Postseason rotations are usually a lot tighter, but there's still value to be found on each team. As we did for the first round, we'll take a deeper dive into some typically useful DFS metrics and see where there may be exploitable spots that can be attacked with modestly priced players. Additionally, with the first round now in the books, we'll take some of the numbers generated by both players and teams during those games into account:
Western Conference
Houston (1) vs. Utah (5)
Season series results: Houston 4, Jazz 0
Notable Rockets metrics/areas to exploit: Third-most points in the paint allowed (48.0) on the season, including the most at home (48.8)/ highest shooting percentage (50.0) allowed to power forwards on the season.
Jazz value play to consider: Jae Crowder, PF
Crowder has already exploded for more than 20 points off the bench in two postseason games, including 21 against the Rockets in Game 1 on Sunday. He's seen well over 20 minutes in all but one of the Jazz's seven playoff tilts, and he's put up double-digit shot attempts on four occasions. Moreover, he's sporting a solid 19.2 percent usage rate and averaging nearly a fantasy point per minute on DraftKings (0.97), FantasyDraft (0.97) and FanDuel (0.96) with Ricky Rubio off the floor in the postseason, and the latter is reportedly very likely to miss the majority, if not all, of the semifinal round.
Notable Jazz metric/area to exploit: Power forward defense post-All-Star-break
Rockets value play to consider: P.J. Tucker, PF
Tucker has flashed some offensive upside in the Rockets' last two postseason games, going for 15 points in each, including Game 1 against the Jazz on Sunday. His usage and minutes have both seen a welcome spike in those contests, as he's played well over 30 minutes and put up a playoff-high eight shot attempts in each. Tucker has been particularly proficient from distance while draining eight of 12 three-point attempts, which has allowed him to return value on a price that remains modest across the various DFS sites running postseason contests. Given the low risk he typically entails and the overall lack of soft spots in the Jazz defense, he'll be worthy of tournament consideration each night he's in action.
Golden State (2) vs. New Orleans (6)
Season series result: Warriors 3, Pelicans 1
Notable Warriors metric/area to exploit: Sixth-most points in the paint allowed on the season (47.4), including the most over the last three regular-season games (58.7); Fifth-fastest pace of play (102.9 possessions per game)
Pelicans value play to consider: E'Twaun Moore, F
Moore thrived against the Warriors in four regular-season games this season, shooting 60.0 percent while averaging 14.5 points, 2.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds across 32.5 minutes. He repeated the feat in Game 1 on Saturday night, posting 15 points, two rebounds and one steal while draining an impressive 63.6 percent of his 11 attempts. Moore's scoring profile also dovetails well with the Warriors' cited weakness in the paint, as he logged nearly half his points (48.1 percent) in that area of the floor during the regular season, a figure that's bumped up to 48.9 percent through five playoff games thus far.
Notable Pelicans metrics/areas to exploit: Most possessions per game (104.7); fifth-most points in the paint allowed on the season (47.7), including third most (56.7) over the last three regular-season games; eighth-highest offensive efficiency rating allowed to opposing benches (42.6)
Warriors value plays to consider: Andre Iguodala, SF
Iguodala's numbers have been elevated thus far this postseason due to his role as a starting point guard, a stint that's expected to end effective with Tuesday's Game 2 due to the return of Stephen Curry. However, that likely means Iguodala will simply return to a solid allotment of playing time off the bench, potentially at multiple positions. His skill set is a good match for the Pelicans' weaknesses cited above, as he already thrives in an uptempo system and also logged his highest percentage (48.4) of scoring in the paint since the 2005-06 campaign this past season. Moreover, his price is typically very reasonable across the industry, and he offers across-the-stat-sheet contributions that makes him a reasonably safe value play when he gets sufficient minutes.
