NBA team defensive efficiency is an advanced statistic that divides several offensive effort data points by the score of an opponent. The lower the number, the better the figure, and for Game 5 of the 2022 NBA Finals, Golden State's defensive efficiency finished at a miniscule .950. Over the last three finals games, their number has been only slightly higher, at 1.043, but should that affect your strategy when building NBA DFS lineups for Thursday night's Game 6?
Two things that inflate a team's defensive efficiency are offensive rebounds and free throw attempts allowed. Boston's Jaylen Brown is second on the Celtics in both categories during the finals, but after such a strong showing defensive effort by Golden State in Game 5, should you leave Brown in the NBA DFS player pool on Thursday? Brown finished with his second-lowest point total in the finals (18 points) on Monday and had three offensive rebounds but five turnovers. Before you make your NBA DFS picks for Celtics vs. Warriors Game 6, be sure to check out the NBA DFS advice, player rankings, stacks and top daily Fantasy basketball picks from SportsLine's Mike McClure.
McClure is a DFS professional with nearly $2 million in career winnings. He's also a predictive data engineer at SportsLine who uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every minute of every game 10,000 times, taking factors like matchups, statistical trends and injuries into account.
This allows him to find the best NBA DFS values and create optimal lineups that he shares only over at SportsLine. They're a must-see for any NBA DFS player.
In his Game 5 picks, McClure highlighted Celtics star Jayson Tatum as one of his top NBA DFS picks on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The result: Tatum scored a game-high 27 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out four assists to return 47.5 points on DraftKings and 41 points on FanDuel. Anybody that included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.
Now, McClure has turned his attention to the Warriors vs. Celtics Game 6 and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Thursday, June 16
For Game 6, Tatum is one of McClure's top NBA DFS picks once again. Through the first four games of the finals, Tatum averaged 22.3 points, 7.8 assists and seven rebounds. He should be looking forward to the series returning to Boston, as he averaged 24.5 points and drained 41.2 percent of his three-pointers in the two games played at home.
Tatum outproduced fellow scorer Brown in Game 5 by just two points, but his offensive usage rate was significantly higher, at 32.4 percent compared to Brown's 24.4 percent. Additionally, Tatum had the highest assist rate among all Celtics players at 27 percent. Nobody in the finals has played more minutes than Tatum, at 204, and with the title in the balance on Thursday night, he'll be looking to step up in a big way to push Boston.
Another part of McClure's optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Warriors swingman Andrew Wiggins. The former first overall draft pick had a career-best playoff performance when he scored 26 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and had a steal and a block to finish as the top player for NBA DFS lineups on both DraftKings and FanDuel in Game 5. For the finals, Wiggins has averaged 18.4 points and 9.4 rebounds with a steal and 1.2 blocks.
In road playoff games this postseason, Wiggins has averaged 15.8 points and 7.7 rebounds. Wiggins led all Warriors in minutes played in Game 5, at 42:32, and has played the most minutes in the finals for Golden State overall, at 192. Boston allowed the Warriors to score 50 points in the paint in Game 5, and Wiggins did most of his damage in and around the key in the first half and fourth quarter.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Thursday, June 16
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Thursday 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 here.
So who is DFS pro Mike McClure putting in his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Thursday? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NBA DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has almost $2 million in career winnings, and find out.
