Two of Tuesday's three NBA games ended as expected. The Miami Heat handed the shorthanded Atlanta Hawks and the Memphis Grizzlies evened up their series with the Minnesota Timberwolves by securing a dominant victory. However, a Devin Booker injury scare helped the New Orleans Pelicans overcome the Phoenix Suns in a surprising upset. Need a recap of Tuesday's top performers? We'll go over the notable things you might've missed and look ahead to Wednesday's three game slate from a DFS perspective here.
Tuesday Standouts
Ingram looked gimpy at times on Tuesday but powered the Pelicans to an upset win in against the Suns by nearly notching a triple-double. The 24-year-old wing finished with 37 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists. His point total was one shy of his season-high from the regular season. New Orleans has stolen a game on the road and will head back to the Smoothie Center with plenty of momentum ahead of Game 3. Devin Booker's hamstring tightness could open the door for the underdogs to take over the first-round series.
Butler played like a man possessed on Tuesday and set a career playoff-high with 45 points in the Heat's second consecutive win against the Hawks. He tallied five rebounds, five assists, and unexpectedly rattled home four shots from long range. Miami is looking to put Atlanta on the shelf early and Butler has been a major contributor. He's connected on 60 percent of his field goals and 55.6 percent of his triples this postseason.
Morant's strong stat line from Game 1 wasn't enough to take down the Timberwolves, but he put up equally impressive numbers in Game 2 to secure a win. The Grizzlies' star point guard flirted with a triple-double in a blowout win. He scored 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and totaled 10 assists in 30 minutes. He's averaging 27.5 points, 9.0 assists, and 6.5 rebounds in the series.
Who to play
Maxey's price is rising on DraftKings and FanDuel, but he remains one of the best value plays available at guard. The second-year 76er has arguably been better than Joel Embiid and James Harden in Philly's first-round series against the Raptors. Only Harden has played more minutes than the Kentucky product and no starter on either side has been more efficient as a scorer.
Who to fade
Trent scored nine points on an abysmal 2-of-11 shooting night it Game 1 and was worse off in Game 2 because of an illness. The Raptors wing left his last outing after just 10 minutes and was 0-for-3 from the field with one rebound. Trent was at the morning shootaround on Wednesday and is supposedly feeling better, but other options in his price range are much more reliable at this point.
Still deciding who to lock in for your DFS roster? We've identified a player worth locking in and one to avoid ahead of tip-off below, but you can get my full selection of stud and value plays at each position by heading over to SportsLine.
