Yahoo DFS Picks: Building Blocks for Game 3 of the NBA Finals

Sunday, July 11, brings a venue change with Game 3 of the NBA Finals taking place in Milwaukee. Let’s look at the Bucks vs. Suns player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. Do not forget to head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS home page for more great written daily fantasy basketball content, including the FREE NBA Deep Dive — the most in-depth article in the industry.

**Awesemo’s MLB DFS experts have created a new NBA Player Props Tool that can help when making NBA DFS picks and offer some action down in the sports betting market. **

NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Sunday, July 11

Yahoo Play of the Day — Chris Paul: Phoenix Suns at Milwaukee Bucks

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 45.52 | DraftKings: 46.85

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 60.5% | FanDuel 44.3% | DraftKings 53.7%

• DFS Salary: Yahoo $34 | FanDuel $15,000 | DraftKings $9,800

What Chris Paul is doing from the field is completely unsustainable. In his last three games, he has converted on 38 of 63 (60.3%) field-goal attempts, which includes splashing 14 of 20 (70.0%) from behind the arc. In Game 2 Paul had an uncharacteristic six turnovers, which cut into his fantasy total. Keep in mind in the preceding three games he had four total, and in the postseason he has 30 in 16 games.

The safety is what makes Paul attractive and a core NBA DFS pick on Sunday. He should be in line for 38 to 40 minutes, 20 field-goal attempts, 8 to 10 assists, a couple of rebounds and a steal or two. This is still a solid foundation, even if his shooting touch comes back to his normal postseason rates.

Giannis Antetokounmpo: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Phoenix Suns

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 58.92 | DraftKings: 61.69

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 85.5%| FanDuel 78.5% | DraftKings 79.3%

• DFS Salary: Yahoo $55 | FanDuel $16,000 | DraftKings $11,800

There was marked improvement in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s mobility on Thursday, and with another 72 hours off, he should be closer to 90% health. It has been just shy of two weeks since he hyperextended his knee, and while he has not made many lateral moves, his recovery has been remarkable. In Game 2 Giannis tallied 42 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a steal in one of the finest performances of his career. However, the Bucks still lost by 10. He should see another 40 minutes as Milwaukee gets its first home game of the series.

Brook Lopez: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Phoenix Suns

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 22.46 | DraftKings: 22.1

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 35.5% | FanDuel 24.1% | DraftKings 24.6%

• DFS Salary: Yahoo $21 | FanDuel $11,000 | DraftKings $6,600

The one viable wild card that could shake things up for Milwaukee is Brook Lopez seeing more minutes. P.J. Tucker is not providing any upside with his defense, as the Suns do not have an offensive threat at forward. Tucker is not big enough to hamper Deandre Ayton, and he is no longer quick enough to disrupt Paul and Devin Booker when they have the ball.

Lopez is an upgrade in the paint on defense and an excellent scorer at all three levels, particularly in halfcourt sets. Tucker can be replaced by a combination of Pat Connaughton and Bobby Portis, or even Bryn Forbes, in order to get more offense to space the court for Giannis and Jrue Holiday on drives. Of course, any change is predicated on coach Mike Budenholzer getting out of his archaic comfort zone, which he is loath to do so.

Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies

Milwaukee Bucks

1. Pat Connaughton, $10: In Game 2 Connaughton played 10 more minutes than the rest of the Milwaukee bench combined. He has the appropriate blend of offense and plays a modicum of defense, which has him ahead of Bobby Portis. The biggest variable in Game 3 could be more minutes for Lopez, which should not impact Connaughton. This is not a flashy pick, but he should chip in enough to flirt with 20 fantasy points Sunday night.

2. P.J. Tucker, $11: Tucker’s minutes could be curbed tonight. He does nothing to dissuade Ayton on the block when he switches onto him, and it is clear that he is not able to stay in front of Paul and Booker with the constant switching and ball movement. Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder and Cameron Johnson are not score-first forwards, so outside of being an undersized rebounder, there is not much that Tucker is bringing to the table. That said, Tucker will probably be on the court for 30 to 34 minutes once again, and 10 to 15 Yahoo points would be the likely outcome.

3. Bobby Portis, $11: The tricky part with Portis is that he may only get minutes backing up Lopez, as it seems Connaughton is going to be the key reserve getting minutes. If something breaks his way, Portis can rack up the fantasy points quickly, but it is hard to do that from the sideline.

Phoenix Suns

1. Cameron Johnson, $10: Torrey Craig is likely going to be out after suffering a bruised knee on Thursday. Even if he plays, it is clear that Johnson is ahead of him in the pecking order. Still, at the Yahoo minimum salary, Johnson is a tremendous bargain option who frees up salary cap.

2. Cameron Payne, $13: In Game 2 Payne played just under 10 minutes, which is his lowest court time in the last five games. That is likely the floor, but the ceiling will likely remain untapped unless something befalls Paul or there is significant mop-up duty.

3. Frank Kaminsky and Abdel Nader, $10: Even without Dario Saric, this duo played a combined 100 seconds in Game 2. Unless there is foul trouble for Ayton, it would be a surprise if there are more than a handful of minutes given to the frontcourt reserves.

Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Sunday, July 11 Slate

There are some massive prize pools tonight, but these tournaments are teeming with entries. Keep in mind that the smaller-field contests can be lucrative and have far fewer lineup duplications. In the smaller-field contests it is surprising how many gamers are not locking in Antetokounmpo and Paul in their multiplier slots and letting the others make mistakes.

The post NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks for Sunday, July 11th | Chris Paul appeared first on Awesemo.com.