The NBA playoffs are pretty fun in the early going, as we have decent slates that make it feel like the regular season is still here. Sadly, even with the heightened awareness, we still get blowouts – which also makes it feel like the regular season is still here.
We can’t play for that, though. Instead, we just embrace the three-game slate we have and try to build good lineups and make the best NBA DFS picks possible. I’ve got you covered in that department, as I’ll hand you 3-4 cornerstone plays to build lineups around at DraftKings. I’ll also touch on my favorite GPP picks, as well as which games are the most stackable. Let’s build!
🏀 Slate Overview
- Top injury news to monitor: Anthony Edwards, Immanuel Quickley, and Onyeka Okongwu.
- Best value plays: Jamal Shead if Quickley sits again.
- Top game to attack: Hawks vs. Knicks. Wolves/Nuggets is sneaky though.
- Top stud: Jokic. Not remotely close.
- Blowout risks: Raptors/Cavs, but none of them are glaringly risky.
Top NBA DFS Top Picks for Monday, 4/20
- CJ McCollum ($5.9k) – Jamal Shead if Quickley is out again
- Josh Hart ($5.5k)
- Aaron Gordon ($5.6k)
- Nikola Jokic $12.4k)
🏀 New to DFS? Core plays are the guys you put in most or all of your lineups. They have strong matchups, clear paths to big minutes, and prices that make it easy to fit premium players elsewhere.
The best way to hurt the Knicks is to take and make threes. I like a lot of Hawks in a must-win game 2, and I expect them to be aggressive from long range. I’d most stick with the cheaper guys, but all of CJ, NAW, Dyson, and even Kuminga look pretty appealing. I’ll start with CJ, as he’s cheap and we know he can heat up in a matchup like this.
Hart is too cheap on the other side. He’s locked into huge minutes and the matchup is very friendly for basically every Knicks player. Paying up for KAT/Brunson is totally fine but before I do that I am locking in the ever versatile Hart, who poured in 42 fantasy points in 36 minutes in game one.
I also like the price and role for Aaron Gordon. He’s another sub-$6k player who should play 30+ minutes in a close game and has a solid usage rate. Going to war with Rudy Gobert inside isn’t ideal, but he can be an explosive player and is simply too cheap.
NBA DFS Lineup Strategy for 4/20
Jokic is the main decision point, but he wasn’t even that good in game one and still had 63 fantasy points. That is a very tough fade for me on a three-game slate. If we had a 4th game to work with I might entertain just loading up on 2nd tier bodies, but it’s going to be hard to feel confident in non-Joker builds.
I am probably playing him in most of my lineups, and I think you can comfortably get to him and one 2nd tier stud, as well as my core. I ran a build where I locked ANT in with Jokic and there are two dives that are necessary, but I think punts who have roles – like McBride and Mamu – make it a risk worth taking.
If you don’t want to do that, simply drop down from ANT and go up over those punts. I am anticipating Jamal Murray being popular, so ANT by default may go overlooked here. Given the magnitude of this game, I think Edwards goes off and I want exposure to that. The last game of the night in general has the highest total, so getting additional pieces for cheap makes sense, provided we’re not just eating chalk everywhere.
- 🟢 SAFE – Jokic. Rudy isn’t an ideal matchup but Jokic feels like a bad fade tonight and we know he has the best floor/ceiling combination of anyone.
- 🟡 BOOM/BUST – I wouldn’t call these guys ‘safe”, but they have solid floors and reasonable ceilings. More than anything, we know they have locked in roles and that they’re too cheap.
Best NBA DFS Game Environments for 4/20
🏀 New to DFS? We look for games with high point totals because more points scored = more fantasy points available. The “total” is the sportsbook’s projected combined score for both teams. Higher is generally better for DFS.
Monday’s NBA DFS GPP Pivots
🏀 New to DFS? GPP stands for Guaranteed Prize Pool — the big tournaments. To win tournaments, your lineup has to be different from everyone else’s. A “GPP pivot” is a player who will be lower-owned than his upside deserves, giving you a tournament edge if he performs well.
- Jalen Johnson ($9.4k)
- Donovan Mitchell ($8.7k)
- Anthony Edwards ($8.4k)
Jokic, Murray, and the Knicks stars will probably be the chalkiest studs. I don’t personally love the idea of going away from Jokic, but you can get different with the 2nd guy you pair with him.
Ownership isn’t out yet, but I have to think the above three guys float under the radar to a degree. Johnson was bad in game one and he will flat out not have an easy time finding success inside against New York. Can he fire away from long range and/or over achieve in the paint? Based on his discounted salary and ceiling, it’s worth a shot to try to find out.
Spida shouldn’t be owned much, simply because Cleveland is healthy and there aren’t as many clear paths to a ceiling game. Toronto is not a fun matchup, either. That said, he has a ceiling due to his explosive scoring and I assume the game pace and other options should keep his ownership low.
ANT is the wild card. He’s basically the same price as Murray/Mitchell/KAT/Brunson, so it’s an educated guess that the field will at the very least split this ownership, if not gravitate to more of those other options. There’s also cheaper guys like Ingram/Mobley that will pull ownership. One way or another, I see a reality where Edwards isn’t as owned as he probably should be in a borderline must-win game 2 for the Timberwolves.
🏀 Not Sure Where to Start?
If you’re newer to DFS and feeling overwhelmed, here’s how to approach it:
- Know what contest you’re entering before you pick a single player. Cash games (50/50s, head-to-head) pay out the top half of the field. Your goal is a safe, reliable lineup. GPP tournaments pay out the top 15-20%, with most of the prize pool at the very top. Your goal there is the ceiling. These two goals require completely different lineups.
- Shorthanded teams are your best friend. When a team is missing rotation players, the guys left get more minutes, more shots, and more fantasy opportunities than their salaries reflect. That’s the formula. Check every team’s injury report before building — not as an afterthought, but as step one.
- Avoid blowout games unless you’re on the right side. High game totals tell you where the points are — the total is the sportsbook’s projected combined score. Higher total = more points on the floor = more fantasy points available.
- Minutes are the currency of DFS. Always ask: how many minutes is this guy going to play? A player can’t score if he’s on the bench. Before you add anyone to your lineup, ask yourself: is his role clearly defined tonight? Does he have a path to 28+ minutes? Then that guy is probably viable.
- Understand floor vs. ceiling before you decide who to play. Floor is the minimum you can reasonably expect from a player. The ceiling is the maximum upside if everything goes right. In cash games, you want floor guys who almost certainly hit their value. In tournaments, you want ceiling — guys who can go nuclear.
- Ownership can be your edge — use it. In GPPs, the field chases names or super-owned options. We can leverage that by playing comparable plays with lower ownership.
- Don’t pay for a big name if the context is bad. Salary doesn’t equal value. A star in a tough spot is often worse than a role player in a great one.
New to NBA DFS and need even more help? Check out our NBA DFS guide for extra assistance on how to get started!
Playing DFS since the days of DraftStreet, Kevin knows the ins and outs of DFS, specifically for NFL and NBA. He’s also been helping people win in fantasy football leagues for 15+ years and is one of many experts featured at FantasyPros.
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