This is where DFS handicapping gets really interesting. It was easy enough to target Stephen Curry $10400 and James Harden $9500 last night as the Warriors edged the very stubborn Rockets, but not many touts or analysts expected Shaun Livingston $2600 (18 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST) to be such a factor. He was on the Short List here and I hope you plugged him into your Tu-We lineups.
As a certain ginger baseball slugger once told Congress, we’re not here to talk about the past. Game Two is tomorrow night and there are bargains galore. Livingston is still dirt-cheap; he was on only 15.3% of teams but that percentage may quadruple in We-Th contests, which close at 8:30 Eastern. By tomorrow, when Th-Fr salaries are set, his may double.
DraftKings matches your first deposit 100% (up to $600) with bonus funds that convert to cash, plus you get a FREE entry in the $40K Sharpshooter — the top score earns $3,000 and 3,236 of 15,332 teams will get paid. Odds are even better in the $30K Crossover, normally a $27 buy-in. That contest has 250 guaranteed prizes ($3,500 for first) and only 1,267 teams.
Dwight Howard $8700 had an awful night — early foul trouble, five turnovers and a knee injury.Who knows what his status is for Game Two? There will be great secrecy. Assuming he’s less than 100%, rookie Clint Capela $2000 will get more than 13 minutes but the real impact is to “force” both teams into small-ball, which suits Golden State just fine.
Draymond Green $7700 is an absolute must-start. At 6’7”, he played center much of the way; Andrew Bogut $4800 becomes almost irrelevant unless Howard is on the floor. Harrison Barnes $4900 is an undersized (but effective) PF in that scenario, and Klay Thompson $7200 — who was off-target (6-18) in the opener — has always been quite capable at SF.
Josh Smith $5400 is a potential bargain for Houston and Trevor Ariza $6500 is vitally important. Using both of them, Harden, punting C with Capela leaves room for Curry, Green, Livingston and the minimum one player from tonight’s Game One in Atlanta for $5900 or less.
I’ve been previewing that one for days, it seems. Check out Monday’s Spin and Tuesday’s Spin for details. It seems that everyone is hurt for the Cavaliers and Hawks, both benches are paper-thin and the scores will be lower than in the West. However, I’m more bullish on Tristan Thompson $5800 today than in those previous columns.
First, my fellow Canuck indicated yesterday that his “tweaked” shoulder feels great. Then, last night’s game made me realize that Timofey Mozgov $4900 might not play much because Atlanta is so quick and relatively small. If Thompson is at the 5 and LeBron James $11400 the 4, with J.R. Smith $4800 and Iman Shumpert $5200 on the wings, Cleveland can keep up. Kyrie Irving $7200 (knee) is a big question mark, so Matthew Dellavedova $3700 is a key factor and James Jones $2200 is also well-suited to small lineups.
Though it’s the same four teams in every 2-day contest, salaries are adjusted at DK and strategies are adjusted on the hardwood. Stay tuned tomorrow when there will be different opportunities in Th-Fr action and we’ll have a better feel for how the East final might unfold.
| Pos | Premium | Midrange | Bargain |
| PG | Stephen Curry $10400 | Jeff Teague $7300 | Shaun Livingston $2600 |
| SG | James Harden $9500 | Klay Thompson $7400 | M. Dellavedova $3700 |
| SF | LeBron James $11400 | Trevor Ariza $6500 | Josh Smith $5400 |
| PF | Paul Millsap $8200 | Draymond Green $7700 | Mike Scott $2000 |
| C | Al Horford $7900 | Timofey Mozgov $4900 | Clint Capela $2000 |
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.