DraftKings Advice: How To Build A Lineup Around Russell Westbrook; Win $12,000 Free

At 12:30 Eastern, the NBA playoffs begin.There’s a quadruple-header on Saturday, starting in Toronto and wrapping up in Oklahoma City. The other four series begin tomorrow, and DraftKings is offering some great DFS contests throughout these early rounds.

Before identifying individual stars, it helps to take a position on the teams involved. Golden State should crush the Rockets in these first two games. James Harden $10800 averaged 27.7 in three meetings on 37.9% shooting. The Warriors swept, with Andrew Bogut $3900 and Dwight Howard $6000 both averaging a double-double.

Stephen Curry $10600 can trade buckets with Harden while the deep, versatile supporting cast wins the game. Draymond Green $8700, Klay Thompson $6500 and Harrison Barnes $4700 are all playable, but don’t sleep on Andre Iguodala $3200, who raises his game every spring.

$150,000 Contest Free To New Users

The $150K Sharpshooter is only a $3 buy-in and that’s waived with your initial deposit. The top 11,780 teams (from up to 57,500 entries) win cash; first place earns $12,000. Don’t forget the entry deadline is 12:30 ET. You can make lineup changes until each player’s game begins.

The banged-up Mavericks finished strong to get this far. While no match for Russell Westbrook $10700 and Kevin Durant $10000, Dallas does have inexpensive players with upside. Dirk Nowitzki $6200, Deron Williams $5500, Wesley Matthews $4400 and Zaza Pachulia $3300 are all worth considering, as we don’t care who wins and the score could be high. For the Thunder, Serge Ibaka $5400 should be prominent and I prefer the steady Steven Adams $3700 to Enes Kanter $5300, who tends to beat up on weaker teams.

Thanks to improved defenders, Toronto is much better this spring than they were in the last couple of first-round failures. Kyle Lowry $7200 and DeMar DeRozan $7400 are attractively priced at home. Jonas Valanciunas $5200 will see plenty of action against Ian Mahinmi $4300 unless both coaches decide to go super-small. Crafty old Luis Scola $3000 got plenty of rest down the stretch and should be ready to face his former mates; athletic rookie Myles Turner $4500 is far less experienced. The talented Paul George $8400 leads Indiana but it’s hard to recommend any of his teammates.

In the most likely series to go the distance, the Celtics open in Atlanta. Paul Millsap $8300 and Al Horford $6700 lead the Hawks, while Boston coach Brad Stevens uses a wide variety of lineups. Isaiah Thomas $7300 and Avery Bradley $5200 are dangerous, though Jeff Teague $6100 finished strong and may be up to the challenge.

Note that DK has lowered the salary floor. $3000 is no longer rock-bottom — Josh Smith $2600 and Marreese Speights $2800 are among the ultra-cheap possibilities if you’re going stars-and-scrubs. On the other hand, there’s something to be said for balance.

My sample lineup punts PF and C in order to squeeze in the dynamic duo from OKC and the two best Raptors. Then we fill in at F and Util with a couple of battle-tested veterans. Even with only four games, it’s an interesting challenge with countless ways wo win.

The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season, and switches to baseball in the summer. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.