Reports of the Phoenix Suns demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated following the loss of Devin Booker to a hamstring injury. Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton each scored 28 points in Phoenix's Game 3 win to go up 2-1 against the Pelicans on Friday, and the Suns can put New Orleans on the ropes with another win on Sunday. Paul and Ayton are familiar names in the NBA DFS player pool, but without Booker in the lineup, are there less obvious options that could return top value on sites like DraftKings or FanDuel?
Surprisingly, JaVale McGee has been the model of efficiency over his last two games, and made 11-of-12 attempts from the field to average 12.5 points. Small forward Mikal Bridges has stepped up as well, averaging 18 points over Phoenix's last two games, with a steal and block in each. Before you make your NBA DFS picks for Sunday's playoff games, 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.
On Saturday, McClure listed Memphis swingman Desmond Bane in his NBA DFS player pool on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The result: In a Game 4 loss to Minnesota, Bane scored a game-high 34 points to go with four assists and a steal to return 47.5 points on DraftKings and 43.4 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 Sunday, April 24, NBA DFS slate and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Sunday, April 24
For Sunday, one of McClure's top NBA DFS picks is Hawks point guard Trae Young at $9,400 on DraftKings and $8,600 on FanDuel. After a miserable Game 1 against Miami, Young has been better over his last two, and led the Hawks to a crucial Game 3 win. On Friday, Young hit 42.9 percent of his shots and scored 24 points to go with a series-high eight assists, as well as four rebounds and a steal.
Young still took a couple of exceptionally long 3-point attempts on Friday, but overall, he was more judicious with them than in his first two starts, and made 2-of-6 in Game 3. He also missed a couple of shots at the rim in the first half, but had better success in the paint in the previous game. Young made 5-of-7 shots in the paint in Game 2, and should continue attacking the lane on Sunday.
Another part of McClure's optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Nuggets center Nikola Jokic ($11,600 on DraftKings and $11,400 on FanDuel). The Nuggets are playing for their postseason lives on Sunday against Golden State, but Jokic stepped up big in his last start. The reigning NBA MVP scored 37 points and had 18 rebounds with five assists and three steals in Denver's Game 3 loss.
By his own standards, Jokic hasn't been quite as dominant in elimination games relative to his normal level of production, but he's been reliable by daily Fantasy standards. Since 2020, he has averaged 24.6 points, 11.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists in eight such matchups. Jokic showed how motivated he was to lift the Nuggets in their last game, but Denver has its back against the wall on Sunday, and he'll certainly feel as though he needs to give another such effort with everything on the line in Game 4.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Sunday, April 24
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Sunday 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 Sunday? 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.
