The NBA's version of the final four has arrived with the conference finals beginning on Tuesday, May 21. The No. 1 seed Boston Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, will host the No. 6 seed Indiana Pacers, featuring Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam at 8 p.m. ET. Both duos are appealing NBA DFS stacks for daily Fantasy basketball lineups, but you can't just load up with stars from the NBA DFS player pool. So, what low-cost but potentially high-reward options are available for Pacers vs. Celtics?
Both squads have backup point guards who have made impacts in the 2024 NBA playoffs, starting with Boston's Payton Pritchard. He's scored in double-figures in four of the last five games while knocking down 50% of his 3-pointers over that stretch. Another consideration for your NBA DFS strategy could be Indiana's T.J. McConnell, who is averaging 12.9 points, 6.4 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals over his last eight postseason contests. Before making your NBA DFS picks for Celtics vs. Pacers, be sure to check out the NBA DFS advice, player rankings, stacks, and top daily Fantasy basketball picks from SportsLine's Jimmie Kaylor.
Kaylor is a DFS and betting expert for SportsLine, who won a DraftKings Millionaire Maker contest in 2022. He uses a combination of his background as a former college and professional athlete and his keen eye for statistical trends when making his picks and locking in his DFS lineups. Kaylor enters the 2024 calendar year with multiple five-figure tournament cashes on his DFS resume.
Kaylor's approach allows him to find the best NBA DFS values and create optimal lineups that he only shares on SportsLine. They're a must-see for any NBA DFS player.
On Friday (when he last made picks), Kaylor highlighted Knicks guard Miles McBride as one of his top picks in his NBA DFS player pool on both sites. The result: McBride had 20 points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal, returning 26.5 points on DraftKings and 23.9 points on FanDuel. Anybody who included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.
Kaylor has turned his attention to NBA action on Tuesday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Tuesday, May 21
For Tuesday, one of Kaylor's top NBA DFS picks is Celtics forward Tatum. Even though his shot has been a little off during the 2024 NBA playoffs, Tatum is doing enough elsewhere on the court to make him a must-start for NBA DFS lineups. He's averaging 24.3 points in the postseason, while his 10.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists are both increases over his regular season averages. The five-time All-Star enters Game 1 with a three-game double-double streak, matching his season-long during the regular season.
Tatum feasted on the Pacers this season, scoring at least 30 points all four times he faced them. Overall, he averaged 32.5 points, 11 rebounds and 5.8 assists against Indiana, making it just one of two teams he averaged 30-10-5 against. Coming off five days of rest, one can also expect Boston to use Tatum liberally as he averaged 37.5 minutes with three-plus days of rest in the regular season, which was more minutes than any other rest period. More court time means more opportunities to rack up NBA daily Fantasy stats versus the league's No. 27 scoring defense.
Another part of Kaylor's optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Pacers center Myles Turner. The 28-year-old is coming off back-to-back games with 17 points, and he also totaled 13 rebounds, six blocks and four assists over those contests. Turner has also been highly efficient and shot at least 50% from the field in six of the seven games in the series against the Knicks' No. 2 scoring defense.
Boston remains without Kristaps Porzingis (calf), and Turner faced the Celtics once in the regular season without Porzingis. He took advantage of Boston's lack of size with a 17-point, 10-rebound outing, compared to averaging 13.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in four games against the Celtics with Porzingis. Additionally, Boston is coming off a game in which it allowed Evan Mobley -- who was filling in at center for the injured Jarrett Allen -- to go off with 33 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal. Thus, defending the center position is a current weak point for the Celtics. See Kaylor's other NBA DFS picks right here.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Tuesday, May 21
Kaylor is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Tuesday because of a dream matchup. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is, and get the rest of Kaylor's picks, here.
Who is DFS pro Jimmie Kaylor putting in his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Tuesday? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NBA DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has a Millionaire Maker win on his resume, and find out.
