The 2024 NBA playoffs began with all eight home teams holding serve. Role players typically play better at home, as the likes of Miles McBride, Josh Hart and Aaron Gordon had solid Game 1 performances, rewarding any daily Fantasy basketball players who rostered them in NBA DFS lineups. Undervalued options like these could again be ones to target for Monday's NBA DFS strategy before their respective series shift to a new location, and rostering them would then allow you splurge on high-end options in the NBA DFS player pool like Jalen Brunson and Nikola Jokic.
McBride is particularly intriguing as his 21 points in Game 1 on Saturday came after he had scored a total of three points over his previous eight postseason games. He averaged 15.2 points over the last month of the regular season, so his Game 1 form seems more akin to that stretch than his previous postseason experiences. Should he find a way into Monday's NBA DFS lineups? Before making your NBA DFS picks, 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 more than $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 Wednesday (when McClure last made picks), McClure highlighted Hawks guard Dejounte Murray as one of his top picks in his NBA DFS player pool on both sites. The result: Murray had 30 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals, returning 52.75 points on DraftKings and 52.4 points on FanDuel. Anybody who included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.
McClure has turned his attention to NBA action on Monday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Monday, April 22
For Monday, one of McClure's top NBA DFS picks is rostering Lakers forward LeBron James who is listed at $9,400 on DraftKings and $10,300 on FanDuel. The all-time leading scorer in both regular season and postseason history added to his total for the latter with 27 points in Game 1 versus Denver. Despite the Nuggets' domination of the Lakers in the postseason recently, the four-time MVP has always shown up. Over his last five playoff games against Denver, James is averaging 27.6 points to go along with 8.8 rebounds and 9.6 assists.
Maybe just as important as the stats James put up in Game 1 is the fact that he logged nearly 41 minutes. Darvin Ham knows that Los Angeles' best chance of staying competitive is keeping James on the court as much as possible, which provides more opportunities to rack up NBA DFS points. In the seven regular season games in which James played at least 40 minutes, he averaged 30.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 2.1 steals.
Another part of McClure's optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering 76ers guard Kyle Lowry ($4,400 on DraftKings and $4,700 on FanDuel). The veteran came up huge in Philly's Game 1 loss to the Knicks as he poured in 18 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. It was Lowry's second-most points in a Sixers uniform and his most points in a playoff game since the NBA Bubble in 2020.
The 38-year-old logged 39 minutes in Game 1, which was his most all season, counting both his time in Philadelphia and in Miami. Speaking of Miami, Lowry also played the Knicks in last season's playoffs while with the Heat, and had four double-digit outings during the six-game series. Lowry is averaging 13 points, 5.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks against the Knicks over the last two postseasons which are increases across the board over his regular-season averages over the last two years. See McClure's other NBA DFS picks right here.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Monday, April 22
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Monday 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.
Who is DFS pro Mike McClure putting in his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Monday? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NBA DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has over $2 million in career winnings, and find out.
