ESPN's fantasy basketball daily cheat sheet is your pregame destination before you set your lineups for that night's games. Here you'll read our best advice for the night, including a selection of players you can stream as well as game-by-game injury reports.
What you need to know for Monday's games
The NBA playoffs are up and running after a big opening weekend that saw the Eastern Conference's top-seeded Detroit Pistons lose a home game. The action continues on Monday, where three road teams will try to replicate Orlando's upset victory and steal home court advantage.
The Toronto Raptors are the highest-seeded road team playing tonight, as the fifth seed against the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. But, the Raptors really struggled in Game 1, getting blown out in a 13-point loss that really wasn't that close. Can the Cavaliers keep the pressure on tonight, or will the Raptors bounce back and make this a series?
The third-seeded New York Knicks also won by double digits in Game 1, but in a much more competitive contest over the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks were one of the hotter teams in the NBA down the stretch of the season so this projected as one of the more interesting first round matchups. Plus, there's some historic bad blood between the two franchises, and the Knicks fans were still chanting against Trae Young on Saturday even though he's no longer on the team. Add in the kicking incident between CJ McCollum and Jalen Brunson, and there should be more high-intensity action forthcoming in this series.
Finally, the Minnesota Timberwolves get another chance at the Denver Nuggets. The Timberwolves jumped out to a double-digit lead after one quarter on the road on Saturday, but Denver walked them down and won convincingly late. Can the Timberwolves, the only team in the NBA to play in both of the last two conference finals, bounce back and give the Nuggets a real go in this series?
These storylines will play out with a bevy of moving parts and performances that will be of interest to the betting and DFS community. Let's dig a bit deeper and identify some angles and players of interest for tonight's action.
Dre's Bets for Monday
Donovan Mitchell OVER 27.5 points (-112): It's the playoffs, so it's time for the Spida to come out to play. Mitchell is one of the few players in the NBA whose scoring average increases significantly in the playoffs compared to the regular season. In the last two seasons, Mitchell average 25.1 PPG in the regular season but 29.6 PPG in the playoffs. This season he upped his regular season scoring average to 27.9 PPG, so it wasn't unexpected for him to drop 32 points in Game 1 of the playoffs. Overall, Mitchell has scored 31 or more points in three straight games going back to the regular season.
CJ McCollum OVER 18.5 points (-103): McCollum has quietly developed into one of the primary go-to scorers for the Hawks down the stretch. He averaged 20.0 PPG in 29.8 MPG over the last 16 games of the season and has dropped 25 or more in three of his last five games including Game 1. McCollum also had a strong reaction to the technical foul called on him for kicking Brunson on a fadeaway jumper, accusing Brunson of acting to get the penalty in a post-game press conference. So, it would seem that McCollum should remain locked in for Game 2 of the series.
Jamal Murray to score 25+ points (-153): Murray is another player who steps up his scoring in the playoffs with a scoring average almost five points higher in the postseason. He also matches up very well against these Timberwolves. After averaging 31.5 PPG in four regular season matchups against the Timberwolves, he dropped another 30 on them in Game 1.
Top Daily Fantasy Values of the Day
$8,100+ Salaries
Nikola Jokic, C, Denver Nuggets ($12,400): Jokic is by-far the highest priced player on the board on Monday but he also has by-far the highest fantasy scoring expectation on the night. He averaged 65.2 FP/G on the season and is fresh off dropping 62.8 FP in Game 1.
Donovan Mitchell, SG, Cleveland Cavaliers ($8,700): "Playoffs Mitchell" is in the house, and he is known to produce his best numbers in the second season. After averaging 44.8 FP/G on the season, Mitchell dropped 45.8 FP in only 31 minutes of a relative blowout in Game 1.
Jamal Murray, PG, Denver Nuggets ($8,600): Murray historically does his thing in the playoffs, and this season has been big in five games against the Timberwolves. He has a good chance to outperform his 44.2 FP/G regular season scoring average.
$6,100-$8,000 Salaries
Brandon Ingram, SF, Toronto Raptors ($6,900): Ingram had a down Game 1 after the Cavaliers modified their defense to make it difficulty for him to get touches. He managed only nine field goal attempts in the opener, and spoke after the game on the Raptors needing to make adjustments to get him more looks in Game 2. I look for the team to emphasize him getting more shots and more opportunity to produce on Monday.
$3,500-$6,000 Salaries
CJ McCollum, SG, Atlanta Hawks ($5,900): McCollum is a primary scorer for the Hawks who is priced like a secondary player in DraftKings. He has notched 30 or more fantasy points in five straight games, including three games over 38 fantasy points in that stretch.
Jaden McDaniels, PF, Minnesota Timberwolves ($5,400): McDaniels came out firing with double digits scoring in the first quarter of Game 1 and will likely look to stay aggressive in Game 2. McDaniels has at least 29 fantasy points in seven of his last eight games overall.
Projections and Injury Reports
Basketball Power Index by ESPN Analytics. Injury aggregation by Rotowire.com. Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook
Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers
7 p.m. ET
Line: Raptors +9.5 (-110) | Cavaliers -9.5 (-110)
Money line: Raptors +310 | Cavaliers -395
Total: 222.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Cavaliers by 4.4, straight up 64%, 221.8 total points.
Injury Report:
Raptors: Chucky Hepburn, (OFS - Knee)
Cavaliers: Thomas Bryant, (OUT - Calf)
Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks
8 p.m. ET
Line: Hawks +6.5 (-112) | Knicks -6.5 (-108)
Money line: Hawks +205 | Knicks -250
Total: 217.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Knicks by 7.9, straight up 73%, 216.3 total points.
Injury Report:
Hawks: Onyeka Okongwu, (GTD - Knee); Jock Landale, (OUT - Ankle)
Knicks: OG Anunoby, (GTD - Ankle)
Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets
10:30 p.m. ET
Line: Timberwolves +7.5 (-115) | Nuggets -7.5 (-105)
Money line: Timberwolves +230 | Nuggets -285
Total: 230.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Nuggets by 7.6, straight up 72%, 227.7 total points.
Injury Report:
Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards, (GTD - Knee)
Nuggets: Peyton Watson, (OUT - Hamstring)