Welcome to a new series that we’re going to be running throughout the playoffs. The folks over at SuperDraft DFS recently partnered with myself to bring you another opportunity to break into the DFS world. SuperDraft is partnered with Caesar’s Palace, yeah that Caesar’s Palace to bring you their own personal spin on DFS. While other bigger companies have made a name for themselves in the DFS space in recent years, they’ve become dominated by the biggest players that have the bankroll to infuse large amounts of money into tournaments on a daily or weekly basis. SuperDraft is aiming to give newer players or those with less money available to them an easier chance at winning some cold hard cash. I’ve been paired up with an opponent over at Blazer’s Edge in the form of Danny Marang who will be representing the Portland Trail Blazers throughout the playoffs. The writer with the most points at the end of the first round will move on in the 16-player tournament.
The format we’ll be competing in is called Champion Mode where you select a total of five players with your fifth player being your champion who receives a 1.5x multiplier to his final points total. So, if he were to score 100 points, his final total would be 150 after the multiplier was applied to his total. Each player receives a multiplier based on their expected level of production. While superstars like Nikola Jokic and Damian Lillard receive little to no multiplier to their final scores, role players such as Monte Morris or Anfernee Simons could see their scores multiplied by two or three times the original output.
Every day that the Nuggets play a game, I’ll be bringing you some analysis along with a lineup that you could use in your own SuperDraft contests. Sign up using this link to get started winning today. You can also find me over on Twitter to help you in your lineup constructions right up until game time every night.
Betting Lines
Away: Portland Trail Blazers (+1.5)
Home: Denver Nuggets (-1.5)
Total: O/U 227
While the projection for this game is only four points higher than the other matchup of the night between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat, I’m expecting a few more points in this matchup. While the Bucks and Heat both ranked in the top 10 for defensive rating during the regular season, the Nuggets ranked 11th with the Blazers down at 29th, and both of these teams had top six offenses in the regular season. If you’re playing in this matchup tonight, expect your total points to be higher in this matchup.
Lineup Construction
Champion: Michael Porter Jr. 2.7x Base Multiplier + 50% Champion Boost
Porter turned in an incredible matchup in the first game with over 110 points in your champion spot, and we’re going back to him here. He shot just 1-of-10 from 3-point range which was only the second time all season where he attempted at least 10 triples while shooting below 50 percent. He’s going to see the exact same offensive load, and, just based on simple regression, he could really boom for you here.
Utility 1: Jusuf Nurkic 1.9x Base Multiplier
In Game 1, Nurkic played 33 of the team’s 48 center minutes, and, unless he gets into foul trouble, he should see about the same level of minutes. In those minutes, he put up a double-double with relatively safe shooting numbers with the majority of his work coming around the rim. That’s not going to change, and, with a multiplier that will nearly double his score, you’ll want to bring in that type of producer with some of the longshots we might be adding in.
Utility 2: Norman Powell 2x Base Multiplier
Powell was held in check in Game 1 with members of the bench going off to take over the scoring load he would usually add in, but he’s the perfect type of player to give Denver fits. He’s shot 39 percent from 3-point range against them for his career, and, in three matchups during the regular season, he cleared 50 percent from distance. He doesn’t have the size to match up with Aaron Gordon on the defensive end, but his speed on the offensive end gives him good looks that he can knock down to pour in points.
Utility 3: Carmelo Anthony 2.1x Base Multiplier
This play comes down to two main factors. The Nuggets’ fans let Melo have it when he was on the floor, and he didn’t seem too thrilled about it after the game was over. There’s a strong chance he comes out with his scorer’s mentality in Game 2. The second reason to watch out for Anthony is the lack of a defender that can hang with him on Denver’s second unit. JaMychal Green and Paul Millsap both have the size, but they don’t quite have the speed to stick with him. Unless Denver puts Gordon on him during his bench minutes, Anthony has the potential for another solid outing.
Utility 4: Nikola Jokic 1x Base Multiplier
If Denver wins this game or is in it at all, Jokic has to have a good night. The lack of a multiplier on Jokic’s points leaves something to be desired, but, with the level of play that he puts out, he can make up for it especially with his production at multiple levels considering he has 61 total double-doubles on the year in 73 games. The team went just 1-of-10 off of his passes in Game 1 which gave him just one assist. His regression to mean to production gives him a great chance for a strong outing.
