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This will be the final fantasy column I will write this season, if — and that is a big if — the Miami Heat win tonight in Game 5 against the Indiana Pacers.
If that is indeed the case, I will walk away triumphant. In the Monday-Tuesday contests that I entered, I finished in 2nd place in two of them _ a $2 entry-fee tournament, along with a $22 entry-fee tournament. The haul was $445.
Good money, eh?
Congrats to all of you who heeded my advice.
The key to winning DraftStreet’s two-night NBA playoff fantasy contests is to get the hot player on the night he is at his hottest. That is what happened with Russell Westbrook, who posted a phenomenal 64.25 DS points — by far the largest individual total I have ever seen. I selected Westbrook in my $22 league along with Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade and Paul George, going extra hard on the studs and duds theory. Jeremy Lamb, Steven Adams and Boris Diaw all came through, allowing me to overcome the selection of Rashard Lewis, who was one of the least expensive players available.
Going into tonight’s two-night contests, I am sticking with that scheme — although the prices on some of the duds have risen.
If you have never played in DraftStreet’s fantasy contests before, here are the rules:
You get an imaginary salary cap of $100,000, and you draft three guards, three forwards, a center and a utility player. You get 1 point for every point that they score, and you lose 1 point for every turnover and 0.5 points for every missed shot. Rebounds are worth 1.25 points, assists are worth 1.5 points, and steals and blocks are worth 2 points each.
You would think that entrants would come up with quite a few duplicate rosters given that there are only four teams still playing, but that is not the case. Last night, the player I finished second to had Kendrick Perkins on his team, while I had Jeremy Lamb. Our rosters overlapped on three other players — Westbrook, Diaw and Adams.
Here is a look at the final scoreboard from the $22 entry fee contest (2nd place was worth $320; 1st place paid $450):
As you can see, Westbrook was not as popular of a pick as he should have been despite his price tag of $22,198. When only 34 percent of the entrants have a guy that talented on their team, you must attribute it to sticker shock. Also, only 25 percent of players had Durant, whereas 33 percent had Diaw and 32 percent went with Adams.
So this is the part where my advice comes into play: Don’t be scared off by sticker shock. The Thunder have two players who are going to produce monster lines on a night-in, night-out basis, and you need both of them to be successful in this game of skill.
There are ways to get all three superstuds on your team, and that was the formula that worked for me in the $2 entry-fee contest (2nd place was worth $125, while 1st place was $200):
Jmoney2122 also had James, Durant and Westbrook, and his picks of Norris Cole and Kendrick Perkins made up for his selection of Rasual Butler.
So you can win despite a mistake here or there.
Which brings us to tonight’s contests.
Here is the studs-and-duds price list:
| DraftStreet | Price |
| Stars | $$$ |
| LeBron James | $24,802 |
| Kevin Durant | $24,771 |
| Russell Westbrook | $22,750 |
| Paul George | $17,528 |
| Tim Duncan | $15,771 |
| Value Plays? | Under $9,000 |
| George Hill | $8,985 |
| Boris Diaw | $8,132 |
| Chris Andersen | $7,702 |
| Ray Allen | $7,348 |
| Norris Cole | $5,370 |
| Luis Scola | $3,928 |
Scola is a must-play IMHO, because the Pacers are going to have to play to their big-man strengths to come out of Game 5 with a victory.
Cole is a smart play, too, because Erik Spoelstra has been using him with great success as the defensive stopper against George.
I entered a $22 contest in which Westbrook was the only member of the high-priced trio that I drafted.
I also entered a $2 contest in which I took Durant, Westbrook and James and plumbed the depths of hell to fill out the rest of the roster, choosing Perkins, Lamb, Scola and one other good player (hey, I don’t have to reveal my entire lineup, OK?)
But I’ll tell you this: I liked my $2 entry fee team so much, I copied it into the $22 contest to put $46 into play along with the $22 I have riding on the outcome of tonight’s Indiana-Miami Game 5. (I have James, Wade, Roy Hibbert, Scola and Cole in action.)
Tomorrow, I will be back with another update — provided the Pacers win.
If the Heat win, there will be no more two-night contests this postseason, and I will weep. But I will also shed a tear of joy because last night’s two wins made it 12 different contests in which I have cashed this month. Hopefully, that number rises.
Good luck!
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