ESPN’s fantasy basketball daily cheat sheet is your pregame destination before you set your lineups for that night’s games. Here you’ll read our best advice for the night, including a selection of players you can stream as well as game-by-game injury reports.
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Top streamers | Best bets | DFS picks | Odds & Injury report
What you need to know for Monday’s games
We’ve reached the final week of the NBA regular season. The finish line is in sight. Let’s work together to cross it at a sprint. There are five games on the schedule tonight, and four of them involve two teams that will be in the postseason. With only a handful of games left, some of the playoff seeds are firming up, while others are still very much up for grabs.
For example, the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic face off tonight. The Pistons have already clinched the top seed in the East, leading the second-place Boston Celtics by four games with four games left to play and with the Pistons having won the season series. On the other hand, the Magic are still only mathematically alive to finish anywhere from the fifth seed (three games back of the Atlanta Hawks) to the 10th seed (one game ahead of the Miami Heat), so they should be motivated even on the second half of a back-to-back.
The Hawks and New York Knicks will square off, with both teams still jockeying for position. The Knicks are unlikely to catch the Celtics for the second seed, sitting three games behind and without the tie-breaker with four games left, but they are only one game ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the battle for the third and fourth seeds. Meanwhile, the Hawks are starting to get pretty slotted in at the fifth seed, but they are two games ahead of the sixth and seventh seeds and three ahead of the ninth seed, so they can’t quite take their foot off the gas just yet.
In what has become a big game, the Denver Nuggets host the Portland Trail Blazers to finish the slate. The Nuggets have moved into a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the third seed, and with the Lakers missing both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for the rest of the regular season, the Nuggets are well-positioned to overtake them. However, they must still look over their shoulder with the fifth-seeded Rockets only a game back. The Trail Blazers are tied with the LA Clippers for the eighth and ninth seeds, with the eighth as the much more valuable spot since it guarantees at least two opportunities to play into the playoffs.
These and other storylines will be on display in the Association tonight. As always, let’s dig deeper and identify some fantasy streamers, betting angles and DFS plays of interest for this final Monday of the regular season.
Monday’s fantasy stream team
Cameron Johnson, SF/PF, Nuggets (rostered in 30.1% of ESPN leagues): Johnson is coming alive and finding his shot at the right time for a Nuggets team that is trying to power through the end of the season and make a playoff run. In the two games since the calendar flipped to April, Johnson has averaged 18 points and eight rebounds in 37 minutes per game.
Daniss Jenkins, PG, Pistons (39.0% rostered): Jenkins has been nails since taking over for the injured Cade Cunningham. In his last nine games, Jenkins has averaged 20.1 PPG and 8.0 APG to solidify himself as an every-game fantasy starter.
Dylan Harper, PG/SG, San Antonio Spurs (39.0% rostered): Harper has scored in double figures in eight straight games, and gets to play a larger role in games that become blowouts. The Spurs have blowout potential on Monday, at home against the Philadelphia 76ers, and Harper could get good run.
Dré’s favorite bets for Monday
Hawks money line (-120) over Knicks
The Knicks have been streaky in recent weeks. They bounced back from three straight blowout losses with two wins last week, but both wins were over lottery-bound teams. The Hawks, on the other hand, have been scorching with 18 wins in their last 20 games to move up to fifth in the standings. The Hawks are playing at home and are only a win or two away from clinching their playoff seeding. These teams have split the season series, with the Knicks winning the first matchup by three and the Hawks winning their most recent game in January by 12.
Nuggets -7.5 (-115) over Trail Blazers
Both teams enter this game motivated, with playoff seeding on the line, and both are on winning streaks. The Trail Blazers have won three games in a row, but the Nuggets are hitting their championship-contending stride with eight straight wins of their own. They are coming off a huge win over the Spurs on Saturday and have pulled even with the Lakers for the third seed in the West. Playing at home, I look for the Nuggets to overwhelm the Trail Blazers tonight.
Victor Wembanyama OVER 12.5 rebounds (-133)
Wembanyama has been a prop bet bonanza of late, putting up video game numbers on a nightly basis as he makes his last push for the MVP award. But his most consistent, dominant category has been rebounds. Wemby has at least 15 rebounds in six straight games, averaging 16.2 RPG over that span. You have to go all the way back to March 21 to find the last time Wemby didn’t go over 12.5 boards in a game.
Top Daily Fantasy values of the day
Play DFS basketball at DraftKings.
