In a traditional FanDuel NBA lineup, you have a $60,000 salary cap to roster nine players. The salary cap is the same in the single-game setup, but the lineup requirements are different.
You select five players of any position. One of your players will be your MVP, whose FanDuel points are multiplied by two. You also choose a STAR player (whose production is multiplied by 1.5) and a PRO (multiplied by 1.2). Two UTIL players round out the roster, and they don't receive a multiplier for their production.
This makes the five players you select essential in more than one way; you need to focus on slotting in the best plays in the multiplier slots rather than just nailing the best overall plays of the game.
Read this piece by Brandon Gdula for some excellent in-depth analysis on how to attack a single-game slate in NBA DFS.
Lakers-Warriors Overview
| Away | Home | GameTotal | AwayTotal | HomeTotal | AwayPace | HomePace |
| LA Lakers | Golden State | 227 | 110.3 | 116.8 | 5 | 1 |
This series feels like history in the making, and the injury report is mostly clear for the second chapter.
Anthony Davis (foot) and LeBron James (foot) have their usual probable listings, but another Los Angeles big missed Game 1 deep on the bench. That was Mohamed Bamba (ankle), who'd likely only be deployed in a blowout anyway. He's questionable.
Golden State's report features just Andre Iguodala (wrist), who is likely done for the year with his injury.
Player Breakdowns
At The Top
Do the Dubs have anything for Anthony Davis ($17,500)? This series is likely over if that answer is "no," and he's the optimal MVP again tonight.
Davis logged a playoff-high 43 minutes, turning in 32 points and 21 boards. Golden State is a small team with the third-worst defensive rebounding rate (66.7%) in the playoffs. They're not going to grow, so Davis could chew them up all series.
LeBron James ($16,000) joined him there a bit with 11 boards in Game 1, but he continues to scuffle with his shot. He made just 9 of 24 shots in Game 1. The stat-stuffer is a dangerous fade logging 40 minutes, but his continued efficiency could be permanent due to the foot issue.
My key angle at the top will be buying low on Stephen Curry ($15,500) in a game the Warriors need to win. Curry moved to an on-ball role in the fourth, which led to 23.2 FanDuel points in the period. We'll likely see more of that as a Game 2 adjustment.
That buy-low narrative could also benefit Draymond Green ($13,500), who mustered just six points in Game 1. If the Lakers sell out to a box-and-one defense to limit Curry at all costs, Green's playmaking could lead to a monstrous night. He's eclipsed 42 FanDuel points in both games this postseason where he scored in double figures, too.
In The Middle
Guarding Davis, Kevon Looney ($12,000) has foul-trouble risk, but he's also just reached a salary tier where his lack of scoring upside hurts. Sure, he's a menace on the glass with at least 13 boards in six straight, but he hasn't topped 11 points in the playoffs. The biggest risk for him is a blowout since rebounding is an accumulation stat more than it's tied to production and point differential.
The Warriors putting three guards on the floor let D'Angelo Russell ($11,000) post his highest total of minutes (32) since Game 1 versus the Grizzlies. He and LeBron have alternated the secondary scoring role, so that's worth remembering when building. Russell hasn't eclipsed 30 FanDuel points in a game where LeBron exceeded 45 since that same game in Memphis.
Andrew Wiggins ($10,000) and Klay Thompson ($9,500) also have the potential to turn things around from poor shooting efforts in Game 1. Wiggins shot 20.0% from three, and Thompson shot 36.0% overall on 25 attempts. The opportunity was wholly there for both, and those shots going down could be what flips the result from Tuesday, too.
At The Bottom
Jordan Poole ($9,000) should carry some popularity off his seasonal playoff high in minutes (29), and he cashed 54.5% of his shots from deep and dished out six assists. In a bench role, that's really his ceiling. Plus, Golden State likely needs to play a larger rotation to stop Davis. I don't think he's a must when Steve Kerr has kept a short leash on him all season.
I'd much rather turn to Austin Reaves ($8,500), who saw 38 minutes in Game 1. Reaves took just nine shots, but his on-court role should stay heavy as long as Golden State continues to roll with three guards quite often. Plus, his defense was a bulk of the issue for Klay in Game 1.
It's no surprise Jarred Vanderbilt ($7,500) and Dennis Schroder ($7,500) squashed the Lakers' bench. Vanderbilt is L.A.'s best lock-and-trail defender, and Schroder drew the bulk of the Curry assignments when Steph was in an on-ball role. It's tough to see either, with such valuable roles against him, ceding work to Rui Hachimura when the Lakers scored just fine behind Davis and James.
No other player in the FanDuel pool exceeded 12 minutes in Game 1. JaMychal Green ($6,000), the tallest player on the Warriors' roster, banged a couple of threes in seven minutes. He's the only bench player who could conceivably try to slow down Davis a bit more in Game 2 if you wanted to load up on this series' studs and roll the dice on a punt.