The NBA Playoffs continue tonight with the Miami Heat taking on the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, which gives us another night of DFS action after the Celtics were able to keep the series going.
This matchup is a challenging one from a DFS standpoint considering that it’s tough to figure out who’s going to produce outside of Jayson Tatum and Jimmy Butler, but there are some injuries to rotational players that could present value for those stepping into increased roles.
We’re going to break down the matchup from a DFS standpoint by evaluating the key players on both teams to build an ideal lineup for tonight’s Showdown Captain Mode DFS contests.
Miami Heat
Jimmy Butler returned to being the Heat’s go-to scorer after taking a backseat in Game 3, but he wasn’t as dominant as he was in the first two contests of this series. Butler scored 27 points or more in the first two games in Boston, so we’re expecting another strong road performance from him tonight, especially with Gabe Vincent’s injury. Vincent was ruled out for tonight with an ankle injury, which should allow Kyle Lowry and Max Strus to take on more of a scoring load at guard, with the veteran Lowry appearing to be a value at $5,600. Caleb Martin should also be more involved offensively to where he makes for a better lineup play in most cases at $6,600 than Bam Adebayo, who feels a bit pricey at $9,600.
Boston Celtics
Jayson Tatum put on a show in Game 4, and it’s become clear that the Celtics offense is going to go as he goes even though Jaylen Brown is also capable of scoring in bunches. With that being said, we’re going to take a chance on Brown tonight for DFS purposes with Butler as our ideal choice for the Captain spot since Brown offers value at $9,800 and showed improvement in Game 4 after a rough stretch. Al Horford also bounced back in Game 4, but we like Grant Williams as a value play at a very affordable $2,800 since he’s been trending up as far as minutes and production. Malcolm Brogdon is dealing with a partially torn tendon in his arm, and while he should play, Derrick White is the value play at guard at $5,200 since he’s seen more minutes with Brogdon banged up and the fact that Marcus Smart is somewhat expensive at $7,600.
Bottom line
Taking either Butler or Tatum in the Captain spot feels like a must, as they should both lead their teams once again, but the key to lineup success will be figuring out which utility players will step up. The injuries to Vincent and Brogdon make things somewhat clearer as far as figuring out which role players could thrive along with the positive trends that have been developing for players like Grant Williams. While it’s anyone’s guess who might step up, we’re going to bank on this information we’ve gathered in hopes that our ideal lineup will stand out above the rest.
IDEAL LINEUP
Salaries based on DraftKings’ $50,000 cap
Captain (1.5x): Jimmy Butler, Heat SF/PF ($19,500)
UTIL: Jaylen Brown, Celtics SG ($9,800)
UTIL: Caleb Martin, Heat SG/SF ($6,600)
UTIL: Kyle Lowry, Heat PG ($5,600)
UTIL: Derrick White, Celtics PG/SG ($5,200)
UTIL: Grant Williams, Celtics SF/PF ($2,600)
