NBA DFS Picks For Fanduel 5/18/21

I am back with another article! I decided to take the last two days of the NBA regular season off from DFS since there was too much randomness with many teams having nothing to play for. For the rest of the NBA playoffs, I plan to have an article everyday that there are games. For today, we have two play-in games with the Pacers taking on the Hornets, and the Wizards taking on the Celtics. Since there are only two games, just a few players difference could be the difference between taking down a tournament and not cashing at all. With there only being two games, I will be formatting this article a little differently as I will write up on the top play at each position instead of having a player pool like I usually do. I will add a brief piece on single game advice if you prefer to play that today as well. As I say everyday, the top plays and my lineup core can change with injury or rest news, so make sure to stay up to date. Let's dive into the breakdown of the NBA main slate on Fanduel today!

Reminder: If you would like the lineup that I will be using, RT the article post on twitter for at @SportsVerseHQ, DM @Excyphir, and follow them both. Since my lineups usually change with injury news, be sure to check DMs before lock in case of a change. I usually send my lineups out around 30 minutes to an hour prior to lock, so as long as you have followed the steps and DMed me, you will receive it.

Point Guard:

LaMelo Ball - $7,200:

Coming in at a slightly discounted price of $7,200 for this slate, LaMelo Ball is my favorite point guard option to play. This season, the Pacers have been one of the worst teams in defending against the point guard position, which is shown in the fact that they are in the bottom ten of the league in points allowed to the position. As of late, LaMelo hasn't played with the same consistency as he did earlier in the season, but a large part of that reasoning is due to the restricted minutes he has played in some games. In his last game, he was able to produce 40 FD points across 33 minutes. Given it is a play-in game, LaMelo Ball will see a high minutes total and should produce efficiently against the Pacers squad. Russell Westbrook is still good even though he is $13,000, but it is tough to get to him if you are playing Sabonis. Kemba Walker would be my other preferred option at the position.

Shooting Guard:

Marcus Smart - $5,700:

Unless you are entering multiple tournament lineups, I would recommend locking in Rozier and Smart as your two shooting guard plays. Like Ball, Smart has a somewhat discounted price from the usual $6,000 cost that we see for him. With Jaylen Brown being out indefinitely, Smart will be tasked with taking on a larger portion of the offensive load. He should see 30+ minutes with ease, and it shouldn't be hard for him to hit value at his price. Rozier could easily be substituted for this spot, but Smart is cheaper, and I didn't want too heavy of a Hornets loaded article.

Picture Attribution: Mark Pijanowski (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marcus_Smart_Celtics.jpg), „Marcus Smart Celtics“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode

Small Forward:

Miles Bridges - $6,800:

Small forward is not the best position on this small slate, but Miles Bridges is still a solid option. In his last two games back from injury, he has shown no signs of a slow down as he has played 39 and 34 minutes with FD scores of of 31 and 45. With the sheer amount of minutes that he will see, Bridges has both the highest floor and ceiling of any of the small forwards today in my eyes, although Fournier isn't too far behind. Brissett and Hachimura are the other reasonable options for me.

Power Forward:

Damontas Sabonis - $10,300:

The Pacers will be without Caris LeVert as he has entered the league's health and safety protocols, and Brogdon will only play in short stints if active today. Damontas Sabonis has produced insane numbers recently, and he will need to do so once again if the Pacers want any shot at winning. In these recent games, Sabonis has had FD performances of 55, 39, 52, 75, 70, and 52. There is no one on the Hornets who can stop Sabonis, and I fully expect him to eat. Tatum and McDaniels are my second and third options at the position, in no order.

Center:

Tristan Thompson - $4,400:

Robert Williams is the highest priced active center at $5,500 on today's slate, and he still carries a probable tag. If he were to start, I would prefer Williams to Thompson, but you have to keep in mind that he has missed the Celtics last four games. With no other real options, Tristan Thompson is the easy choice if he starts at a cheap cost of $4,400. His fantasy production hasn't been great, but he has played over 26 minutes in each of his last four games active. I will be playing either Williams or Thompson at center with my preferred option being whoever starts since the options are extremely slim. Zeller, Lopez, or Len could be long shot tourney plays, but I am not confident in any of their play times - they are risky.

Single Game Advice:

Most of the same logic that applies to the main slate also applies to the single game slates. However, it is easier to play Russell Westbrook in the single game, which is something that I will likely be doing. In the WAS-BOS single game, Westbrook, Tatum, Kemba, and Thompson are my top plays, and in the IND-CHA single game, Sabonis, Rozier, Ball, and McDaniels are my top plays.

If you would like the lineup that I will be using, RT the article post on twitter for at @SportsVerseHQ, DM @Excyphir, and follow them both. Since my lineups usually change with injury news, be sure to check DMs before lock in case of a change. Likewise, if you enjoy these articles, please follow @SportsVerseHQ and @Excyphir on twitter! Stay up to date there in case of potential news or changes. Good luck!