The NBA Play-In Tournament tips off Tuesday with two high-stakes matchups: the Miami Heat visit the Charlotte Hornets in a win-or-go-home elimination game, while the Portland Trail Blazers head to Phoenix to take on the Suns. With competitive spreads and enticing totals, both contests offer plenty of DFS opportunity. Key injury situations — including Jerami Grant's calf and Grayson Allen's hamstring — could reshape rotations and unlock value. From elite options like Deni Avdija and LaMelo Ball to budget-friendly gems like Kon Knueppel and Shaedon Sharpe, here's everything you need to build winning lineups for Tuesday's slate.
FanDuel Main Slate NBA Games Today
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Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Monday, April 13 at 9:30 p.m. ET:
- Miami Heat at Charlotte Hornets (-5.5) (O/U: 228.5)
- Portland Trail Blazers at Phoenix Suns (-3.5) (O/U: 216.5)
Both games are unsurprisingly expected to be very competitive, and the Heat-Hornets clash, an elimination game, has the added benefit of a fairly elevated total. The season series between those two teams justifies the higher figure, as the four games finished with totals of 261, 234, 248 and 242 points. Interestingly, two of the three matchups between the Blazers and Suns had final tallies of 237 and 255 points as well, so that current total could ultimately prove to be a bit low.
NBA Injuries Today
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Jerami Grant, POR (calf): QUESTIONABLE
If Grant can't suit up, Matisse Thybulle and Siddy Cissoko could handle the majority of the minutes at power forward.
Other notable injuries:
Nikola Jovic, MIA (ankle): OUT
Grayson Allen, PHO (hamstring): QUESTIONABLE
Collin Gillespie, PHO (shoulder): QUESTIONABLE
Pelle Larsson, MIA (lower leg): QUESTIONABLE
Elite Players
The players with the three highest salaries on Tuesday's slate – Deni Avdija ($9,800), Devin Booker ($9,600) and LaMelo Ball ($9,500).
Avdija heads into the postseason with a head of steam, as he averaged 45.3 FD points across his last eight games while scoring at least 20 actual points in each. He played in just one of the three games against the Suns, recording 31.5 FD points across 29 minutes in that contest.
Booker will be refreshed after sitting out the last two games of the regular season for injury management and rest, and he averaged 41.5 FD points in his final 13 games of the regular season.
Ball averaged 46.3 FD points in his last five games while shooting an impressive 39.7 percent from three-point range, scoring at least 40.4 FD points in each of those contests. He also averaged 42.2 FD points across 31.3 minutes in three games versus Miami, albeit while shooting only 38.7 percent.
Expected Chalk
Other likely chalk plays include:
Bam Adebayo, MIA ($9,100)
Adebayo finished out the regular season by scoring 49.2 to 56.5 FD points in his final three games, and his upside should make him very popular at his salary.
Donovan Clingan, POR ($7,700)
Clingan carries double-double potential any time he takes the floor and may once again be operating without frontcourt mate Jerami Grant on Tuesday, so he should find himself on plenty of rosters at his salary.
Tyler Herro, MIA ($7,600)
Herro averaged a relatively modest 32.8 FD points in his last 12 games of the regular season, but his upside and the elimination scenario that Tuesday's game carries should ensure he's in plenty of lineups.
Brandon Miller, CHA ($7,500)
Miller averaged 30.5 FD points over the last 10 games of the regular season and had one 51.1 FD-point tally against Miami this season, factors that should lock in a high roster rate.
Key Values
Kon Knueppel, CHA vs. MIA ($6,300)
Knueppel saw his scoring fluctuate somewhat over the last four games of the regular season, but he still averaged 14.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists across 31.9 minutes in the final 10 contests while scoring 34.8 to 49.2 FD points in three of those games. The Rookie of the Year candidate is naturally capable of breaking out of any shooting funk any time he takes the floor, and he shot a blistering 42.5 percent from behind the arc during the regular season. Knueppel was stellar against Miami in his four encounters with the Heat, as he averaged 37.1 FD points on the strength of 24.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.0 steals on 50.0 percent shooting, including 45.0 percent from behind the arc. The Heat was vulnerable to two-guards down the stretch as well, giving up the fourth-most FD points per game to the position (48.9) in the final 15 games while giving up the fifth-most made threes per contest to twos in that span (3.78).
Shaedon Sharpe, POR at PHO ($5,900)
Sharpe was able to return from a 28-game absence due to a calf injury with two games remaining in the regular season, allowing him to shake off some rust before the postseason. The talented wing logged a modest 15 and 17 minutes in those contests, scoring 13.8 and 21.2 FD points in those games. Sharpe shot a miserable 28.6 percent in that pair of outings, but that's a number that's naturally bound to rise the more he gets back into the flow of game action. Meanwhile, his salary remains notably depressed as a result, making him an intriguing option for tournaments Tuesday against a Suns squad he averaged 28.8 FD points against on 47.5 percent shooting in two games this season. Sharpe could well reclaim his starting role for Tuesday's game as well after coming off the bench to finish off the regular season, a development that would boost his prospects further.
Coby White, CHA vs. MIA ($5,100)
White retains a discounted salary to start the postseason, even though he finished off the season having posted 14 straight double-digit scoring efforts. White averaged 24.5 FD points in that span, a sample that included a tally of 32.1 FD points over 20 minutes against Miami on March 17. White averaged 27.2 FD points in four matchups against the Heat overall this season, and Erik Spoelstra's squad finished the regular season allowing the seventh-highest offensive efficiency rating to second-unit players (47.8).
ALSO CONSIDER: Mark Williams, PHX vs. POR ($5,800); Toumani Camara, POR at PHX ($5,200)
