The Thursday NBA playoff schedule features a trio of Game 3 matchups. In the Eastern Conference the Milwaukee Bucks hit the road to take on the Indiana Pacers, and in the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavericks host the Los Angeles Kings and the Phoenix Suns host the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Friday NBA DFS player pool is loaded with All-Star caliber talent and players who are capable of erupting and posting massive fantasy numbers.

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic headlines the Friday NBA DFS player pool, but carries a hefty price tag at $11,700 on DraftKings and $12,100 on FanDuel. Doncic has the highest floor of any player on the Friday slate, and is coming off monster performances in Game 1 and Game 2. Should the 25-year-old be a part of your NBA DFS picks and NBA DFS stacks on Friday? Before making your NBA DFS picks, be sure to check out the NBA DFS advice, player rankings, stacks, and top daily Fantasy basketball picks from SportsLine’s Jimmie Kaylor.

Kaylor is a DFS and betting expert for SportsLine, who won a DraftKings Millionaire Maker contest in 2022. He uses a combination of his background as a former college and professional athlete and his keen eye for statistical trends when making his picks and locking in his DFS lineups. Kaylor enters the 2024 calendar year with multiple five-figure tournament cashes on his DFS resume.

Kaylor’s approach allows him to find the best NBA DFS values and create optimal lineups that he only shares on SportsLine. They’re a must-see for any NBA DFS player.

On Friday (when Kaylor last made picks), Kaylor highlighted Heat guard Tyler Herro as one of his top picks in his NBA DFS player pool on both sites. The result: Herro had a near triple double with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists, returning 51.0 points on DraftKings and 44.5 points on FanDuel as one of the better values in the NBA DFS player pool. Anybody who included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.

Kaylor has turned his attention to NBA action on Friday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.

Top NBA DFS picks for Friday, April 26
For Friday, one of Kaylor’s top NBA DFS picks is Bucks guard Damian Lillard, who is listed at $9,300 on DraftKings and $9,700 on FanDuel. With Giannis Antetokounmpo still sidelined, Milwaukee is leaning heavily on Lillard to carry the load on the offensive end of the floor. Through two games in the Bucks’ series against the Pacers, Lillard is averaging 34.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per contest.

With the Milwaukee-Indiana series tied at one game apiece, Kaylor is expecting a big-time performance from Lillard on Friday night. Both teams play fast paced basketball, and Indiana was one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA during the regular season allowing 120.2 points per game. Kaylor believes Lillard will once again have the ball in his hands for the majority of the game, and is worth his high price tag in this matchup.

Another part of Kaylor’s optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Pacers center Myles Turner ($6,500 on DraftKings and $7,400 on FanDuel). Turner has had his way with the Milwaukee front court through two games, and gives Indiana a mismatch option down low in this series. While he hasn’t been as productive as his teammate Pascal Siakam, Turner has proven to be a high-end DFS option at the center position while carrying a very reasonable price tag.

Through two games in the Pacers’ playoff series, Turner is averaging 19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game. With Indiana having a distinct front court advantage, Kaylor expects the Pacers to continue to feed Turner the ball in the post early and often. The former Texas standout has double-double potential at a very reasonable price on Friday. See Kaylor’s other NBA DFS picks right here.

How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Thursday, April 25
Kaylor is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Friday because of a dream matchup. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is, and get the rest of Kaylor’s picks, here.

Who is DFS pro Jimmie Kaylor putting in his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Friday? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NBA DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has a Millionaire Maker win on his resume, and find out.

The Timberwolves have been in complete control in this series, and while anything could happen, the Suns look in serious trouble getting swept in the first round. Of course, with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker you have to always assume Phoenix has a chance, even if their depth still remains a huge concern in this series.

“When they’re scoring on us and we’re not getting the right stops, we can’t not be organized offensively,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “We had too many possessions like that.”

It’s going to take a far better performance from the Suns in Game 3 if they have any shot at closing this gap against a Timberwolves team that looks incredibly dangerous in the West.

Here’s what to know about Friday’s Game 3:

Suns vs. Timberwolves — Game 3
Date: Friday, April 26 | Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
Location: Footprint Center — Phoenix
TV channel: ESPN | Live stream: fubo (try for free)
Odds: Suns -4.5; O/U 208
Storylines
Suns: Booker and Durant were efficient, Bradley Beal tacked on 14 points, and Eric Gordon had 15 points off the bench. It was the type of performance that would typically be good enough to win, but that wasn’t the case here. At this point, the Suns are going to need Durant and Booker to turn in 30-point performances to lift this team to a win or tighten up defensively. The former is probably the better bet because, with the size and length the Wolves possess, it has been difficult for Phoenix to slow down Minnesota. Phoenix needs its stars to go supernova in Game 3, otherwise they could be one loss away from a sweep.

Timberwolves: When you’ve got your defensive stopper in Jaden McDaniels putting up 25 points, chances are things are going extremely well. McDaniels is tasked with checking Durant on one end, a tiring job, so the fact that he was able to put up 25 points on an extremely efficient 10 of 17 from the floor is truly impressive. It also shows that the Wolves can get production in a variety of ways. Karl-Anthony Towns shot the ball just seven times, but it didn’t matter. It would nice to see Towns be a bit more productive on offense in Game 3, just to show that while he doesn’t always need to put up 20+ points, he very well can when required.

Prediction
So far in the postseason, we’ve seen home teams win all but four games, so I’m going with the home team based on that. I also think Durant and Booker will be extra motivated to avoid a third-straight loss, especially in front of their fans. The Pick: Suns -4.5