Friday’s 2026 NBA playoff action features three Game 3 matchups. They include Celtics vs. 76ers at 7 p.m. ET, Lakers vs. Rockets at 8 p.m. ET and Spurs vs. Trail Blazers at 10:30 p.m. ET. The NBA DFS player pool includes the likes of Tyrese Maxey, De’Aaron Fox, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, V.J. Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, Stephon Castle, Jayson Tatum, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Deni Avdija, Alperen Sengun and Joel Embiid, leaving for high-quality options to be available. Victor Wembanyama (concussion) is questionable, but it may be prudent to check on his status closer to game time.
So who will go off in their games tonight, and who will sputter? A winning NBA DFS strategy is as much about avoiding highly priced players who underperform as it is about hitting on undervalued players. So, which stars should you bypass in NBA daily Fantasy for Friday? Before making any NBA DFS picks, be sure to check out the NBA DFS advice, player rankings, stacks, and top daily Fantasy basketball picks from SportsLine’s Mike McClure.
McClure is a DFS professional with more than $2 million in career winnings. He’s also a predictive data engineer at SportsLine who uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every minute of every game 10,000 times, taking factors like matchups, statistical trends and injuries into account. This allows him to find the best NBA DFS values on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel and create optimal lineups that he shares only over at SportsLine. They’re a must-see for any NBA DFS player.
McClure has turned his attention to NBA action on Friday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Friday, April 24
For Friday, one of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks is 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey ($9,000 on DraftKings, $9,400 on FanDuel). Maxey is coming off a near double-double in Tuesday’s 111-97 win at Boston. In that game, he scored 29 points, dished out nine assists and grabbed four rebounds. In the 109-97 play-in tournament game win over Orlando, he poured in 31 points while adding six assists. During the regular season, Maxey averaged 30 points, 8.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds in four games against the Celtics. See McClure’s other NBA DFS picks right here.
He’s also building his NBA DFS strategy around Celtics forward Jayson Tatum ($9,700 on DraftKings, $10,200 on FanDuel). After missing a good chunk of the regular season due to an Achilles injury, Tatum is beginning to round back into form. Over the past seven games, he is averaging 25.1 points, 11 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 35.4 minutes. He has registered back-to-back double-doubles to open the series, including 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the series opener on Sunday. See McClure’s other NBA DFS picks right here.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for April 24
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Friday because of an optimal matchup. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.
Who is DFS pro Mike McClure putting in his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Friday? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NBA DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has over $2 million in career winnings, and find out.
