This article is part of our DraftKings NBA series.
Slate Overview
Celtics at Warriors (-4) (o/u 215.5)
We have a nearly identical line to Game 1 with the total jumping around three points. We saw scoring well outpace the total in the opening matchup, thanks in large part to the Celtics shooting 51.2 percent from three-point range. The Warriors have talked about receiving a wake-up call after blowing a large fourth-quarter lead, so expect the defense to be a bit tighter this time around.
As has been the case for a few weeks, the showdown format is the primary way to play on DK. Most readers are likely familiar with the format, but as a quick refresh, the player in the Captain slot gets 1.5X points but is also valued at an increased rate. There are no positional designations as in traditional contests; instead, the Captain slot is paired with five UTIL roster spots.
Injuries to Monitor
BOS: Robert Williams (knee) - Questionable
Williams will likely remain on the injury report as he manages knee soreness. However, he has played in six consecutive games so he should play unless he suffers a drastic setback.
GSW: Gary Payton (elbow), Andre Iguodala (neck), Otto Porter (foot) - Questionable
Expect both Iguodala and Porter to go. The true question comes with Payton, who was medically cleared to play in Game 1 but didn't see the floor. Reports have suggested he'll see minutes in Game 2, though it's not clear how significant of a role it would be.
Captain
Stephen Curry ($15,900) and Jayson Tatum ($15,600) are the obvious players to build around. Despite shooting 3-for-17 from the field on Thursday, Tatum still managed 40.8 DK points, so his floor is apparent. Meanwhile, Curry has been absolutely on fire from three-point range having converted 50 percent or more of his triples in three of his last four games. Of this duo, I'd slightly prefer Curry because the Warriors are so reliant on him to power their offense. Needless to say, Tatum has a huge hand in the Boston offense, but they offer a more well-rounded group of scoring options behind him.
For those looking to pay down, I'd skip past the second-tier option for both teams and look to the trio of Marcus Smart ($12,000), Al Horford ($11,400), and Andrew Wiggins ($10,800). Horford is likely to get a lot of attention after his huge Game 1 performance where he shot 9-for-12 from the field. If/when he loses that efficiency, he can make up ground through peripheral stats. However, due to Horford's projected roster rate, I'd build differently in tournament contests. Smart logged only 30 minutes in the opening matchup, well below his typical postseason workload. His salary dipped ever so slightly, so there's no real buy-low opportunity, but his volume could tick up a bit. Wiggins is incredibly steady and represents the value Captain option. He's a great player to build in cash games and is a way to save salary for different styles of lineup construction in tournaments.
Derrick White ($8,100) is the "punt play" option, and he's actually quite a good one. He'll likely be extremely popular for those who don't want to go for Curry or Tatum, but his salary curiously hasn't risen despite reaching 30 minutes and more than 25 DK points in four of the team's last five games.
Utility
As always, the realistic Utility options will come down to who is selected as Captain. With either Curry or Tatum, there's roughly $6,800 left to build per roster spot, but that number jumps up $1,000 when plugging in Wiggins. With White, that mark is $8,380.
Most of the options mentioned already can be used in combination to fill out the roster, but there are a few punt plays worth highlighting. Iguodala will play limited minutes, but they are likely to be effective. At a salary point of only $1,400, he's a value. More risky is Payton, because we have no true indication what his role will be. Given he checks in $400 higher than Iguodala, he's a way more volatile option.
There are two other primary choices I'd consider. Assuming Porter ($4,600) suits up, he provides a strong floor of around 20 DK points. That's fine for cash formats, but I'd look for more upside in tournaments. That can be found in Kevon Looney ($6,800), though he played only 25 minutes in the opener and needed three blocks to reach 27.5 DK points.
