Main Slate Breakdown for NBA DFS 4/12:
Apr 6, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) brings the ball up the court against the Utah Jazz in the first quarter at Vivint Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome to another year of the DFS Army NBA Full Court Press! Members had a ton of success using the Full Court Press along with various articles and tools that DFS Army provides last season, so we are glad to be back with another year of the all-inclusive article. You have to start your research somewhere, and oftentimes going game by game and breaking down every matchup and its key players is the first step in our process. My name is Mike aka @MadnessDFS on Twitter, make sure to give me a follow as I’ll occasionally make updates to the advice in the article. But, you’ll mostly find me in our VIP coaching forums where I provide detailed lineup maneuvers and answer all lineup questions. With that said, let’s get it started!
Save $50 on a DFS Army NBA Season Pass with coupon code NBA2022
Before I get started, I need to shoutout a few huge VIP Member wins – “Phamacist” took 1st place in the $300k Fadeway contest which netted him $100k while “da_banditz” grabbed 1st place on FanDuel as well winning $10k- congrats guys!
Chicago Bulls @ Toronto Raptors
Vegas Total: 213.5
Vegas Spread: Tor -5.5
We’ll start with the Eastern Conference where the winner of this game will move on to play the Miami Heat for the opportunity to be the overall eight seed and move on to play the Milwaukee Bucks. Starting with the Bulls, DeMar DeRozan ended the season seeing his production trend in the wrong direction, but he’s going to have a chip on his shoulder here as he heads into his old stomping grounds for a chance to knock out his old team. That said, the Raptors have played him really well and have kind of sold out to stop him this season, he’s averaging just 25.8 DraftKings points per game in three games. If they do the same thing here we could see bigger games from Nikola Vucevic and Zach LaVine, both guys seem too cheap as we saw them end the regular season in the $8k range. Both of these guys are going to look like great options and I would probably prefer them over DeRozan just due to that narrative. Coby White ended the season in great form and will make sense as a mid-range option in this one. The Patricks (Williams and Beverley) will play massive minutes in this one as they staple down this team defense and we all know about Play-In Pat (Beverley) after last season. Lastly, I would expect Alex Caruso to see a boost in minutes as well, and makes plenty of sense as a value option here. From the Raptors, the Bulls struggled with opposing power forwards and their fantasy production this season so guys like Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes are going to look great here. Generally, when we move from the regular season to the playoffs we should expect to see a minutes increase for the main pieces as they tighten up their rotation, but that’s a foreign language to Nick Nurse, he’s been running them hard all season, both guys look great here. Fred VanVleet averaged 43.2 DraftKings points per game in three games against the Bulls this season and will make sense in all formats again in this one. OG Anunoby closed the season on a good run, looking much better than he did for a few weeks post-injury. I do like going back to Jakob Poeltl here as well, he’s an elite per-minute guy and the minutes will obviously be there in a win-or-go-home game. Lastly, Gary Trent Jr. is going to make for an interesting value piece, he should see 25+ minutes and looks to score when he’s in there.
5-star play: Nikola Vucevic, Zach LaVine, Pascal Siakam
4-star play: DeMar DeRozan, Coby White, Patrick Williams, Patrick Beverley, Fred VanVleet, Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, Jakob Poeltl, Gary Trent Jr.
Deeper Value: Alex Caruso, Gary Trent Jr.
GPP Sleeper: Alex Caruso, Patrick Beverley, Chris Boucher
Be sure to check out our PrizePicks tool as well which provides our projection in relation to the PrizePicks line giving us max leverage to hammer home those best prop spots. Our props team has been killing it! CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT.
Oklahoma City Thunder @ New Orleans Pelicans
Vegas Total: 227.0
Vegas Spread: Nop -5.5
Moving onto the other 9/10 matchup, the winner will move on to play the Timberwolves for a chance to play the number one-seeded Nuggets in the first round starting this weekend. Starting with the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is going to look like the top raw option on the slate, he’s averaged 54.6 DraftKings points per game in four games against the Pelicans this season and will do everything for this team. Josh Giddey is a fine secondary option, but at this price tag, I would just prefer going to one of those main three Bulls’ guys for a cheaper salary. Jalen Williams had a big second half of the season and is great defensively, he’s going to look like a nice mid-range option again in this one. Lu Dort was born for the playoffs, he has the perfect skill set for a role man and is someone every team would love to have, he’s going to play all the minutes he can handle and has a solid ceiling if he gets hot from the field or starts racking up steals/blocks. The frontcourt is going to be handled by Jaylin Williams to start, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we see more of Dario Saric now that we’re in win-or-go-home mode, both make for interesting value options. From the Pelicans, Brandon Ingram has been on an absolute heater as of late, ending the season with a 71-point FanDuel night and playing all the minutes he can handle. The matchup isn’t as great as it may initially seem as he gets matched up with Dort and Williams, but he’s going to carry this team if they stand a chance at moving on. CJ McCollum has averaged 47.1 DraftKings points per game in two games against the Thunder this season and makes sense in all formats as well. The minutes on Jonas Valanciunas are always the biggest issue with him, but if they’re there he’s going to have a big game, he’s an elite per-minute producer. If the minutes are down, it means we likely are seeing the Pels go small, so guys like Herb Jones, Larry Nance, and Naji Marshall would see more minutes. Lastly, Trey Murphy had a big second half of the season and can get hot in a hurry from the three-point line.
5-star play: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Brandon Ingram
4-star play: Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, CJ McCollum, Jonas Valanciunas, Trey Murphy
Deeper Value: Dario Saric
GPP Sleeper: Jaylin Williams, Herb Jones, Larry Nance, Naji Marshall
NBA Lock of the Day: Cheat Sheats/Coaches Notes
We locked in Kyle Lowry last night as he went for 48 fantasy points (over 10x his salary!), so I’m going to keep the lock of the day behind the paywall on another two game slate, so come get signed up and take advantage of our discord and freshly launched PrizePicks tool! Check out our VIP Cheat Sheets as we get closer to lock for staff picks on Core plays, 8x locks of the day, and tiers notes as well!
The only thing you are missing at this point is the key to unlock the next level of your game. Come inside and check us out!! We have experts sharing their secrets and experience on a daily basis. Combining that with the actual ability to ask them questions and get quick answers in return gives you a recipe for success that puts our army hats on leaderboards all over the face of DFS.
When you sign up, don’t forget to use promo code MADNESS to save 10% on your membership each and every month!
Editor’s Note – However, if you are more interested in simply betting the games, NBA is full of crazy action. And, our dynamic modeling over at SharpBets adjusts in real time to help identify Vegas inaccuracies you can exploit. Follow Ryan, Anthony, and Statsational for models and coaching advice that help you build any bankroll for any sport…
