Andre Snellings breaks down Monday's three NBA playoff games and offers his favorite bets and DFS plays.
André SnellingsApr 27, 2026, 01:17 PM ET
- Dr. André Snellings is a senior writer for men's and women's fantasy basketball and sports betting at ESPN. André has a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Michigan. He joined ESPN in 2017 after a 16-year career as a neural engineer, during which time he was also a writer and analyst for Rotowire.
ESPN's fantasy basketball daily cheat sheet is your pregame destination before you set your lineups for that night's games. Here you'll read our best advice for the night, including a selection of players you can stream as well as game-by-game injury reports.
What you need to know for Monday's games
The first round of the NBA Playoffs has entered crunch time, and it is possible that the first series ends as soon as tonight. The Minnesota Timberwolves are surprisingly one win away from upsetting the No. 3 seeded Denver Nuggets, even after losing best player Anthony Edwards (knee) and fellow starting guard Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles) to injury.
The Nuggets are huge favorites at -11.5, and they are in win-or-go-home mode, but they'll need to figure out a way to defend Ayo Dosunmu if they want to keep the series alive. And that's not a sentence I ever expected to type in this series.
The Oklahoma City Thunder could also close out tonight, up 3-0 on the Phoenix Suns, and are double-digit favorites in Game 4 even though the game is in Phoenix. The Suns have played the Thunder tough in the last two games, keeping the games competitive enough for individual players to still produce. If they can do it again, it could be good for the prop bets market.
Meanwhile, the other top seed is playing to avoid falling into a dangerous 3-1 deficit. The Detroit Pistons have their backs against the wall after the Orlando Magic pulled out Game 3 to take the lead in the series. The Magic are hosting Game 4 and have a chance to really take a stranglehold of this series with a win tonight.
Let's dig a bit deeper and identify some betting angles and DFS players of interest for tonight's action.
Dre's Bets for Monday
Jalen Suggs OVER 14.5 points (-104): Suggs has quietly been perhaps the most consistent scorer for the Magic this postseason. Not the highest volume scorer, but the most reliable one. In three playoffs games against the Pistons so far, Suggs has averaged 16.7 PPG with between 15 and 19 points in all three games. He's shooting a high volume, averaging 15.3 FGA/game, and as long as he maintains such a large shot share he should continue to be a mid-teens or higher scorer.
Tobias Harris OVER 16.5 points (-108): The Magic have done a good job of limiting Jalen Duren, the second leading scorer for the Pistons, all series long. Harris has been the one to step up as the second option behind Cade Cunningham. Harris has averaged 18.7 PPG in the series, and if you go back to the regular season, Harris has averaged 20.0 PPG in his last four outings. With Monday as a must-win for the Pistons, I look for team vet Harris to continue to help carry the scoring load.
Dillon Brooks OVER 19.5 points (-103): While the Thunder are in control of the series and could potentially sweep on Monday, one Suns player that has not backed down is Brooks. Brooks is averaging 27.0 PPG in the series, including scoring 30 and 33 in the last two. He should continue to be an offensive focal point for the Suns in Game 4.
Ayo Dosunmu OVER 19.5 points (-125): Dosunmu was already playing well for the Timberwolves, but in the injury absences of both Edwards and DiVincenzo in Game 3, Dosunmu exploded for 43 points on only 17 field goal attempts. While expecting him to replicate that performance may be aggressive, Dosunmu will clearly be asked to carry a large offense-creation role and he's shown he can score against the Nuggets with 25 points in Game 2.
Top Daily Fantasy Values of the Day
$8,100+ Salaries
Nikola Jokic, C, Denver Nuggets ($12,500): Jokic is not only motivated to help keep the Nuggets' season alive, but he was also visibly incensed to end Game 3 when Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels scored a meaningless bucket late in the game. I look for Jokic to be at his best tonight.
$6,100-$8,000 Salaries
Julius Randle, PF, Minnesota Timberwolves ($7,700): The Timberwolves are missing this starting backcourt, including their superstar in Edwards, and will rely heavily on Randle tonight. In 19 games this season without Edwards on the court, Randle averaged 23.8 PPG, 6.6 RPG and 4.6 APG.
Dillon Brooks, SG, Phoenix Suns ($6,100): Brooks has been the bright spot for the Suns in this series, notching more than 30 fantasy points in every game with 41 or more in the last two.
$3,500-$6,000 Salaries
Ayo Dosunmu, SG, Minnesota Timberwolves ($5,800): Dosunmu notched 41.2 FP off the bench in Game 2, then exploded to 53.5 FP in Game 3 after the backcourt injuries thrust him into 42 minutes of action. He will likely be relied upon heavily again tonight.
Projections and Injury Reports
Basketball Power Index by ESPN Analytics. Injury aggregation by Rotowire.com. Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook
Detroit Pistons at Orlando Magic
8 p.m. ET
Line: Pistons -3.5 (-110) | Magic +3.5 (-110)
Money line: Pistons -155 | Magic +130
Total: 215.5 (-108 O, -112 U)
BPI Projection: Pistons by 3.2, straight up 60%, 215.7 total points.
Injury Report:
Pistons: Kevin Huerter, (GTD - Hip)
Magic: Jonathan Isaac, (GTD - Knee)
Oklahoma City Thunder at Phoenix Suns
9:30 p.m. ET
Line: Thunder -10.5 (-112) | Suns +10.5 (-108)
Money line: Thunder -500 | Suns +380
Total: 214.5 (-110 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Thunder by 7.5, straight up 72%, 211.6 total points.
Injury Report:
Thunder: Jalen Williams, (OUT - Hamstring); Thomas Sorber, (OFS - Knee)
Suns: None reported
Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets
10:30 p.m. ET
Line: Timberwolves +11.5 (-110) | Nuggets -11.5 (-110)
Money line: Timberwolves +380 | Nuggets -500
Total: 223.5 (-108 O, -112 U)
BPI Projection: Nuggets by 5.6, straight up 67%, 226.3 total points.
Injury Report:
Timberwolves: Donte DiVincenzo, (OFS - Achilles); Anthony Edwards, (OUT - Knee)
Nuggets: Aaron Gordon, (GTD - Calf); Peyton Watson, (OUT - Hamstring)