Perhaps the Eastern Conference Finals has not been the most competitive – nor was the Western Conference Finals, for that matter. However, you can still be competitive with your NBA showdown DFS lineups. We’ve sifted through all the trends to try to predict Game 4 of an unpredictable series.
Go here for daily free NBA picks!
NBA Showdown DFS Lineup for Celtics vs. Heat Game 4
CAPT – Jayson Tatum – BOS – $18,900
The Celtics are up against a wall and are being beaten down in the media. There are already calls for Joe Mazzulla’s job and talks about blowing the whole thing up. What they’ll do following this series remains to be seen, but they know what they need here – and that’s a big game from their star.
If the Celtics are going to salvage even one game in this series, they’ll need Tatum to do what he did in Game 7 against the Sixers. Regardless of whether they win or not, they’ll live and die by Tatum, so there’s no better choice for captain here in Game 4.
UTIL – Bam Adebayo – PHI – $9,400
You can’t really put too much stock in Adebayo’s last game, as the bench ate quite a bit into his minutes. Prior to that, he was getting an average of 15 shots per game in this series, which is up from 12.5 in the series with the Knicks. Additionally, working the ball into him and then back out has produced a lot more assist attempts. In fact, he wound up just one short of a triple-double in Game 2.
The value will always be there with Adebayo on rebounds. Combine that with the extra touches, and he should have a nice night for the cost here.
UTIL – Marcus Smart – BOS – $7,800
As I mentioned earlier, I think the Celtics decide to live and die by Tatum in Game 4. As a result, if you’re going to find any other playable Celtics, they have to get a lot of that value by assists. Smart has averaged 7.33 assists per game this series. There may be others getting the ball to Tatum in this game, but Smart is the safest bet to flirt with a double-double with dimes.
UTIL – Gabe Vincent – MIA – $5,000
Outside of Jimmy Butler, who you can’t afford if you’re putting Tatum at captain, there aren’t many obvious picks in terms of who will get looks for the Heat. Up 3-0 in the series, they are more likely to rest the tired starters (even though they didn’t get much burn in Game 3, anyways).
Vincent made good of his extra attempts when that happened on Saturday. Even if we don’t wind up in a bench game like that, Vincent has not dropped below 36 minutes in a game in this series. At just 5k for the cost, that’s a lot of playing time.
UTIL – Derrick White – BOS – $4,400
White may not be the traditional guard that gets a lot of assists. In fact, these playoffs have been pretty brutal for him dishing the rock. With that being said, I think he winds up being the guy trying to take pressure off of Tatum. Brown hasn’t been shooting well, and White has at least three three-pointers in each of the three games in this series. So he’ll either draw more attention, which should get him a few more assists, or he’ll get his base level of deep balls.
UTIL – Duncan Robinson – MIA – $3,800
Much like Vincent, Robinson is one of those guys who could get a lot of extra looks if the Heat do decide to rest their guys a bit more. However, even if they don’t, he’s been shooting as of late. He got seven three-point attempts in the blowout Game 3, but he had six as well in Game 2. So he seems to have found his way back to meaningful minutes, and the way he shoots makes him an obvious bargain bin play here.
If you’d like even more information that could help your NBA showdown DFS lineup, be sure to check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. The guys are dropping weekly episodes to make you the smartest guy at the bar.
