The 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament begins on Tuesday with a pair of 7-seed vs. 8-seed contests that are win-and-in scenarios for the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Hawks vs. Magic (-5.5) at 7:30 p.m. ET is followed by Warriors vs. Grizzlies (+7) at 10 p.m. ET, and Golden State, maybe surprisingly, has the worst record (0-3) in play-in tournament history. That’s not to the fault of Steph Curry, who has justified his high cost in the NBA DFS player pool by performing as one of the best daily Fantasy basketball picks. Curry’s averaged 32.7 points in his play-in career as he’ll be one of the most expensive players to roster in Tuesday NBA DFS lineups.
While Curry would set back your NBA DFS salary cap, you can offset his high cost with more economical options. Reserves such as Cole Anthony, Caris LeVert, Santi Aldama and Buddy Hield could be cost-effective options for your NBA DFS strategy. 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 Tuesday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Tuesday, April 15
For Tuesday, one of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks is Warriors forward Jimmy Butler, who is listed at $8,000 on DraftKings and $8,900 on FanDuel. Butler was banged up late in Sunday’s regular-season finale but isn’t even listed on Tuesday’s injury report. He dropped 30 points in that Sunday defeat to the Clippers, which resulted in Golden State falling to the play-in tournament, but that 30 points set his new career high in a Warriors uniform. In his lone matchup versus Memphis this season, which came with the Warriors, Butler filled up the box score with 27 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Butler has earned the nickname of “Playoff Jimmy” for a reason, and even though this isn’t technically a playoff game, it is a postseason contest nonetheless. His averages for points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks all increase in the postseason, compared to the regular season, and Memphis has struggled against power forwards, which is the position Butler’s started at for the last 11 games. Memphis allowed the sixth-most Fantasy points to the position on FanDuel and the seventh-most on DraftKings in the regular season.
Another part of McClure’s optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Grizzlies center Zach Edey (5,700 on DraftKings and $6,800 on FanDuel). The former college star ended his rookie season on a roll, posting double-digit rebounds in five of his last six games. He averaged 9.3 points, 15.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks over that stretch, and at 7-foot-4, he’s a huge mismatch for the undersized Warriors. Golden State has the second-shortest team in the NBA, by weighted minutes, as it has just one rotation player taller than 6-foot-9.
Edey nearly averaged a double-double across four games against Golden State, putting up 9.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. In his last matchup with the Warriors on April 1, Edey tied his career-high in blocks (four), had his third-most rebounds (16) and scored 10 points. The last two centers the Warriors have faced have also feasted off the team as the Clippers’ Ivica Zubac had 22 points and 17 rebounds in the last regular season game, while Portland rookie Donovan Clingan had a 14-point, 15-rebound outing in the prior contest. See McClure’s other NBA DFS picks right here.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Tuesday, April 15
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Tuesday because of a dream 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 Tuesday? 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.
