Captain: Brunson, Haliburton, Bridges, Robinson (value)
Flex: Towns, Siakam, Hart (dart throw), Anunoby, Turner, Nesmith, Nembhard, Mathurin, Toppin, McConnell, McBride, Payne (punt)
After taking a commanding 2-0 lead, the Indiana Pacer looks to put a dagger in this series by winning Game 3 at home to make their lead insurmountable. Let’s dive into the breakdown!
We will start with the hosts in the Indiana Pacers who are led by Tyrese Haliburton who is finally getting respect in terms of ownership. He has scored 47 and 57 fantasy points in his first two games which gives him a 52 FP average. We would rather play him in this spot considering he shot poorly last game and still put up a decent score. A mini stand we want to take in this game is fading Myles Turner who projects for the most ownership on the Pacers on DK. He has failed to top 28 FP in the first two games and it seems like Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson have been giving him slight problems. Pascal Siakam is a solid option on this slate because we finally saw a ceiling game from him where he posted 52.8 FP. The Knicks had no answer for him and he took advantage of every defensive matchup the Knicks threw at him. That is more like the Siakam we are used to and if he can come close to the way he played against Milwaukee and yesterday, then lock him in. Another player we are fine fading is Andrew Nembhard who has failed to top 26 FP so far. The reason we are fading is because the ceiling hasn’t been there and he has shot very efficiently which is never a good combination. A bad shooting night might see him post a score in the teens and we don’t want that. Aaron Nesmith is the player we’d want instead for cheaper who has posted over 26 FP in both games. In terms of value, we have Obi Toppin, TJ McConnell, and Bennedict Mathurin. Obi Toppin is the optimal value piece who has displayed a ceiling and could be utilized more if the Knicks opt to go away from Hart. The other two guys are GPP pieces because McConnell has averaged 17.7 FP and Mathurin has had two ugly games.
Now we move on to the New York Knicks who are led by Jalen Brunson. He carries the 2nd most ownership on New York and rightfully so as no one in the playoffs has yet to find an answer to stop him from scoring. He has a healthy amount of field goal attempts (52) and scored over 36 real points in both games. The floor is as safe as it can get and we love the upside to make him the optimal captain option. Next up is Mikal Bridges who leads the New York squad in ownership on DK. He has scored at least 35 FP in both games and has slightly left a bit to be desired from the field going 17-32. He has played an insane 91 minutes so this is the kind of guy we want to roster because he never leaves the floor. The same can be said for OG Anunoby is due for positive shooting regression from beyond the arc. He has gone 4-14 (28%) and he’s a 37.3% shooter from beyond the arc on the season. He is slightly cheaper than Bridges so he makes for the pivot from Bridges if looking to get off that ownership. Now we got the two big men in Mitchell Robinson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns is a total wild card because we have seen a 60 FP outing and a 29 FP one. With the Pacers allowing 21.7 PPG and 15.7 RPG, we still like using him in GPPs. Robinson is by far the best value on the slate especially if he gets more playing time. He has scored 23.3 and 17.5 fantasy points which is the best 2 game span from all the values in his range. Likely will get better especially if he starts. Josh Hart is the only fade for us here, he has been the worst player on this team and is only worth a dart throw in GPPs hoping a potential bench role helps him score well. Miles McBride has played at least 25 minutes in both games which makes him viable as a value option. Lastly, Cam Payne is the optimal punt piece who has played at least 9 minutes in both games.