This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Basketball series.
Sunday's NBA slate begins at 1 p.m. EDT with Game 7 between the Pacers and Cavaliers, which will be followed by the Jazz-Rockets series opener. There's no shortage of big names to choose from, so read on to see which players offer the best value and which should be avoided.
GUARD
Victor Oladipo, IND at CLE ($39): For all the talk of Oladipo underperforming in this series, he's still averaging 44.5 fantasy points per game after exploding for 68.6 in Game 6. Indiana will lean heavily on its biggest star in this deciding game, and Oladipo's quite affordable relative to his role and production.
Alec Burks, UTA at HOU ($10): Owners might have forgotten about Burks due to his constant injury issues, but the combo guard is still capable of putting together nice scoring outbursts, as evidenced by his 11 points and 15.7 fantasy points in just 17 minutes during Friday's closeout game. Ricky Rubio left that game early due to a hamstring injury, and that injury will also keep him out of at least the first game of this series. Utah has a number of potential ways to redistribute the minutes that had been going to Rubio, but almost all of them involve raising Burks' workload. Depending on how big his bump in role is, Burks could turn into an absolute steal at the minimum price.
Guard to Avoid:
Darren Collison, IND at CLE ($19): Collison's displayed a low floor and a low ceiling in this series, twice scoring fewer than 13.0 fantasy points while never exceeding 33.0. It's also no coincidence that his playing time has been on the decline, with his 21 minutes in Game 5 and 26 minutes in Game 6 representing Collison's two lowest totals of the series. There simply isn't all that much to like about him.
FORWARD
LeBron James, CLE vs. IND ($58): Just like Russell Westbrook in his pair of elimination games before finally succumbing to the Jazz, expect LeBron to put the team on his back and nearly monopolize the offense. Considering he has a combined 139.9 fantasy points in his last two home games, James is certainly capable of thriving in such a role against this opponent. Even if Indiana's able to pull off the upset, LeBron is almost guaranteed to make his fantasy owners happy.
Trevor Ariza, HOU vs. UTA ($14): Ariza won't blow you away, but he's as solid as they come in this price range, averaging 23.3 fantasy points per game this season and scoring 24.9 or more in three of his last four appearances. He continues to log heavy minutes in the postseason after averaging a shade less than 34 during this campaign, and all that playing time sets up a high floor for the veteran forward. Ariza's the perfect type of player to plug into your lineup if you're looking to save up for an expensive superstar like James.
Forward to Avoid:
Derrick Favors, UTA at HOU ($20): Favors carved out consistent minutes in the first round because his shortcomings on perimeter defense were minimized with Carmelo Anthony building a house of bricks from deep. The Rockets are much more likely to make him pay from beyond the arc, especially in Houston. Until Favors demonstrates that he's able to stay on the court for his usual allotment of minutes, the risk is too great to justify putting him in against a Rockets team that allowed a league-low 29.1 fantasy points per game to power forwards this season.
CENTER
Rudy Gobert, UTA at HOU ($30): Gobert's been the definition of dependable recently, averaging 38.7 fantasy points over the last five games while topping 30.0 in each despite dealing with some foul trouble. Unlike his teammate Favors, the towering Frenchman is at no risk of losing playing time for defensive reasons given his incredible rim protection, so it's safe to expect Gobert to top 30.0 fantasy points again regardless of how this game goes.
Domantas Sabonis, IND at CLE ($15): The Cavaliers have had no answer for Sabonis over the last three games, as he's poured in at least 19 points and five rebounds in each while averaging 27.5 fantasy points over that span. Fellow Pacers center Myles Turner hasn't scored more than 22.8 fantasy points since Game 1, yet he's still $2 more expensive than Sabonis.
Center to Avoid:
Kevin Love, CLE vs. IND ($24): Like Turner, Love had his best game in the series opener. He scored 36.4 fantasy points then, but has averaged only 22.2 fantasy points in five appearances since, including just 13.4 in Game 6. Love hasn't had the ball in his hands much lately, and that's not expected to change in this win-or-go-home scenario.
