The Oklahoma City Thunder will have the opportunity to close out their best-of-7 Western Conference semifinals series against the San Antonio Spurs with Game 6 at home on Thursday night. It’s only fitting that it will be the only game on the schedule. The Thunder have fought their way back to take a 3-2 series lead and all eyes will be on the Chesapeake Arena as they look to finish the job. Here is a look at the optimal lineup for Thursday’s DraftKings NBA Fantasy Leagues.
PG: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City
Salary: $10,900
It only makes sense that Westbrook is the highest priced player on the board in this matchup based on what he has done to this point in the playoffs. The superstar point guard is coming off a monster performance in which he scored 35 points with 11 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and three three-point shots and he has averaged close to a triple-double so far this postseason. If Westbrook can even come close to matching his stat line from Game 5 he will be more than worth the price tag as an obvious superstar to build around for Thursday night’s DraftKings contests.
SG: Dion Waiters, Oklahoma City
Salary: $3,500
Waiters hasn’t been as dominant as Westbrook or Durant but he doesn’t have to be as an excellent value option at just $3.5K on DraftKings. Waiters has averaged 10.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.4 three-point shots so far this postseason and we will be happy if he can match those averages in this contest.
SF: Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City
Salary: $10,000
It’s easy to forget that it was only a couple of years ago when NBA fans were talking about Durant as one of the best players in the association as injuries have taken their toll on him over the past couple of years. However, Durant has reemerged as a force in these playoffs and he is a big reason why Oklahoma City is on the verge of reaching the Western Conference Finals. Durant has averaged 26.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 three-point shots so far in these playoffs including a ridiculous 41 points in Game 4 at home on Sunday. Durant might not get 40 in this one but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he came close.
PF: Serge Ibaka, Oklahoma City
Salary: $5,600
LaMarcus Aldridge is tempting in this spot since his team is fighting to stay alive and we don’t have a single Spurs’ player in our lineup to this point but Ibaka’s price tag and the fact that the Thunder are looking to close this series out at home led to us making his pick here. Ibaka has averaged 12.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 2.0 three-point shots so far in these playoffs and at under $6K he is a strong value option in this spot.
C: Steven Adams, Oklahoma City
Salary: $6,100
Adams has emerged as a force for Oklahoma City in this series averaging 14.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 10 block over the last two games. It’s no surprise that the Thunder have won both of those contests and we are banking on Adams delivering another strong NBA fantasy performance for Oklahoma City at home in Game 6.
G: Tony Parker, San Antonio
Salary: $4,700
Parker has struggled with consistency throughout this series, shooting below 34-percent from the field on three occasions while hitting at least 50-percent of his shots on another two. We are banking on a strong performance from Parker in this one as San Antonio looks to stave off elimination and his price tag is a big reason for it. Parker has averaged 10.9 points, 5.6 assists and 2.3 rebounds so far in these playoffs so he is a strong NBA fantasy option here.
F: Boris Diaw, San Antonio
Salary: $3,300
In order to afford Westbrook, Durant and company we had to take a chance somewhere and that is what we did with Diaw in this spot. The veteran big man had 11 points with three rebounds in San Antonio’s Game 4 loss and then just two points on 1-for-6 shooting in Game 5 so we have to hope he bounces back with a better performance in this game. Diaw is available at just $3.3K so that is the key to getting him in our NBA fantasy lineup.
FLEX: Danny Green, San Antonio
Salary: $4,000
Green is coming off his best performance of the playoffs for the Spurs and we are hoping he can build on it with San Antonio on the brink of elimination in this contest. Green had 20 points with six three-point shots, three rebounds, two steals, one block and one assist in Game 5 and the Spurs will need a similar performance from him in Game 6 if they are going to stay alive in these playoffs.
