As the NBA regular season fades into the rearview mirror, the anticipation reaches a fever pitch tonight with the commencement of the NBA Play-In Tournament. This thrilling precursor to the playoffs promises high-stakes action and intense competition as teams vie for coveted postseason berths. 

 

 

 

With DFS enthusiasts eagerly assembling their lineups for tonight's main slate, every basket, steal, and assist carries monumental significance. 

Strap in for a night of electrifying basketball as the league's elite talents clash in a battle for supremacy on the hardwood, while DFS managers navigate the dynamic landscape of player matchups and performances to craft winning rosters. Below you'll find my top NBA DFS picks for Tuesday, 4/16.

NBA DFS Tools To Dominate Tonight's NBA DFS Slate!

Make sure to check out today's NBA DFS projections and NBA DFS ownership projections before finalizing your lineups today. We also have the NBA Consistency Report to help identify players that have exceeded value based on their current price tag this season and of course our NBA DFS Lineup Generator!

DO YOU LIKE FREE STUFF?

Well, if YOU – YES, YOU! – finish in the top-5 of our Daily Pick'Em contest on Bettor Edge for the Play-In Tournament games, you win FREE FA SWAG!

 

 

Lakers vs. Pelicans DFS

Total: 224.5

Spread: NO -1.5

NBA Injury Report, 4/16

Los Angeles Lakers Injuries

New Orleans Pelicans Injuries

Lakers NBA DFS Breakdown

  • Pace (since All-Star break): 2nd (101.3)
  • Defensive Rating (since All-Star break): 23rd

It’s playoff time. Nothing more important, shortened rotations, monster minutes. The Lakers will likely have both D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves play massive minutes with Spencer Dinwiddie as the third guard in this equation. Both guys average north of 1 FP/min, with Russell being the higher usage player by two percent.

Getting to LeBron James and Anthony Davis is a plus decision too. Davis has been better from a FP/min standpoint and typically, but James has been the better of the two in this matchup this season. James might also be the healthier of the two guys at this point as Davis is dealing with a back injury.

The only other two names that likely matter, and play enough minutes to matter, is Rui Hachimura who will start in the Lakers front court and Taurean Prince, who will operate as their sixth man. 

Hachimura was a large reason as to why the Lakers made a Western Conference Finals run last year averaging north of 25 MPG in two of the three playoff series. They’re not afraid of extending him. Prince is just lineup filler that could make a couple of threes and play good enough defense to stay on the floor for 20-25 minutes.

 

 

 

Pelicans NBA DFS Breakdown

  • Pace (since All-Star break): 16th (97.5)
  • Defensive Rating (since All-Star break): 6th

With Brandon Ingram’s minutes likely getting extended here, the question is how much? Head coach Willie Green said he anticipates they go up from the 23 he played in the season finale. That’s a significant piece of news because when all three of Ingram, Zion Williamson, and CJ McCollum are on the floor together, here are the numbers we need to look at:

The Pelicans rotation seems pretty straight-forward, at least the top seven do. McCollum, Ingram, Murphy, Williamson, and Jones will all play 30+ minutes. Nance will be the primary center despite Valanciunas starting. Jose Alvarado will operate as the backup guard and Dyson Daniels is elite wing defense and he’ll likely see time.

You can play any of the top-six, except for Valanciunas, he’s too risky for me. Nance checked in 2 minutes into the game the other day against the Lakers and played 31 minutes as the primary center. Alvarado is 4K and has played 20+ minutes in all four games against the Lakers. Daniels is probably a few hundred dollars too expensive.

 

 

 

Warriors vs. Kings DFS

Total: 223

Spread: SAC +2.5

NBA Injury Report, 4/16

Golden State Warriors Injuries

Sacramento Kings Injuries

Warriors NBA DFS Breakdown

  • Pace (since All-Star break): 9th (99.2)
  • Defensive Rating (since All-Star break): 7th

The Warriors have been one of the trickiest teams to figure out this year from a DFS perspective and it doesn’t help that Steve Kerr has been unwilling to extend his players. He had just ONE player, Stephen Curry, average north of 30 MPG this season and Curry ranked 44th in the league. Maybe the play-in tournament will be what Kerr needs to unleash his guys? Maybe Kerr is just stubborn, but the former has to be assumed considering if they lose their season is over.

With Gary Payton II out, a few extra minutes should be distributed to the likes of Chris Paul and Brandin Podziemski, but the Warriors rotation has been straight forward since making their final playoff push. 

The Warriors were 19-10 since the All-Star break, which was the fourth best record in the NBA. In most of those games, their starting five was Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, and Trayce Jackson-Davis.

The most volatile player in terms of minutes from their starting five is Jackson-Davis. Jonathan Kuminga figures to play a big role off the bench considering he was the Warriors third leading scorer this season at 16.1 PPG. We should also see Paul and Podziemski play 20’s minutes, with Paul the likely of the two to be extended towards the 30 mark. Kevon Looney should round out the rotation here, but with the ability to play Draymond Green at the center spot.

Something to mention here; the Kings allowed their opponents to shoot nearly 39% on three-pointers since the break. The second worst mark in the NBA.

 

 

 

Kings NBA DFS Breakdown

  • Pace (since All-Star break): 17th (97.3)
  • Defensive Rating (since All-Star break): 9th

The Kings have been trying to find answers on who can fill the void that both Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk have left, and it seems like their rotation has been largely figured out. In their second to last game of the year against the Suns, in a must-win game, they played EIGHT players and one of them, Alex Len, played eight minutes.

De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray, and Harrison Barnes all played 40+ minutes while Keon Ellis played 32. All five of their starters basically played every minute of the fourth quarter and that will likely be the case here. You can play any of all of them if 40+ minutes are on the table.

Other than their starting five, Davion Mitchell and Trey Lyles are two names that *could* play 20+ minutes. Mitchell actually closed the first half against the Suns while Ellis closed the game, so if Mitchell’s shot is falling, he could be an option ahead of Ellis. Lyles also is typically used when Harrison Barnes is ineffective spacing the floor. Barnes played 27+ minutes in the final four games of the regular season while Lyles only topped 20 once.