This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Basketball series.
Thursday brings four more playoff games for us to choose from in DFS. Both top seeds in their respective conferences will have the pressure on them to bounce back from a Game 1 loss and avoid a 0-2 series deficit. Let's dive into all of the matchups and discuss some players to target, as well as a few to potentially avoid.
GUARDS
LeBron James, LAL vs. POR ($51): It was not only surprising that the Lakers lost to the Blazers in Game 1 of their series, but they managed to lose despite LeBron James finishing with 23 points, 17 rebounds and 16 assists. He's put up excellent numbers across the board this season, but that was a crazy performance, even by his standards. The Blazers had the fourth-worst defensive rating in the league during the regular season, so expect James to carry an extremely high ceiling into Game 2.
Goran Dragic, MIA at IND ($23): The Heat moved Dragic into the starting five for Game 1 and he ended up playing 34 minutes, which was a significant increase compared to his season average of 28 minutes a night. His added playing time came at the expense of Kendrick Nunn, who was a DNP-Coach's Decision. Dragic finished with 40.7 Yahoo points in the victory, so expect him to once again have an expanded role in this contest.
Guard to Avoid
Evan Fournier, ORL at MIL ($19): The biggest upset that we've seen so far is the Magic beating the Bucks by 12 points in Game 1 of their series. They scored 122 points against the team with the best defensive rating in the league and they did that without Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Jonathan Isaac (knee). Even Fournier provided limited offense on his way to 17.1 Yahoo points. He's heavily reliant on the scoring department to provide value, so rolling with him in a game where the Bucks figure to be playing with added intensity could prove to be a bad move in DFS.
FORWARDS
Anthony Davis, LAL vs. POR ($49): Davis scored 28 points in Game 1, but most of his damage came from the charity stripe. He was awful from the field, shooting just 8-for-24 overall and 0-for-5 from behind the arc. Given that he shot 50.3 percent from the field during the regular season, don't expect him to struggle like that very often. With his ability to also provide rebounds and defensive stats, he carries a high floor into this contest.
Eric Gordon, HOU vs. OKC ($13): The Rockets didn't have the services of Russell Westbrook (quadriceps) for Game 1, but Gordon stepped up to help fill the void. He logged 30 minutes, finishing with 21 points, three rebounds and four assists. Westbrook has already been ruled out for Game 2, which should mean added scoring opportunities will once again be available for Gordon. At near the minimum salary, he could be well worth the risk in tournament play.
Forward to Avoid
Jae Crowder, MIA at IND ($17): Crowder had a quiet performance Tuesday, finishing with eight points and five rebounds across 25 minutes. He attempted only eight shots from the field, which was the fewest of any member of the starting five. His usage rate across 20 regular-season games with the Heat was only 15.3 percent, so his limited scoring upside could continue to put a damper on his overall fantasy value in Game 2.
CENTERS
Nikola Vucevic, ORL at MIL ($37): Vucevic put on a monster performance Tuesday, scoring 35 points to go along with 14 rebounds and four assists. Amazingly, he scored that many points without the benefit of a single free throw attempt. He did drain five three-pointers and shot 15-for-24 from the field overall. Even though that type of efficiency will be hard to duplicate, Vucevic is no stranger to having success against the Bucks despite their defensive prowess. Across three meetings with them during the regular season, he averaged 18.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, four assists, 1.7 steals and 1.7 blocks.
Jeff Green, HOU vs. OKC ($14): Green provided plenty of scoring punch for the Rockets' second unit Tuesday, finishing with 22 points across 32 minutes. He's now scored at least 29 Yahoo points in four of his last seven games and is an important part of the small lineups that Houston likes to deploy. Although his salary did see a slight increase compared to what it was for Game 1, it's still low enough to make him an intriguing budget-friendly option.
Center to Avoid
Kelly Olynyk, MIA at IND ($16): Olynyk didn't see much of the floor in Game 1, playing only 14 minutes and finishing with 10.4 Yahoo points. He averaged just 19 minutes per game during the regular season, which was the lowest mark of his career. As long as he continues to play limited minutes, there's little upside that comes with adding him to your entry.
