This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
With the semifinal round now in the books in both conferences, we're set for the first of back to back conference final Game 1 matchups Tuesday. The Timberwolves, who punched their ticket to this round over the Warriors on Wednesday, come into the Western Conference Finals as underdogs overall to the Thunder, but they'll have a big rest advantage in Game 1 over OKC, who just finished putting away the Nuggets on Sunday.
With only one matchup, we're dealing with FanDuel's single-game contest rosters comprised as follows:
MVP- (Garners points at 1.5x the normal rate)
Five Utility spots- (Garner points at normal rate)
With salaries also being different than in conventional FanDuel contests on multi-game slates and top players inevitably headed for heavy rostering, there are definitely strategic elements particular to single-game lineups. Finding key value plays for some of utility spots is undoubtedly key, as it enables you to roster a superstar in the MVP slot, where salaries for each player are 1.5x higher than if you were rostering them in a Utility spot.
Try our FanDuel NBA Lineup Optimizer to discover more expert recommendations, customize the player pool, set exposure percentage and mass-enter DFS lineups.
Slate Overview
For the latest spreads and over-unders, visit RotoWire's NBA Odds page. There, you can also find player props, futures, picks articles and sportsbook bonus codes.
Listed spreads/totals are from FanDuel Sportsbook and current as of Tuesday, 5/20 10:30 a.m. ET:
Minnesota Timberwolves at Oklahoma City Thunder (-7.5) (O/U: 218.0)
The Thunder are solid favorites, unsurprising given their home-court status. While Minnesota's aforementioned rest advantage could certainly make this game closer than projected, the fact some of OKC's front-line players were able to log relatively modest minutes could help with the quick turnaround from Sunday's Game 7 against the Nuggets.
The projected total for Tuesday's opener is very much in line with how the first two games of the regular-season series between the teams unfolded, as those contests, which resulted in a win apiece for the Thunder and T-Wolves, ended with 218 and 217 total points. The latter pair of meetings, which were also a 1-1 split, saw 253 and 259 points put up, the latter game having been an overtime affair.
Injury Situations to Monitor
For all the latest updates, visit RotoWire's NBA Injury News page and our comprehensive NBA Injury Report.
None
Elite Players
The two players with the highest MVP salaries on Tuesday's slate are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($23,400) and Anthony Edwards ($22,200).
SGA put together another elite all-around display during the seven-game clash with the Nuggets, averaging 51.7 standard FD points on 29.7 points (52.9% shooting), 6.6 assists, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per contest. The MVP favorite eclipsed 55 standard FD points on three occasions, and during the regular season, he scored 55.6 to 71.6 FD points in three of the four games against Minnesota.
Edwards averaged 49.3 standard FD points in the five-game semifinal-round ouster of the Warriors, shooting 44.2 percent from three-point range in the process. Edwards also supplemented his fantasy production nicely with averages of 1.8 steals and 1.2 blocks per contest, and he scored over 43 FD points in three of his four games against OKC during the campaign. However, it's worth noting the Thunder did a very good job defending him overall, considering he shot just 36.4 percent against OKC in the four-game sample.
Expected Chalk
With only one matchup, the likes of Jalen Williams ($12,800), Julius Randle ($12,200) and Chet Holmgren ($10,800) should also be very popular.
Williams overcame some poor shooting performances in the middle of the series against Denver to finish off with a 10-for-17 showing from the floor in Game 7 that helped net 42.5 FD points. Given he's averaged 39.8 FD points since the start of the postseason, he'll be very popular Tuesday.
Randle had an excellent series against the Warriors and has been very effective throughout Minnesota's postseason run, averaging 39.7 FD points while shooting 50.9 percent over 10 games.
Holmgren is coming off having averaged 35.8 FD points in the seven second-round games against the Nuggets while generating four double-doubles, which should ensure he's in plenty of lineups Tuesday.
Key Values
The following players make for strong candidates for the Utility spots:
Jaden McDaniels, MIN ($8,600)
McDaniels is the first of three complementary players that could all deliver strong returns on their respective salaries Tuesday. The veteran wing has followed up his best all-around regular season to date with a solid playoff run thus far, averaging 30.2 FD points while putting 15.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 steals over 10 games. McDaniels has shot a crisp 55.4 percent overall in that span as well, and he was productive against the Thunder during the regular season by scoring 35.1 to 50 FD points in three of the four meetings with OKC.
Isaiah Hartenstein, OKC ($7,800)
Hartenstein has proven to be an ideal fit in his first regular season/postseason with the Thunder, and despite falling short of 20 FD points in the last two games against the Nuggets in the conference semifinals, he's a very viable salary-saving consideration. The big man is averaging 27.8 FD points since the start of the playoffs, clocking a near double-double of 10.3 points and 8.7 rebounds in that span. Hartenstein's rebounding has been a constant as it was during the regular season, and a big part of his downturn in production in the final two contests against Denver was the fact he played just 25 and 17 minutes in those contests. With Hartenstein's size needed against Minnesota, he should enjoy a healthy allotment of playing time beginning with Game 1.
Rudy Gobert, MIN ($6,800)
Gobert was less involved as a scorer this past season, and that trend has persisted through the first two rounds of the postseason. The Stifle Tower has eight single-digit point totals in the T-Wolves' first 10 playoff games, but he's still managed to average a solid 25.4 FD points in that span with the help of 9.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per outing. The latter two categories have always been Gobert's principal calling cards, and they can be relied on once again Tuesday. Additionally, it's worth noting the two games in which the veteran center did score in double digits thus far this postseason featured 17- and 27-point performances, so the upside on the offensive end is still a consideration even if difficult to predict.
ALSO CONSIDER: Alex Caruso, OKC ($5,400); Naz Reid, MIN ($4,400)
