The Cavaliers and Knicks kick off what should be a highly competitive series Tuesday night in the Big Apple, following a regular-season series New York prevailed in by a 2-1 margin. Good health prevails for both teams coming in, although the favored Knicks have a significant rest advantage after having wrapped up their series against the 76ers back on May 10.
With only one matchup, we're dealing with FanDuel's single-game contest rosters comprised as follows:
- MVP- (Garners points at 1.5x the normal rate)
- Five Utility spots- (Garner points at normal rate)
With salaries also being different than in conventional FanDuel contests on multi-game slates and top players inevitably headed for heavy rostering, there are definitely strategic elements particular to single-game lineups. Finding key value plays for some of the utility spots is undoubtedly key, as it enables you to roster a superstar in the MVP slot, where salaries for each player are 1.5x higher than if you were rostering them in a Utility spot.
NBA Games Today
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Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Tuesday, May 19 @12:00 a.m. ET:
- Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks (-7.5) (O/U: 217.5)
The Knicks are unsurprisingly a solid favorite for Game 1, and the projected total strikes a solid balance between a defensive-centric battle and a game where both teams will experience some offensive success. The three games between the teams during the regular season finished with totals of 230, 250 and 203 points. Meanwhile, New York's two wins came by margins of eight and two points, while Cleveland's one victory, which came in the one Rocket Arena matchup, was by 15 points.
NBA Injury Report
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OG Anunoby, NYK (hamstring): PROBABLE
Anunoby is fully expected to return to the floor after getting an opportunity to heal up over the last week-plus following his two-game absence at the end of the semifinal round.
Other notable injuries:
Larry Nance, CLE (illness): QUESTIONABLE
Elite Players
The player with the highest MVP salary on Tuesday's slate is Jalen Brunson ($20,700). Karl-Anthony Towns ($20,400) and Donovan Mitchell ($19,500) sport the second- and third-highest salaries in that spot.
Brunson has been very consistent throughout the postseason, averaging 40.2 non-multiplier FD points per contest while shooting 48.5 percent, including 40.9 percent from three-point range. He also averaged 35.2 non-multiplier FD points in three games against the Cavaliers during the regular season.
Towns is averaging 44.3 non-multiplier FD points this postseason and shooting 58.7 percent, including 48.3 percent from behind the arc. The big man has six double-doubles in the last eight games as well and averaged 31.6 FD points in three games against the Cavaliers in the regular season.
Mitchell finished the second-round series against the Pistons with 52.4 non-multiplier FD points in Game 7 on Sunday, and he's averaging 37.6 over 14 postseason games overall. He also averaged 50.1 FD points over three regular-season meetings against the Knicks.
Expected Chalk
With only one matchup, the likes of Evan Mobley ($12,000) and James Harden ($11,800) should also be very popular as non-MVP candidates.
Mobley put up 48.8 FD points over the last four games of the semifinal-round series against the Pistons, which should make him a very popular play Tuesday.
Harden had a down game to close out the series against the Pistons, but he'd averaged 48.8 FD points over the previous three contests and shot 57.1 percent from three-point range in two regular-season contests against the Knicks.
Key Values
The following players make for strong candidates for the Utility spots:
Josh Hart, NYK ($8,000)
Hart has filled his signature complementary, stat-sheet-stuffing role during the postseason, averaging 30.8 FD points on the strength of 10.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals across 33.9 minutes over his first 10 playoff games. The veteran wing has eclipsed 25 FD points in eight of those contests as well, including four 34+ FD-point tallies. Hart has also shot 51.1 percent over the last five games, and he also averaged 23.4 FD points over just 26.0 minutes per game in two regular-season encounters against the Cavaliers.
Jarrett Allen, CLE ($7,800)
Allen has also enjoyed a solid postseason despite one outlier single-digit FD-point tally, averaging 30.9 FD points on the strength of 13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.0 steals across 28.7 minutes per game. The big man is also seeing 15.4 rebounding chances per game, and although he's only converting those at a 47.2 percent clip, he's still pulled down at least seven boards on eight occasions in 14 games. Allen had one particularly productive showing against the Knicks in the regular season as well, as he generated a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double that also included one assist, two blocks and one steal and 40.5 FD points on Feb. 24.
Mikal Bridges, NYK ($6,600)
Bridges definitely put on an utterly forgettable three-game stretch in the middle of the first-round series against the Hawks, but the talented wing has roared back from that slump in fine fashion. Bridges has gone on to average 33.7 FD points in the subsequent five games, shooting an outstanding 67.8 percent, including 46.7 percent from behind the arc. The veteran will see OG Anunoby return to the floor Tuesday, but Bridges scored 29.9 to 37.5 FD points in the three games before the former's consecutive absences to finish out the second-round series against the 76ers. Bridges was also very productive in three regular-season games against the Cavaliers, averaging 15.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.7 steals, 1.3 blocks and 37.1 FD points.
ALSO CONSIDER: OG Anunoby, NYK ($9,000)
