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 to consider for DFS, best bets, as well as game-by-game injury reports.
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Best bets | DFS picks | Odds & injury report
What you need to know for Sunday’s games
A quartet of playoff games opens with an NBA record 23rd playoff series between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics, tipping at 1 p.m. ET on ABC.
The 76ers enter Game 1 without Joel Embiid, facing the league’s best defense since the start of February and the second-rated offense for the entire season. Good luck. That said, Tyrese Maxey is the only player averaging at least 30 points against the Celtics this year. The counter is Philly lives in isolation, while the Celtics are built to collapse and interrupt predictable actions. The 76ers’ perimeter scorers will need to put on a show to make this game — and series — competitive.
The gritty, overachieving Phoenix Suns face the seemingly indomitable Oklahoma City Thunder at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Under Mark Daigneault, the Thunder are 8-0 in first-round games with an historic average margin of victory of nearly 18 points. Even with Mark Williams on the mend, it’s telling that Phoenix ranks 29th in paint points, allowing the Thunder to focus defensively on the Suns’ perimeter scorers. The thematic question is whether the Suns can escape the broom.
In a matchup that tips at 6:30 p.m. ET, the Detroit Pistons host the Orlando Magic. If the regular season is a roadmap for this series, it’s telling that the Magic averaged 35.5 free-throw attempts in their regular-season matchups with Detroit. This feels like a physical, foul-heavy series where the home court gets an amplified whistle.
The Portland Trail Blazers are in Texas to face the San Antonio Spurs at 9 p.m. ET in the final game of the slate. The Spurs have become a real threat in recent months, going 24-3 since the All-Star break with the best record among starting fives in the conference. This game’s total is the highest of the day, which adds up given how explosive this San Antonio offense has been down the stretch. Does Portland have any answers for Victor Wembanyama on either side of the floor? How about the Spurs’ relentlessly downhill guards? The offensive optimism in this game helps create interest for props and DFS purposes.
With an eye toward uncovering productive streamers and compelling betting angles, let’s take a look at the day ahead.
McCormick’s bets for Sunday
Tyrese Maxey OVER 2.5 3-pointers made (-132)
Yes, the Celtics have waves of guards and wings to throw at Maxey in switches. Unlike most humans, Maxey can press the turbo button and simply move past such concerns. But really, his step-back precision and ability to punish any pauses in navigating screens feeds into the potential for a big debut from deep for this dynamic scoring threat.
Jalen Green OVER 2.5 3-pointers made (+140)
Oklahoma City’s scheme is built to take away pick-and-roll advantages and isolation, conceding corner 3-pointers by design. To this end, the Thunder surrendered corner 3s at the highest volume in the league this season. Green, meanwhile, is a 43% shooter from the corners. There’s an invitation to shoot if Green wants to accept.
Victor Wembanyama OVER 3.5 blocks (+104)
It’s an optimistic trio of overs today for me. Deni Avdija leads the league in drives per game. Portland generates the highest rate of second-chance points in the league, which means more shots in the restricted area and more opportunities to protect the rim for Wemby. With expanded playing time in the playoffs, we can only imagine the swat production Wembanyama will unleash in the coming weeks.
Top Daily Fantasy Values of the Day
$8,100+ salaries
Jayson Tatum, PF, Celtics ($9,300): Wembanyama feels like the chalk play in building lineups today, so it’s more helpful to discuss pivots from the superstar tier. Tatum, somehow, is already back to compiling dominant box scores. Regularly cruising past 50 DraftKings points in recent regular-season outings, including a 73.5-point opus against the Miami Heat, Tatum has proven he’s back to elite production. The 76ers, meanwhile, will struggle to close out on Tatum and the Celtics’ waves of shooters.
$6,100-$8,000 salaries
Chet Holmgren, C, Thunder ($7,300): The Suns are likely starting Mark Williams today, but it’s unclear how many minutes and how effective he’ll be returning from injury. Williams also has a history of foul trouble and isn’t even likely to match up with Holmgren when the Thunder go big. That said, Holmgren could feast as a help defender and rebounder against an otherwise undersized Suns rotation.
$3,500-$6,000 salaries
Royce O’Neale, PF, Suns ($4,000): There simply aren’t many players near the pricing floor with viable paths to 30 or more fantasy points. The Suns rely on O’Neale as a connective glue player on both sides of the floor, which means plenty of minutes. Given his ability to produce in several categories, O’Neale doesn’t even need to score much to deliver a helpful line.
Projections and injury reports
Basketball Power Index by ESPN Analytics. Injury aggregation by Rotowire.com. Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook
Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics
1 p.m. ET on ABC
Line: 76ers +12.5 (-102) | Celtics -12.5 (-118)
Money line: 76ers +550 | Celtics -800
Total: 214.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Celtics by 9.8, straight up 78%, 212.8 total points.
Injury Report:
76ers: Joel Embiid, (OUT – Appendectomy)
Celtics: None reported
Phoenix Suns at Oklahoma City Thunder
3:30 p.m. ET on ABC
Line: Suns +14.5 (-105) | Thunder -14.5 (-115)
Money line: Suns +700 | Thunder -1100
Total: 215.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Thunder by 12.8, straight up 84%, 212.9 total points.
Injury Report:
Suns: None reported
Thunder: Thomas Sorber, (OFS – Knee)
Orlando Magic at Detroit Pistons
6:30 p.m. ET on NBC
Line: Magic -105 (–) | Pistons ()
Money line: Magic +(60-22) | Pistons 0
Total: 95 (Detroit Pistons O, 9:00 PMOpenSpreadTotalML U)
BPI Projection: Pistons by 9.8, straight up 78%, 218.8 total points.
Injury Report:
Magic: Jonathan Isaac, (GTD – Knee)
Pistons: None reported
Portland Trail Blazers at San Antonio Spurs
9 p.m. ET on NBC
Line: Blazers () | Spurs ()
Money line: Blazers 0 | Spurs 0
Total: ( O, U)
BPI Projection: Spurs by 11.8, straight up 82%, 221.8 total points.
Injury Report:
Blazers: Damian Lillard, (OFS – Achilles)
Spurs: David Jones Garcia, (OFS – Ankle)
