or four minutes, though it should not impact our lineup construction decisions tonight.
