DraftKings NBA DFS Lineups: Fitting Giannis & James Harden Together

DraftKings NBA DFS daily fantasy lineups picks

Getty Houston Rockets guard James Harden

There’s no tougher task on a two-game NBA slate in daily fantasy sports than trying to fit two stars in a lineup together. Often times, it makes little sense to take this approach. But other times, when the two stars find themselves in great spots, the upside and potential for the two players to break the slate make it worth trying.

Tuesday night may be one of those spots when the Milwaukee Bucks host the Boston Celtics and the Houston Rockets taken on the Golden State Warriors. These are two Game 2 matchups of the 2019 NBA Playoffs, and both Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden find their teams down 1-0 in the series.

With Giannis and Harden listed as the only two players over $10,000 on DraftKings and two of three names (with Kevin Durant) over $9,000, fitting them together is no easy task. But it’s not impossible either.

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We’re going to lay out a lineup or two which feature Antetokounmpo and Harden together, and then evaluate the reasoning behind how the structure works and why it makes sense. One thing to note is that this isn’t the only strategy I’d recommend for the two-game NBA slate. There’s a lot of talent available and many of the players are priced well, so building a well-rounded lineup makes sense.

To cover all bases, I’ll also offer a one-star lineup.


NBA DraftKings Lineup No. 1: The James Harden & Giannis Pairing

  • PG: James Harden ($10,100)
  • SG: Andre Iguodala ($4,700)
  • SF: Giannis Antetokounmpo ($10,000)
  • PF: Nikola Mirotic ($3,500)
  • C: Al Horford ($6,800)
  • G: Eric Gordon ($5,300)
  • F: P.J. Tucker ($4,300)
  • UTIL: Gordon Hayward ($5,200)

Using Nikola Mirotic is not for the faint of heart, but there’s an argument for doing so. After he began to find his rhythm again at the end of Milwaukee’s first-round series, he’s scored 12, 12 and 13 points in the last three games (14.75, 17.75, 19.5 fantasy points). Not only is Mirotic continuing to trend up, but his minutes are doing the same. He topped 20 minutes for the first time since returning from injury in Game 1 of the series.

As far as the rest of the lineup goes, the risk really falls in Eric Gordon and Gordon Hayward, although I don’t necessarily view the former as all that scary of a play. Gordon’s minutes are locked in and he’s attacking while playing great, and should have no problem hitting value at this price. The same stands for Hayward, who’s filling up the box score and has posted 32.75 and 29 fantasy points the last two games.


NBA DraftKings Lineup No. 2: More Harden & Giannis Antetokounmpo

  • PG: James Harden ($10,100)
  • SG: Klay Thompson ($5,900)
  • SF: Jaylen Brown ($4,800)
  • PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo ($10,000)
  • C: Draymond Green ($6,600)
  • G: Terry Rozier ($4,100)
  • F: Marcus Morris ($4,200)
  • UTIL: P.J. Tucker ($4,300)

In case the Mirotic selection wasn’t up your alley, I offered up a lineup without him. The spot for Terry Rozier is interesting, and while I don’t see him scoring 27.75 fantasy again in Game 2, he only needs roughly 20 fantasy to hit 5x value and more than pay off his price tag. It’s not an incredibly risky play, and he’s a lock for 18-20 minutes or possibly more depending on the situation.

Marcus Morris is likely going to have decent ownership at this price tag, and it’s easy to understand why. The $4,200 rice is attention-grabbing, especially considering he’s logged 30 minutes in each of the last two games and has topped 23.25 fantasy points in every playoff game but one. Lock and load on Morris, and if he decides to pull a disappearing act where he scores four fantasy points, I’ll just live with it.


DraftKings Lineup With One Star

  • PG: Kyrie Irving ($8,400)
  • SG: James Harden ($10,100)
  • SF: Khris Middleton ($6,400)
  • PF: Al Horford ($6,800)
  • C: Nikola Mirotic ($3,500)
  • G: Eric Gordon ($5,300)
  • F: Gordon Hayward ($5,200)
  • UTIL: P.J. Tucker ($4,300)

The one-star lineup features some similar players but allows us to fit either Harden or Antetokounmpo while also adding a few high-upside options. Kyrie Irving, Al Horford and Khris Middleton are players who I’d expect to clear 40 fantasy points tonight or at least land around it. If we can get two of the three to go off for 50 and pair that with a huge performance from Harden, then it’s a great outlook.

The aforementioned Hayward and Gordon both possess 30-35 point potential and decent floors (it seems), while P.J. Tucker is going to play as many minutes he can handle. It’s a mixture of upside, value and safe floors to give you the potential to hit it big if all goes according to plan.

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