Announcements

1) Read about our Monkey Knife Fight Partnership and make sure you check out our MKF Plays of the Day!

2) Check out our blog where I'll be writing articles on the NBA playoffs and making HOT TAKES along the way.

3) We are hosting the Official Standings for the Clockwork Sports NBA Playoff Challenge on our website! Compete for a chance to win $25 cash, Clockwork sports VIP access for the NBA finals, or an NBA TopShot moment! Learn more here.

QUICK HITTERS (6/20)

- Today's main slate features 2 games. Nobody is on a back to back.

- As of this writing, the game with the highest over/under is LAC v PHO at 220 points. The game with the lowest over/under is PHI v ATL at 215 points.

PLAYOFF BLUEPRINT

Welcome to our brand new section for the NBA Playoffs! This section will provide you with a full breakdown (or 'blueprint') of both players and strategies we like for tonight's games. Our goal is for this section to replace our usual 'Need to Know' and 'Core Plays' sections, as there is typically much less injury news in the playoffs and we want to focus in more on matchups and lineup construction!

Tonight's Lineup Construction: 

This sub-section will briefly breakdown lineup construction strategies to consider for tonight's slate. Are there high tier must plays? Is there a ton of cheap value? Should you go Stars and Scrubs? Etc.

Both of these series’ are in completely opposite situations, obviously. WIth PHI and ATL, we basically know what the rotations, matchups, and gameplans are going to look like, which means there isn’t much unknown from a DFS sense. Of course you never know what’s going to happen, but we basically know who will play and how much they will play, as well as approximately what their offensive usage will look like. LAC vs. PHO, on the other hand, is completely up in the air. There are two things I think you should keep in mind about this game 1, though, both of which I wrote about extensively in my write ups. Firstly, CP3 isn’t playing, which will change things for the Suns lineup; Dbook and others will have to take more of a role in the offense, and Cam Payne will likely get the start, which is very important information. The other thing to keep in mind is how LAC’s rotation will change; they’re going to play 10 guys today (according to Ty Lue), and that means that the scoring and usage should be more balanced across the board.

Tier 1 ($8,000 +)

Each of the following tiers will provide our top 2-3 value plays (depending on how many games there are) of the night from within the specified price range. 

Note: We will be using DraftKings prices for the price-range classifications. This free newsletter will provide our second and third favorite play(s) from each tier! 

For our FULL PLAYOFF BLUEPRINT, which includes all our favorite plays from each tier, start your 1 week free trial of our AC Plus membership today!

2. Trae Young ($10,100 DK)

Trae Young has been absolutely lights out in this series, and I really think he’ll come to play in game 7. He’s been able to get into the paint with ease and has either made plays for himself or others with tons of consistency, so he’s definitely going to continue to do so tonight. Additionally, I almost think he gets a slight boost by playing in PHI, because he’s so special when he has a bunch of people booing him. He’s made for the big moment, and he’ll get to prove it tonight.

3. Joel Embiid ($10,900 DK)

Rather than discuss why I like Embiid tonight, I would like to talk about why I don’t like Paul George. PG just came off of a really tough 7 game series, and I definitely think he’ll play fewer minutes in game 1, because they’ll have to save him for the rest of the series/playoffs. Ty Lue said that he’s going to have a 10-man rotation today, so I think the scoring and minutes will be a lot more balanced across the board, making PG a dangerous play tonight, especially considering he’s the 2nd highest priced player on the slate.

Tier 2 ($5,000-$7,900)

2. Kevin Huerter ($5,200 DK)

Bogdan Bogdanovic is questionable today, which means Huerter would see a few more minutes if he sits. Even if Bogdan plays, his knee injury should hold him back from being as effective as he usually is, which means Huerter will probably get more minutes anyway, especially late in the game in important minutes. Huerter has had a coming out party in these playoffs, and I think he’ll be ready to play in game 7 tonight.

3. Mikal Bridges ($5,400 DK)

Without Chris Paul tonight, the Suns will have to find some other guys to make plays for their offense. I don’t think Jae Crowder will be able to get shots by himself, but I could see Bridges being able to create a little bit, both from the post and by driving closeouts, so I definitely like the boost he’ll get tonight. He’s been excellent in these playoffs, and he’s going to see tons of minutes tonight, so I definitely like the value he brings at the bottom of this mid-tier.

Tier 3 ($3,000-$4,900)

2. Terance Mann ($4,900 DK)

Obviously Mann isn’t going to do what he did in game 6 of the Jazz series, but he’s going to get the start tonight and should be the most confident he’s been in these entire playoffs. He should be a new player after his breakout performance last game, and I think that bodes really well for him returning value in this low-tier. Despite the fact that Ty Lue said he’s going to be playing a longer rotation tonight, I think that takes away minutes from guys like PG, Reggie Jackson, Batum, and Morris as opposed to a guy like Mann who’s young and energetic.

3. Dario Saric ($3,300 DK)

Despite the fact that I think Ayton will play super well while he’s in the game and will see far higher usage than normal, I could see him playing fewer minutes overall; he’s going to have to be running around the court guarding LAC’s small ball lineup, and that should tire him out quicker than usual. For this reason, I think the Suns could opt a bit earlier for Saric, who can guard multiple positions and stretch the floor.

TODAY'S PROJECTION TABLES