NBA DFS: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and best/worst DraftKings daily fantasy basketball plays for Monday, Aug. 31st

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

• The Nuggets kept grinding their way through the first round of the playoffs with a win in Game 6 to force a winner-gets-all Game 7 tomorrow against the Jazz. Jamal Murray 50 points in 24 field goals marked the fewer FGs needed to reach that mark since 1953 (Bob Cousy)!!!
• The Clips got rid of the Mavs once for all and finally made it to the second round. It took them a little bit more effort than some folks expected, but everything is still on its way to end in a Los Angeles showdown in the WCF.
• Are we sure Toronto doesn’t miss Kawhi? Because these Celtics kicked-off the second round with a resounding W over the Raps...
• Also, and just in case you had forgotten about it: Marcus Morris is dumb.
• Not incredibly surprising, because San Antonio should be looking into entering full-rebuild mode, but it looks like the Spurs might be shopping LaMarcus Aldridge around... with a chance the Blazers jump at him.
• Melo is on the Knicks radar. I repeat, Melo is on the Knicks radar. Don’t play with my heart, please, and make the reunion happen for real.

Duds and Studs: Yesterday’s Slate Recap

• Even with an incredible mano a mano between Mitchell and Jamal yesterday, Kawhi got away with the most fantasy points of all players involved in the slate. The Klaw was the only one to break the 70-DKFP barrier reaching 71.5 fantasy points. He did so while helping the Clips reach the second round with a pretty neat 33-14-7-5 stuff line shooting 60.9% from the floor and hitting all of the four freebies he attempted.
• On the other side of things: Luka Doncic. He ate the L and is on his way home, but he racked up all of 64.25 fantasy points yesterday with a near-dub-trip-dub that read 38-9-9. The other two players to reach 60+ fantasy points: Jamal with his historic 50 pops, and DoMi with his own 44 chicken wings. Both of these two hit 9 triples (!) each yesterday. Insane matchup.
• Nobody in the 50-to-60 clip, with only three players reaching 40+ DKFP: Jokic (22-4-9-3), Kemba (18-3-10-1), and FVV (11-4-8-6).
• The total fantasy tally wasn’t incredibly high, but the ROI King award went to... Daniel Theis! Boston ran over Toronto to get that sweet victory and 1-0 series lead, and Theis was the second-best Celtic with 38.75 DKFP while priced at just $4.3K. He put up a nice 13-15 dub-dub in just 25 minutes of playing time. Close to his value was that of Torrey Craig, Marcus Smart, and Mike Conley.
• And the DOTS (Dud of the Slate) Award went to... Pascal Siakam! Absolutely atrocious game by Spicy “Mild” P. Siakam finished with a paltry 13-3-2-2 line shooting 31.3% from the field, getting into foul trouble, and scoring just 22.75 fantasy points while carrying the eighth-highest price of the slate. Lou Williams, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Marcus Morris had serious duds too.
• Only four dub-dubs via points and rebounds (Theis, Kawhi, Gobert, Zubac) and one between points and assists (Kemba’s 18-10).
• It was all about thefts yesterday. FVV led the slate with 6 steals but Kawhi stole 5 rocks himself, with Jokic and Mitchell stealing 3 each.

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

• Love: (SG) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC ($7100, vs HOU): Do you know what happened the last time SGA played a basketball game? He sucked, that is what happened. Two days ago in a very important 2-2 Game 5 Shai finished with 4 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists... and 11.75 fantasy points. Man... That was horrific, sure, but the prior three games saw SGA put up 44, 52, and 44 DKFP again. Now that is more SGA-like, and what he’s most probably getting back to do again today. The price can’t be lower, let’s be honest, because we’re talking about a 20-point bucket-getter with upside to enter the 6-6 realm in boards and dimes with ease. Oh, and OKC better get that W today, which means Shai is going to play super-close to 40 minutes. Safe bet.
• Hate: (PG) Russell Westbrook, HOU ($9700, at OKC): Russ went back from injury the other day and obviously was far from the guy we all know Russ can be. He was on the court for 23 minutes and finished with some nice 7-6-7 line, but that just doesn’t cut it for his absolutely monstrous price. Houston has the 3-2 lead in the series and while the Pocket Rockets would like to wrap this up asap it is not probable that they will ultra-force Westbrook into an overboard-effort. This guy is always capable of putting on a show, for sure, but I’d be much happier betting on him come the second-round series with the Lakers than putting him on my lineup today with all of the questions hanging over his head.
• Love: (PG) Goran Dragic, MIA ($6600, at MIL): Are we sure the Bucks are a lock to beat the Heat, let alone reach the Finals? I’m not sure, folks. Miami got the better of Milwaukee during the regular season and the Heat have had quite a restart in the bubble. Dragic has started every playoff game he’s been part of during the past couple of weeks and he couldn’t have performed better. He’s hit 20+ points each and every time while averaging 4 rebounds and 4 assists per. He’s consuming almost 30% of Miami’s possessions, and although he does not have Bam/Jimmy-levels of importance in this squad he’s the one definitely holding it together. Now look at that price, put Goran in your lineup, and enjoy the fireworks to come from beyond the three-point line.

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!