Fantasy Sports

NBA Eastern Conference Finals, Game 6: 3 Knicks DFS Plays Not Named Jalen Brunson Who Could Help Make History

Alan Goldsher|
Can New York wing Mikal Bridges drag both his Knicks and your DFS lineup to a huge Game 6 win?
Can New York wing Mikal Bridges drag both his Knicks and your DFS lineup to a huge Game 6 win? | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

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New York KnicksIndiana Pacers

After the Indiana Pacers took the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals in New York, NBA realists were like, “Yeah, the Knicks are toast.”

Knicks fans—as well as the Knicks themselves—were like, “No, we’re not,” after which Jalen Brunson’s crew proceeded to win two out of the next three.

Heading into Saturday’s crucial Game 6 in Indy, the Knicks are on the precipice of making a playoff comeback for the ages. But to do so, they’ll have to (sort of) duplicate Thursday’s near-perfect performance:

  • Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks’ interior defenders must again keep Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam—who combined for a chintzy 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting—under wraps.
  • Brunson needs to remain relentless on both ends of the floor—and if he wants to put up 20-plus shots, all good.
  • Towns has been a foul machine, so assuming that that remains a thing, Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and OG Anunoby—who combined for a mere six fouls on Thursday—have to again keep their hands to themselves.

Considering how Turner, Siakam, Obi Toppin, and Jarace Walker have defended (or not defended) the Knicks’ bigs, Brunson needs to keep feeding his fours and fives…that is, unless he’s taking one of his 20-plus shots.

It’ll be a tough task to make all this happen against a homestanding Indy team that’ll be, in a word or two, royally pissed...but New York’s pretty pissed themselves, so anything’s possible.

And it’ll even be more possible—as well as super-satisfying for DFS players—if the below three Knickerbockers go off.

Mikal Bridges

Bridges’ FanDuel salary has plummeted over $2,000 since Game 1 of the ECF, so he’ll be a bargain--especially when he’s draining his mid-range jumpers a la Game 5. If he continues his aggressive offensive play, he’ll be a steal.

Mitchell Robinson

Unlike Bridges, Big Mitch’s salary has climbed throughout the series, but if he manages a stat-line similar to that of Game 5's—six points, six boards, two blocks, and a steal—he’ll be well worth his $3,800-ish utility salary.

Landry Shamet

Yes, Shamet has only played a total of 42 minutes in the East Finals, but his court-time has crawled up in each game, climbing from three minutes Game 1 to 14 minutes in Game 5.

In that Game 5, the seventh-year man out of Wichita State put up four points, a three-pointer, and a steal, modest numbers, certainly, but if Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau again sees fit to give Shamet additional burn, he’ll be well worth bargain basement salary—the kind of salary that might allow you to fit both Brunson and Towns into your lineup.

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Alan Goldsher
ALAN GOLDSHER

Alan Goldsher has written about sports for Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Apple, Playboy, NFL.com, and NBA.com, and he’s the creator of the Chicago Sports Stuff Substack. He’s the bestselling author of 15 books, and the founder/CEO of Gold Note Records. Alan lives in Chicago, where he writes, makes music, and consumes and creates way too much Bears content. You can visit him at http://www.AlanGoldsher.com and http://x.com/AlanGoldsher.

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