This article is part of our DraftKings NBA series.
With the play-in round now in the books, the NBA playoffs begin in earnest with an action-packed Easter weekend of games. Saturday's four-game slate sees three Western Conference first-round series tip off, along with one Eastern Conference clash. There are some of the biggest names in the NBA on the injury report, and projected totals are all across the spectrum.
Slate Overview
Utah Jazz (-5) at Dallas Mavericks (O/U: 209.5 points)
Minnesota Timberwolves at Memphis Grizzlies (-6.5) (O/U: 235.5 points)
Toronto Raptors at Philadelphia 76ers (-4.5) (O/U: 216.0 points)
Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors (-6.5) (O/U: 223.0 points)
There's a storyline attached to each of Saturday's games, perhaps none bigger than the one hanging over the Jazz-Mavericks Game 1 clash. Luka Doncic (calf) will sit out the game and is in real danger of missing Game 2 as well, so the spotlight will certainly be on several of his teammates. Meanwhile, Ja Morant will look to overcome any potential rust as he suits up for only his second game since March 18 when Memphis hosts Minnesota.
The Raptors-76ers showdown carries plenty of intrigue as well, as both teams know each other well, and Toronto actually took three of four games from Philadelphia this regular season. And in the nightcap, all eyes will be on Stephen Curry, who's expected to suit up for Golden State in what will be his first game since injuring his foot against the Celtics exactly one month ago.
Injury Situations to Monitor
NOTE: Injury reporting is especially fluid in the NBA, where the status of multiple players can change during the course of a day. Therefore, although the following serves as a foundation for the latest injury report as of the time the article is written, check back throughout the course of the day with RotoWire for the latest news regarding the status of all players on that night's slate, including those carrying injury designations that aren't listed in this section.
Luka Doncic, DAL (calf): OUT
With Doncic out, Spencer Dinwiddie will enter the starting lineup and likely be charged with primary ball-handling duties, while the usage of every member of Dallas' starting five will see a notable boost.
Stephen Curry, GSW (foot): PROBABLE
Curry is expected to suit up but will be on a minutes limit of some sort, meaning Jordan Poole should still have a sizable role.
Other notable injuries:
Tim Hardaway, DAL (foot): OUT
Elite Players
We have two players with five-figure salaries that have a chance to play on Saturday's slate – Nikola Jokic ($10,600) and Joel Embiid ($10,400).
Jokic averaged 65.3 DK points in four regular-season games against the Warriors this season, shooting 51.9 percent overall but just 16.7 percent from distance. The big man finished the regular season hitting or exceeding 70 DK points in seven straight.
Embiid averaged 51.7 DK points in three games against the Raptors this past regular season, and he had tallies of 83.3 and 78 DK points in two of his last four games. The big man also posted a 30-point, 10-rebound double-double versus Toronto in the penultimate game of the season that yielded 48.5 DK points.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Ja Morant, MEM ($9,800)
Morant averaged 38.4 DK points in four games against the T-Wolves this season but just 33.8 percent in that sample. Nevertheless, given he scored 40.5 DK points in just 27 minutes in his return from a knee injury in the penultimate game of the season, he should be in plenty of lineups.
Karl-Anthony Towns, MIN ($9,600)
Towns averaged 44.9 DK points against the Grizzlies in four games this season while shooting 52.1 percent, and he should definitely be highly rostered given the general scarcity of the center position on a four-game slate.
Stephen Curry, GSW ($9,300)
As long as Curry is confirmed as available, he should be in plenty of lineups against a Nuggets team he averaged 42 DK points against in three games this season.
James Harden, PHI ($9,200)
Harden shot just 40.9 percent against the Raptors this regular season but averaged 45.6 DK points across that three-game sample, and he finished the regular season with a pair of 50-DK-point tallies in the final four games.
Pascal Siakam, TOR ($8,900)
Siakam put up 57.3 DK points per game over three meetings with the 76ers during the regular season, including a triple-double that led to 75.5 DK points against Philadelphia in the next-to-last game of the campaign.
Other likely chalk plays: Klay Thompson, GSW ($7,800); Jalen Brunson, DAL ($7,200)
Key Values
Spencer Dinwiddie, DAL vs. UTA ($6,300)
There's no question Dinwiddie will be rostered plenty Saturday, but he's worth still plugging in for cash games or tournaments and simply differentiating elsewhere in the lineup. The veteran should step into a major ball-handling role against the Jazz with Doncic out, and he'll come in having averaged 23.5 DK points across 27.5 minutes per game in five previous encounters with Utah, a sample in which he also shot 40.9 percent from behind the arc. The matchup against the Jazz isn't the most welcoming, but Utah did allow 48.7 DK points to point guards in the last seven games of the season and Dinwiddie should be in for a hefty workload that will give him a very good chance of hitting at least a 5x return on investment.
Dillon Brooks, MEM vs. MIN ($6,200)
Brooks averaged 31.2 DK points on his home floor this season and comes into Saturday's game having averaged a solid 20.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists across his final eight games of the campaign. Brooks didn't face the Timberwolves during the season due to injury, but he'll be drawing a good matchup on paper against a Minnesota squad that allowed the seventh-highest offensive efficiency to small forwards (23.6 percent), along with the fifth-most DK points per game to the position on the season (41.8). The T-Wolves also yielded the eighth-highest three-point shooting percentage on the road (36.4), furthering Brooks' case.
OG Anunoby, TOR at PHI ($5,500)
Anunoby put up 33.5 DK points in his one encounter against the 76ers this season, and he returned from a brief injury absence to score 24.3 DK points in 25 minutes against the Knicks in the season finale. Anunoby also averaged 16.0 points (on 54.7 percent shooting, including 55.6 percent from three-point range), 4.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.0 steal over the previous five games he played before that last outing of the season, and the 76ers wrapped up the season allowing the eighth-highest offensive efficiency to small forwards (23.3 percent), along with the fourth-most DK points per game to threes in the last seven (49.6).
ALSO CONSIDER: Patrick Beverley, MIN at MEM ($5,400); Dorian Finney-Smith, DAL vs. UTA ($5,400)
