The NBA play-in tournament gets underway Tuesday with the seventh and eighth seeds facing off in both conferences. The matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves will also be the featured Showdown contest on DraftKings, so let’s highlight some players to consider for your lineups.
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Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Captain’s Picks
LeBron James ($15,900 CP): Making the play-in tournament was not what the Lakers had set out to accomplish at the beginning of the season. However, there was a time when them even getting that far looked to be an uphill battle, so at least they are still alive. One of the main reasons for their underwhelming record was that James was limited to just 55 games because of injuries. However, he has been great when healthy, averaging 52.6 DKFP per game. Things should be easier on him with Jaden McDaniels (hand) out, so look for James to start things off with a bang.
Karl-Anthony Towns ($12,600 CP): The Timberwolves have suspended Rudy Gobert for this game after he got into an altercation with Kyle Anderson in their last game of the regular season. With him out, Towns will go back to manning the middle. He enters the playoffs on a hot streak, scoring at least 46.5 DKFP in each of his last three games. If the Timberwolves are going to keep this close, they will need Towns to score early and often.
UTIL Plays
Anthony Davis ($10,800): Davis was in the same boat as James, playing only 56 games because of injury. He saw a spike in production when he was on the floor, averaging 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 2.0 block per game. He likely won’t be met with much resistance in the paint with Gobert out, so Davis could be in line for a monster stat line.
Kyle Anderson ($7,400): Anderson has been a bit inconsistent. Over his last 10 games, he scored at least 35.5 DKFP four times. However, he scored 26.3 DKFP or fewer four times during that span. Still, with his ability to contribute in multiple areas and McDaniels being out, Anderson should play enough and have a large enough role to provide value.
Taurean Prince ($5,800): Prince only logged 22 minutes per game this season, which didn’t leave him with many opportunities to contribute. However, he should play more in this matchup with McDaniels and Gobert out. That should put him on your radar in DFS because he has averaged 15.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 three-pointers across six games in which he played at least 30 minutes.
Fades
Dennis Schroder ($5,600): Schroder has filled a significant role at times for the Lakers. However, they are a much deeper team now than they were at the start of the season. He averaged a modest 26 minutes over his final 12 games of the regular season, scoring 24.8 DKFP or fewer nine times. The Lakers have a mostly clean injury report, so expect Schroder to remain in a reduced role.
THE OUTCOME
The Timberwolves not having McDaniels might actually be a bigger deal than them not having Gobert. They could have really used his stellar defense on James. It’s difficult to envision the Lakers losing this game with the Timberwolves missing two key players. The Lakers are also 6-2 since James returned from a 13-game absence because of an injury. Add in them having homecourt advantage and look for the Lakers to advance.
Final Score: Lakers 117, Timberwolves 111
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $300K Fadeaway [$100K to 1st] (MIN vs LAL)
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is mbarner51) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.