Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals will take place on Saturday, with the venue shifting to Indiana. Can Boston win three straight? Tonight's DFS contest begins at 8:30 PM ET. DraftKings and FanDuelThe player pool has several options worth analyzing to find the best NBA DFS building blocks and NBA DFS picks. Let's take a closer look at our NBA DFS picks and core plays. Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Pascal Siakam.
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NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Saturday, May 25
NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks
Game 1 Jaylen Brown He hit a three-pointer late in the game to lead the Celtics to an overtime victory, and the 27-year-old scored 40 points in Game 2 to lead Boston to a 126-110 victory.
Kristaps Porzingis Brown and Jayson Tatum Both teams should again attempt 20-plus field goals, and Boston is currently favored by 7.5 points on the road, so another Celtics win tonight could all but wrap up this series.
The Pacers have been hanging in there after a depleted second-round series, but they're now facing a 2-0 deficit. The first quarter was close, with Indiana leading by a small margin and the Celtics leading by just six points at halftime. The Pacers won by a large margin, but they only led by an average of 7.6 points per game, which led to Tatum (42.3) and Brown (36.7) playing the majority of the time. We know they're a dynamic duo, but Brown, with a slightly discounted salary, is the better option per fantasy point dollar.
Jrue Holiday After recording 28 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in the season opener, he recorded a double-double in the 15-10 series. After disappointing fantasy gamers in the first two series, Holiday continues to be a surprise in the DFS lens. Holiday is far more valuable to the Celtics than he is in the DFS world, but it's time to recalibrate expectations. The soon-to-be 34-year-old hasn't seen much of a salary increase even after his two most productive postseason games, so naysayers like me might need to follow the program. Of course, as soon as I finished writing this section, Holiday appeared on the injury report as questionable with an illness.
Al Horford Only 25 minutes played, O'Shay Brissett Third Quarter and Sam Hauser Fourth. Luke Cornet (Wrist) is questionable, so it looks like the three will man the center position and get some minutes at power forward. Brissett only attempted one shot in 12 minutes of play, but did have three rebounds and three steals. He's only played in six games this postseason, but the former Pacers player looks set to play in tonight's game.
Hauser has mostly been a reserve in his limited playing time, but he made just one of his five field goal attempts and missed all four of his long-range attempts. He should see around 12 minutes and, of course, could fill in alongside Brissett if games are lopsided.
Payton Pritchard He continues to progress well and has standalone value while also having the opportunity for additional runs as a cleaner. Derrick White The attack never cools down.
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Tyrese Halliburton He's questionable with a left hamstring injury that's plagued him all season. He went to the bench with 3:43 left in the third quarter of Game 2 and did not return. He'll likely “try” tonight, but the big question is how effective he'll be.
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TJ McConnell McConnell is getting by on efficiency, but if Haliburton is truly out of form, he should get an extra minute tonight. Of course, if Haliburton misses, McConnell will be the most popular player. Remember, when Haliburton was injured during the regular season, McConnell was stuck in a reserve role but played most of the key minutes. So, don't panic if fate strikes and Haliburton misses and McConnell can't make it into the starting five.
Pascal Siakam He remains a key offensive player, but his peripheral play was lacking in Game 2. I believe this was due to the Celtics being stronger on the rebound, so I would keep the Cameroonian part of your DFS plans tonight. Myles Turner He played just 24 minutes, but the game was out of hand when he left the court for the final time at the end of the third quarter, so he should also receive a mulligan.
Ben Shepherd Shepard played 23.3 minutes, but 8:45 of that came in the fourth quarter when the game was out of hand. If Haliburton is unavailable or suffers another game-day injury, Shepard could have a path to reprise that playing time. Isaiah Jackson There were three short turnovers in the first half, but unless it becomes a one-sided game, don't expect him to play another 10 minutes in the fourth quarter.
Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembard Haliburton's absence could give Indiana a boost, and his limited playing time could give him more minutes. Coach Rick Carlisle took key players off early to allow the team a better chance at home, and that could happen again tonight if things go badly. Indiana may be desperate to win Game 4 to avoid a sweep.
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Today's Top Sports Betting Picks
TJ McConnell It's a pretty valuable play in the DFS world, and also has value on an assist prop of 5.5 or more. This bet is currently available at +100. Hard Rock and BetMGMLooking at the “true odds” of -116 (how OddsShopper measures the potential expected ROI of a given bet), we can see that the current line has a staggering expected ROI of 7.2%.
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By using Odds Shopper Instead of doing the hard work of researching favorable bets, you can quickly spot these inefficient lines, and having accounts at multiple sportsbooks allows you to quickly pivot towards the optimal numbers.
We can see that the current lines of the three operators are dramatically better than the -195 line. BetRiversShop smart!
NBA Betting Pro McConnell is projected to play 23.7 minutes and have 5.14 assists, just shy of the 5.5 milestone but that doesn't take into account the range of results. The odds of the over on this bet are measured at 54%.
Unfortunately Haliburton is out this afternoon and I wish I had placed this bet earlier as he is currently o8.5 at -105 with most bookmakers. Even with Haliburton playing, McConnell had 12, 10 and seven assists in 22.8, 20.7 and 23.5 minutes against New York. Point has a chance to surpass those numbers even with his normal playing time, and there are plenty of paths for him to earn more minutes tonight, making odds above 5.5 a smart bet.
Final Thoughts on Today's NBA DFS Picks and Building Blocks
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