With MLB Opening Day today the NBA has given us just a two-game NBA DFS main slate this evening featuring the Boston Celtics taking on the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks taking on the New Orleans Pelicans.

With such a small slate, ownership is going to be very high on most players and those playing DFS tonight should approach this slate like they would a showdown DFS contest which would be to play light and play different so you aren't costing yourself too much of your bankroll but also giving yourself a chance to leap over most of the field with your contrarian picks.

Let's dive into each matchup and see who we should be looking to target when it comes to our lineup construction this evening!

Boston Celtics vs Atlanta Hawks +16.5 (226.5)

This is an interesting matchup because the Hawks are 16.5-point home underdogs despite the fact that they just beat the Celtics at home just two games prior. Now, beating the Celtics is a tall task and with Atlanta being on a back-to-back here there is some obvious concern that they just may not be able to hang with the well rested Celtics team that hasn't left Atlanta since playing the Hawks on Monday.

Rostership Breakdown

If you look at the rostership for tonight's NBA slate for DraftKigns and FanDuel you will see that despite the fact the Hawks are huge underdogs tonight they are also among the highest rostered players on the entire slate with Bogdan Bogdanovic, Vit Krecji, De'Andre Hunter and Bruno Fernando all checking in at 40+% rostered tonight.

For the Celtics, the highest rostered player is expected to be Jayson Tatum at 23% but he is the only Celtic player over 20% rostered this evening.

What does that tell us? Well, as I said, we need to be different here on the two-game slate and with it looking like the Celtics and Bucks are going to be the two lower rostered teams then going to them in our lineup builds should be the way to go.

Al Horford has already been ruled out for Boston here tonight which means a combination of Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet will be seeing the minutes at the center position. Knowing that the Celtics have been limiting Porzingis and the fact that this game has a 16.5-point spread it may make sense to put Luke Kornet in your lineup this evening.

A dart throw for the Hawks could be Garrison Matthews who has played 20+ minutes now in three of the last four games which saw him go for 30 and 27 fantasy points in two of those three contests. Against the Celtics on Monday he played 19 minutes and while he only took two shots he did make them both. He is near min-price on this slate and could see increased playing time again, especially if Dejounte Murray ended up being ruled out.

Core Plays

Celtics: Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Luke Kornet, Payton Pritchard 

Hawks: Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Garrison Mathews

Milwaukee Bucks vs New Orleans Pelicans +1.5 (224.5)

In a game that is expected to be much more competitive than the one before it, the Pelicans are 1.5-point home underdogs at home against the Bucks this evening.

The Pelicans are still without Brandon Ingram this evening and they will also be missing Jose Alvarado off their bench. 

Meanwhile the Bucks are expected to be at full strength with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton both probable for tonight and Patrick Beverley already ruled in.

Rostership Breakdown

This slate is again all about the ownership and when it comes to this matchup the ownership is going to the Pelicans here this evening.

Both CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson are expected to be the highest overall rostered players on the slate with Trey Murphy also within the top five rostered players here today. The pricing for all three is a big reason why as they present solid value given their usage rates and potential in this competitive matchup with Brandon Ingram off the floor.

With the Bucks we are looking at Giannis checking in at nearly 30-percent rostership here this evening. He is the highest priced player on the slate but there is enough value today that getting to him doesn't seem that difficult and knowing what his ceiling can be in a competitive matchup this isn't too shocking.

If you want to be a bit different on this slate for this game then Malik Beasley could be  your guy as he checks in at under 10% rostership this evening.

Core Plays

Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Damian Lillard, Bobby Portis, Malik Beasley

Pelicans: Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Larry Nance, Jonas Valanciunas