NBA DFS: Jimmy Butler and best/worst DraftKings daily fantasy basketball plays for Sunday, Oct. 11th

Welcome to your daily NBA DFS digest at FakeTeams, gents. Every day I’m here with a handful of pro-tips to roster a winning team just a few hours from now. On top of that, I’ll bring you some news, statistical trends from the past few days, some studs/duds from the last slate of games, and much more!

Hoop Land Times: News and notes from around the Association

• As impossible as it seemed to be, it actually was. Miami defeated LA in Game 5 on Friday and forced Game 6 with the series 3-2 in favor of the Lakers. No joke, as the Heat were without Goran Dragic once more and needed all of 47 minutes from Jimmy Butler to pull off the miracle and keep bubble-ball going.
• Yes, you read that right. Butler played 47:12 minutes, rested 48 seconds, and that run ranks as the 25th-largest over the whole season, including overtime games. Yeeeeeez.
• The top-three players of both teams combined all played 41+ minutes, including a banged-up, semi-injured AD.
• Danny Green had a chance to win LA the title with a last-second three-point attempt... that obviously he missed. Because he is Danny Green, that is.
• Frank Vogel bitched about the refs, but man, let’s not make this a ref-geared discussion with how impossible great the Finals are turning to be with Miami putting on a helluva war.
• Forcing Game 6, the Heat helped LeBron in making history. James tied Derek Fisher at 259 playoff games, and he will become the no. 1 player on the leaderboard all by himself alone when G6 tips off.
• Kristaps Porzingis has undergone surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee. You can feel Mavs’ fans fear from here.
• There were rumors about Marc Gasol signing with Barcelona for the next season, although those were deemed false by his brother Pau. What is true, though, is that Raptors HC Nick Nurse made clear that Toronto will most probably pass on extending Marc given his potential deal might be over the amount they want to spend on it.
• We’ve heard about Jeff Van Gundy getting back to a bench as a head coach for ages. It looks like he’s truly itching to get that job and leave TV broadcast, though, so if he gets a call you bet he’ll go grab the chance.
• Mike Brown—currently a member of the Warriors staff—seems to be highly graded by the Clippers and could be on a prime position to get the head coaching job.

Duds and Studs: Yesterday’s Slate Recap

• There are probably no words to define what Jimmy Butler did in Game 5. This man rested all of 48 seconds, played 47:12 minutes, and dropped another triple-double on the Lakers to the tune of a 35-12-11-5-1 performance in which he also shot 57.9% from the floor and hit all of his 12 freebies. Only LeBron had had more than one trip-dub in a single Finals series of games, until Jimmy joined him last Friday. Insane 82-DKFP tally.
• The Lakers duo wasn’t even remotely bad, either: LBJ racked up all of 75 freaking points on a 40-13-7-3 night shooting a mental 71.4% and hitting 6 (!) treys, while AD finished with 61 fantasy points to the tune of a stuffed 28-12-3-3-3 line. That only elevates Jimmer’s game even more, as he defeated a couple of beasts all by himself.
• We’re back to a Heat in this section, as the ROI King award went to... Duncan Robinson! Butler was out of his mind, but Robinson was key for Miami to snatch that W. Robinson was the only player outside of the Combo-Big-3 to get more than 26 fantasy points, as D-Rob finished with 40 DKFP. He did so by hitting a series-high 7 treys that helped him reach his 26 pops, to which he added 5 boards, 2 dimes, and a steal. Great performance by the sophomore, who had to step up his game with Bam Adebayo underperforming a ton.
• And the DOTS (Dud of the Slate) Award went to... Bam Adebayo! Bam remains pretty banged-up. Even playing 38 minutes he could only score 13 points, grab 4 rebounds, and dish out 4 assists. Not bad, but pretty meh considering what he’s capable of at the peak of his powers. Jae Crowder was another ridiculously bad play with a middling 11-3-1 game.
• Two dub-dubs via points and rebounds (LBJ’s 40-13 and AD’s 28-12) but no dub-dubs on points and assists.
• Monster trip-dub by Butler (35-12-11) including 5 steals and a block to spare. In 47+ freaking minutes of playing time.
• Butler was alone leading the slate with 5 steals, while Anthony Davis (3) was the only player with more than a block.

Gotta Win The Day: Best/Worst DraftKings plays for today’s slate

• Love: (SG/SF) Jimmy Butler, MIA: Even if the Heat opt to go 1-vs-5 with Butler taking on the whole Lakers squad, I’d still give them some odds at getting the W. Seriously. I don’t think anyone thought Jimmy had it in him to the extent he’s shown in these Finals. Was he good, even great, in the past? Sure. But this good? Man, that’s a stretch and Butler is turning into a legend against the best player to ever grace a basketball court. Jimmy is averaging 63 DKFP in the Finals, two more than LBJ and 13 more than AD. He’s also playing an average of 42.2 mpg, and his line reads 29-8-10-2-1, which is pretty much bananas. He’s hitting threes, he’s getting to the line, he’s handing out more dimes than anyone, and barely committing fouls. Will Butler get the chip to South Beach? I don’t think anyone would reasonably bet huge money on it. But oh boy, are these fools close to pulling off the miracle.
• Hate: (PG) Rajon Rondo, LAL: Rondo’s minutes went all the way down to 18 in G5 with the chip on the line for the Lakers. He did pretty much nothing, and it was clear that even if he wants to put on numbers he won’t be able to being so limited. Gotta pass on Playoff Rondo as he looked more like Putrid Rondo last Friday.
• Love: (SG) Tyler Herro, MIA: The obvious, expected, chalky play for G6 would be to side with Duncan Robinson. But hear me out, the Heat’s “secondary options” hasn’t been quite consistent through the Finals. It’s been Robinson one day, Herro another one, Olyny the other one, etc... Robinson shot incredibly well last game out, while Herro only finished with 12 points on 36.4% shooting. If I’m honest, I totally see a bounceback game from Herro in G6 that elevates Miami to put on a fight against these Lakers. Herro is attempting the fourth-most fga per game in the Finals only behind LBJ, Butler, and AD. That shooting percentage will go up no matter what. Pencil Herro in for 20+ points as a baseline and 30+ DKFP for sure.

If you have any comment or question about the daily column, tonight’s games, players involved in them, or even season-long fantasy NBA topics, just drop it below or reach out to me on Twitter at @chapulana and I’ll get back to you as soon as I grab a keyboard!