Eastern Conference
Cleveland (4) vs. Toronto (1)
Season series results: Cavaliers 2, Raptors 1
Notable Cavaliers metrics/areas to exploit: Eighth-highest offensive efficiency rating allowed to point guards on the season (25.9); most fantasy points allowed to point guards during regular season on FantasyDraft (45.6); second-most fantasy points allowed to point guards during regular season on FanDuel (43.5) and Yahoo (39.0); third-most fantasy points allowed to point guards during regular season on DraftKings (57.2); sixth-highest percentage (31.6) of scoring from three-pointers allowed in regular season
Raptors value plays to consider: Delon Wright, PG
Wright encouragingly saw robust playing time off the bench in five of the six opening-round games against the Wizards, averaging 10.7 points, 2.7 assists, 2.5 rebounds 2.3 steals and 1.0 block across a solid allotment of 24.7 minutes per contest. He also drained an impressive 46.0 percent of his 8.3 shot attempts per game – including 46.7 percent of 2.5 tries from distance -- a level of usage that should lead to some solid returns on what should remain a reasonable price.
Notable Raptors metrics/areas to exploit: 45.5 points in the paint per game allowed this season, including fifth most (53.3) over the last three regular-season games; bottom five in fantasy points allowed to centers over last 10 regular-season games on FantasyDraft (52.3), FanDuel (45.3) and DraftKings (77.5).
Cavaliers value play to consider:Tristan Thompson, C
He certainly doesn't come without risk, but as he showed in Sunday's Game 7 against the Pacers, Thompson can deliver when he's on. The big man generated a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double that was key to the win, and his impressive effort and the Cavs' need to match Jonas Valanciunas' size down low should lead to a solid role for Thompson in the semifinal round. Additionally, it's worth noting that Thompson's offensive game profiles perfectly with the Raptors' propensity for allowing points in the paint, as he logged a career-high 82.7 percent of his scoring in that area of the floor this past season.
Boston (2) vs. Philadelphia (3)
Season series result: Celtics 3, 76ers 1
Notable Celtics metric/area to exploit: 53.4 fantasy points allowed to two-guards on FantasyDraft, 45.5 fantasy points allowed to two-guards on FanDuel and 88.0 fantasy points allowed to two-guards on DraftKings over last 10 regular-season games.
Sixers value play to consider: Marco Belinelli, SG
Belinelli averaged 16.5 points (on 50.8 percent shooting, including 40.0 percent from three-point range), 2.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals across 26.9 minutes in the final 10 games of the campaign, and he followed that up with averages of 16.6 points (on 45.2 percent shooting), 2.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals across 30.6 minutes in five games against the Heat in the first round. Just as important was the fact he averaged 12.4 shot attempts across 30.6 minutes in those contests, leading to a solid 19.6 percent usage rate. His role as a key source of second-unit offense well established, Belinelli should once again make for an appealing value play in what projects to be a hard-fought series, and he'll likely be able to avoid Marcus Smart's defense a good bit for the time being while Smart fills in for Jaylen Brown on the first unit.
Notable Sixers metric/area to exploit: Third-highest pace of play on the season (103.6 possessions per game), including the highest (106.2) over the final three games of regular season; ninth-highest offensive efficiency rating allowed to opposing benches (42.4); seventh-most points allowed to shooting guards on the season (23.2)
Celtics value play to consider: Marcus Smart, G
Smart was already a strong play coming in, and Jaylen Brown's absence for at least Monday's Game 1 props up Smart's value even further. The versatile two-guard was able to log at least 25 minutes in each contest after returning to action in Game 5 of the first-round series against the Bucks, and given that he missed the last 15 games of the regular season, his body is likely to be fresher than many who'll be trying to defend him. Moreover, Philadelphia's weakness against two-guards surfaced again in the first round, as they allowed the Heat's Dwyane Wade to average 16.6 points on 44.3 percent shooting across 25.4 minutes in five games. Smart will need to pick up his shooting percentages to optimize his value, but his ability to fill out the rest of the stat sheet should set him up for some solid all-around production.
