After looking unstoppable the first two games of the series, the Nets are now on the ropes with James Harden limited and Kyrie Irving injured. The Bucks have an opportunity to take the lead in this series and go home to close it out in Game 6. Who will rise to the occasion in this huge Game 5? Let’s break it down!
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Low-Multiplier Building Block
Kevin Durant (1.15x // 1.75x) – This goes without saying that when Kyrie Irving and/or James Harden are inactive, Durant is a must start in any DFS format. At the time of this writing, Harden progressed from being out to doubtful to questionable to now saying he will play. I have my doubts that Harden will be effective since he would not be playing tonight if the Nets were up 3-1 in the series. When both Irving and Harden are off the floor, Durant’s usage experiences a 3 to 4% boost and his fantasy points per minute increases by about 20%. Clearly Durant is a very dangerous fade and you may want to consider Durant for the Champion slot. With or without Harden, expect Durant to carry his team on his back as he has done so often in his career. He won’t want to go back to Milwaukee facing elimination so Durant will do all he can to earn the W tonight.
High-Multiplier Flyer
P.J. Tucker (2.85x // 4.3x), Mike James (2.7x // 4.05x) – Tucker is a tricky player to figure out. When he was with Houston he would log many minutes but had such low usage that some of his fantasy scores were atrociously low. However, it seems that Milwaukee has figured out how to use him during Game 4. Keep in mind that the Golden State Warriors wanted to trade for Tucker during their championship run but Houston refused. Tucker is no slouch when in the right situation. He is one of those guys that can do a lot of dirty work such as steals, blocks, and rebounds. Yesterday, we highlighted Nicolas Batum as a similar type of player and he didn’t disappoint.
For Brooklyn, the other player besides Durant who gets a usage bump when Irving and Harden are off the floor is James. Yes, James is a bench player and most playoff teams (Brooklyn included) are giving their starters 35+ minutes per game. If you do the math, there are 240 minutes available with Durant getting about 40 minutes and the other 4 starters somewhere close to 35 minutes each. There should be 60 minutes to split among the bench and Harden will probably have a minutes limit if he plays. James gets decent run off the bench so expect 20 – 25 minutes from him with an average 1 – 1.1 fantasy minutes per game. With his high multiplier and probably low ownership, you get some much needed differentiation to separate you from the pack.
Fade Consideration
Joe Harris (2.2x // 3.3x) – When 1 or 2 (or even 3) of the Nets superstars are out, Harris usually gets consideration since he will attempt a high number of field goals. Sadly Harris doesn’t do much else so if his shot is not falling, he will sink your DFS lineup. Harris has had a very poor postseason mainly due to the better competition he is facing. Plus if he doesn’t have Irving feeding him the ball while in open space, forget about it. Don’t underestimate the defense of Tucker and Khris Middleton. They are both having a great series and will continue to clamp down on the Nets perimeter shooters.
This article expresses the personal views of the writer and does not reflect the view(s) of SuperDraft in any way.
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