Tonight marks the Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals with the Los Angeles Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns. In the first game of the series, the Suns were able to pull out a win even though Chris Paul was out. Paul remains out for the second game of the series although the Clippers are also shorthanded with Kawhi Leonard not playing due to injury. This is the story of the NBA Playoffs. Injuries to key players are a major impact and they also change how we construct our DraftKings and FanDuel fantasy basketball lineups. After taking a deeper look into the Clippers vs. Suns Game 2 matchup, I’ve found some of the top NBA DFS picks today with the help of Awesemo’s expert NBA DFS projections.
NBA DFS Deep Dive: DraftKings + FanDuel | June 22
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Paul George ($10,400 DraftKings/$15,000 FanDuel) — George is stepping up in big way without Leonard healthy. At this point, it seems unlikely Leonard will return at all since there is no update on his status. The “Pandemic P” nickname that is following around George is starting to fade away. George has scored over 50 DraftKings points in four consecutive games and he has a usage rate of at least 32% in five straight games. In addition, he is playing north of 40 minutes per game and isn’t getting much rest during games. George is the No. 1 player in our fantasy basketball projections tonight at at 54.92 points — nearly five points ahead of Devin Booker (49.94).
Devin Booker ($9,600 DraftKings/$14,500 FanDuel) — Booker finds himself in the exact same situation as George. Both of them have to step up with a star teammate missing. Chris Paul will not play today after missing Game 1 due to COVID and it isn’t entirely clear when he will get back on the court. Without Paul in Game 1, Booker went off for the first triple-double of his career and notched 77.75 DraftKings points. Despite that strong performance, he wasn’t priced up much on FanDuel or DraftKings. When Paul is off the court this season, Booker has a 34.8% usage rate and scores 1.28 fantasy points per minute.
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Cameron Payne ($5,300 DraftKings/$11,000 FanDuel) — Booker gets a boost in usage with Paul off the court but Payne stands to gain the most from a playing time perspective. He started in place of Paul last game and figures to draw another start tonight. Throughout the playoffs, Payne has stepped up when Paul isn’t healthy. This includes the games against the Lakers when Paul had a bum shoulder. Even though Paul was the starter, Payne logged bigger minutes off the bench and spelled Paul when his shoulder bothered him. Payne averaged 33.88 DraftKings points as a starter this season. Payne is hands down the top NBA value pick tonight in the Awesemo fantasy basketball projections.
DeMarcus Cousins ($3,100 DraftKings/$6,500 FanDuel) — The Clippers haven’t played Cousins much in the playoffs but they might need him in this matchup. Deandre Ayton presents different problems for Los Angeles than the other centers it has faced like Rudy Gobert and Boban Marjanovic. The Clippers have played small in the postseason and mixed things up last game. Cousins ended up playing 13 minutes and was one of the top values on the slate.
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