This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
We're back at it Saturday for the continuation of what is turning out to be an exciting and intriguing NBA postseason. The Raptors and Celtics kick off the slate in a critical Game 4 for Toronto, while Nuggets the Clippers close out the night with a Game 2 showdown in which Denver will be challenged to bounce back from an underwhelming series opener. Speaking of atonement, Boston will certainly be on the hunt for some redemption after allowing Toronto to climb back into the series with a last-second Game 3 victory.
We'll begin by diving into the projected total for Saturday's two games, followed by an examination of the general state of each position, a review of key injuries and a look at expected chalk plays and both under-the-radar and popular value plays to consider.
Before delving into the slate, a reminder that FanDuel has reverted to its previous format of NOT dropping the lowest scoring in lineups after a one-year experiment with that feature. Therefore, it will be important to be prudent with each selection, as each player's total will count toward your final score.
Without further ado, let's get into Saturday's slate!
Slate Overview
Here's a further look at the two games on Saturday's slate:
Toronto Raptors vs. Boston Celtics (Projected total: 214.0 points)
OG Anunoby shocked the Celtics and the bubble in general with his buzzer-beating three-pointer from the corner in Game 3, but the oddsmakers once again see the possibility of a low-scoring tussle Saturday. The total actually overshoots the 206, 201 and 207 points scored in the first three games of the series by quite a bit, and considering Boston did put up 112 points in Game 1 and will likely come into this game with a sizable chip on their collective shoulders, there could certainly be more aggressiveness offensively on their part. Boston's top trio of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker have all had at least one bad shooting game in this series, but they've also shown they can get red hot versus Toronto's defensive alignments.
Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Clippers (Projected total: 221.5 points)
Thursday's Game 1 ended with a total of 217 points that the Nuggets only contributed 97 points to, but their listless effort wasn't necessarily surprising. Denver came into that contest just 48 hours removed from a third consecutive wire-to-wire battle against the Jazz in the first round, and they simply didn't seem to have their legs under them very much. All the starters on both clubs played relatively modest minutes, which could result in a more competitive matchup in Game 2. Additionally, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both continued their season-long trend of success against Denver in the series opener by accumulating a combined 48 points in 65 total minutes on the floor, and Los Angeles now has Patrick Beverley back in the fold and likely ready to play more than the 12 minutes he logged Thursday in his return from a calf injury.
Positional Breakdown
PG: Kyle Lowry, Jamal Murray and Kemba Walker once again head up the pool, although Lowry has seen a significant increase to $9K while Murray has come down to $8.6K after their respective performances Thursday. Additionally, Lou Williams and Patrick Beverley are strong value options to consider, while Reggie Jackson and Monte Morris carry more risk due to playing time uncertainty.
SG: Shooting guard has a clean bill of health and a strong trio up top as well in the form of Paul George, Fred VanVleet and Marcus Smart. There are some viable cost-savings options as well, with Norman Powell, Torrey Craig and Landry Shamet offering at least some upside if they can get their shots going and see enough time.
SF: Kawhi Leonard isn't going to come cheap at $10.5K, but his continued dominance over the Nuggets and his overall body of work this postseason both make him worth the investment. Pascal Siakam and Jaylen Brown are very strong pivots off Leonard, while Game 3 hero OG Anunoby and Jerami Grant could certainly deliver strong returns on their salaries.
PF: There's pretty solid depth here across the pricing spectrum, as Jayson Tatum, Serge Ibaka, Daniel Theis, Michael Porter and Marcus Morris are all options that can fit varying budgets. Paul Millsap, who resurfaced as a viable fantasy option in Game 1 with a surprising 13-point, nine-rebound effort, is also in play as a value option.
C: We have the same overall salary breakdown at center as we did Thursday, with Nikola Jokic as the one elite option and a number of value choices in the form of the Clippers duo of Montrezl Harrell and Ivica Zubac, as well as Marc Gasol and Robert Williams. Harrell had a much-needed bounce-back performance in Game 1 and is still priced very reasonably, making him especially appealing for those who can't quite float Jokic's salary.
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 (usually late morning Eastern time), 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.
Tremont Waters, BOS (knee)- QUESTIONABLE
Vincent Poirier, BOS (personal)- OUT
Vlatko Cancar, DEN (foot)- OUT
Longer-term injuries/absences: Gordon Hayward, BOS; Javonte Green, BOS; Patrick McCaw, TOR; Oshae Brissett, TOR; Will Barton, DEN
Elite Players
We have just one five-figure salary player in Kawhi Leonard ($10.5K), who continued his stellar postseason run in Game 1 by shooting 75.0 percent on his way to a game-high 31 points. Nikola Jokic ($9.5K), Jayson Tatum ($9.2K), Kyle Lowry ($9K) and Jamal Murray ($8.6K) follow Leonard on the salary scale, and despite Jokic and Murray having had rough outings in Game 1, they could be set for Game 2 resurgences.
Beyond that group, consider Pascal Siakam ($8.2K), Kemba Walker ($8K) and Paul George ($7.7K) are the three next-less-expensive candidates capable of offering elite-level production on their salaries.
Expected Chalk
All of the players just listed in the prior section are certainly going to be on plenty of rosters, along with many of the talented mid-priced players with secure roles such as Fred VanVleet, Jaylen Brown and Serge Ibaka.
As usual, I've also compiled the names of some sub-$6K value plays that should also find themselves on plenty of rosters and listed them under the next section.
Key Values
Marc Gasol, TOR vs. BOS ($4,500)
Gasol has lost luster in DFS circles with some underwhelming performances since the season re-started, but the veteran big man can still offer a solid return on his current salary. Gasol scored 19.2 and 21.7 FD points in Games 1 and 3 of the series, respectively, and he's delivered at least a 5x return on his current salary on 24 occasions this season. The veteran can still space the floor nicely (38.5 percent success rate from three-point range this season), and with plenty of defensive attention going elsewhere on the Raptors' starting five, Gasol could see some open looks and one-on-one matchups again in Game 4.
Mason Plumlee, DEN VS. LAC ($3,500)
Plumlee came through handsomely as a minimum-priced suggestion Thursday, delivering 26.5 FD points in just 13 minutes during the Game 1 loss. The lopsided nature of the contest isn't really at cause, as Plumlee's allotment of playing time wasn't anywhere out of the ordinary for him, considering he averaged 17.3 minutes per contest this season. Plumlee could be in for another efficient performance in Game 2, as the Clippers rank in the bottom half of the league in points (22.2), rebounds (15.0) and blocks (2.2) per game allowed to centers while also checking in just outside the bottom 10 in rebounds per game (25.2) surrendered to second-unit players.
Other under-the-radar value plays to consider: Paul Millsap, DEN vs. LAC ($5,000)
Popular value plays to consider: OG Anunoby, TOR ($5,800); Marcus Smart, BOS ($5,700); Daniel Theis, BOS ($5,400); Montrezl Harrell, LAC ($5,300); Lou Williams, LAC ($5,200); Michael Porter, DEN ($5,100); Marcus Morris, LAC ($5,000); Robert Williams, BOS ($3,800)