$8,100+ salaries
Victor Wembanyama, C, Spurs ($11,500): Wembanyama has more than lived up to his lofty price tag of late. He has at least 76 fantasy points in three straight games and is coming off an 81-fantasy-point performance against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets on Saturday.
$6,100-$8,000 salaries
Paul George, SF, 76ers ($8,000): George has been hot since returning from his long suspension; he has 48 or more fantasy points in four of his six games back.
Daniss Jenkins, PG, Pistons ($7,300): Jenkins has at least 44 fantasy points in both of his April games, including 48 in his last outing on Saturday.
$3,500-$6,000 salaries
Walter Clayton Jr., PG, Memphis Grizzlies ($4,400): Clayton is getting major run for the Grizzlies down the stretch and may be in for an even bigger role Monday with Cam Spencer questionable. Clayton is coming off a 30-point, four-assist performance in his last outing.
Projections and Injury Reports
Basketball Power Index by ESPN Analytics. Injury aggregation by Rotowire.com. Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook
New York Knicks at Atlanta Hawks
7 p.m. ET on Peacock
Line: Knicks +1.5 (-110) | Hawks -1.5 (-110)
Money line: Knicks -100 | Hawks -120
Total: 228.5 (-115 O, -105 U)
BPI Projection: Knicks by 2.2, straight up 57%, 231.0 total points.
Injury Report:
Knicks: None reported
Hawks: Jock Landale, (OUT – Ankle)
Detroit Pistons at Orlando Magic
7 p.m. ET
Line: Pistons -2.5 (-115) | Magic +2.5 (-105)
Money line: Pistons -155 | Magic +130
Total: 225.5 (-105 O, -115 U)
BPI Projection: Pistons by 6.8, straight up 70%, 227.4 total points.
Injury Report:
Pistons: Duncan Robinson, (GTD – Hip); Tobias Harris, (GTD – Knee); Isaiah Stewart, (OUT – Calf); Cade Cunningham, (OUT – Chest)
Magic: Anthony Black, (GTD – Abdomen); Jett Howard, (GTD – Ankle); Jonathan Isaac, (GTD – Knee)
Cleveland Cavaliers at Memphis Grizzlies
8 p.m. ET
Line: Cavaliers -14.5 (-112) | Grizzlies +14.5 (-108)
Money line: Cavaliers -1450 | Grizzlies +850
Total: 235.5 (-115 O, -105 U)
BPI Projection: Cavaliers by 10.1, straight up 78%, 241.1 total points.
Injury Report:
Cavaliers: Jaylon Tyson, (GTD – Toe); Sam Merrill, (GTD – Hamstring)
Grizzlies: Cam Spencer, (GTD – Back); Cedric Coward, (GTD – Back); GG Jackson, (GTD – Knee); Jahmai Mashack, (GTD – Concussion); Javon Small, (GTD – Thigh); Ty Jerome, (GTD – Ankle); Brandon Clarke, (OFS – Calf); Ja Morant, (OFS – Elbow); Jaylen Wells, (OFS – Toe); Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, (OFS – Finger)
Philadelphia 76ers at San Antonio Spurs
8 p.m. ET
Line: 76ers +8.5 (-108) | Spurs -8.5 (-112)
Money line: 76ers +295 | Spurs -375
Total: 237.5 (-105 O, -115 U)
BPI Projection: Spurs by 9.9, straight up 78%, 236.1 total points.
Injury Report:
76ers: Johni Broome, (OUT – Knee); Cameron Payne, (OUT – Hamstring)
Spurs: Emanuel Miller, (GTD – Undisclosed); David Jones Garcia, (OFS – Ankle)
Portland Trail Blazers at Denver Nuggets
9 p.m. ET
Line: Blazers +7.5 (-105) | Nuggets -7.5 (-115)
Money line: Blazers +270 | Nuggets -340
Total: 238.5 (-105 O, -115 U)
BPI Projection: Nuggets by 5.9, straight up 68%, 238.5 total points.
Injury Report:
Blazers: Shaedon Sharpe, (GTD – Calf); Jerami Grant, (OUT – Calf); Vit Krejci, (OUT – Calf); Damian Lillard, (OFS – Achilles)
Nuggets: Bruce Brown, (GTD – Ankle); Zeke Nnaji, (GTD – Hip); Spencer Jones, (OUT – Hamstring); Peyton Watson, (OUT – Hamstring)
