New York Knicks vs. Detroit Pistons DFS Game 6 Start Sit| May 1st

Despite some strong performances from the New York Knicks, the Detroit Pistons are still hanging around in this series. They rallied back to win Game 5, and now they only trail New York 2-3. What’s interesting is that most of the offense from Detroit came from two players (Cunningham and Thompson), whereas New York shared the offense more evenly. That means DFS players still want to focus on some of the Knicks players, regardless of the loss in the last game.

Lock of the Game

Yes, he only scored 17 points in Game 5. Given the way he plays, though, Brunson was bound to lay a goose egg at some point. Game 5 was that point, and now that he has that behind him, he can go back to his winning ways. Given how many times he takes the ball down into the paint, one could consider him a volume scorer. Some nights, he won’t always be worth his volume, but the last volume shooter to play for the Knicks was named Carmelo Anthony. Jalen Brunson easily bounces back in Game 6.

Start ‘Em

With 24 points, Cade Cunningham led the Detroit Pistons in scoring for Game 5. He also went 11-12 from the free throw line, which might be his most impressive stat. Now the Knicks have to guard a great shooter who can get to the basket quickly, and one they don’t want to foul. It should be very interesting to see how the Knicks decide to guard Cunningham, but he will get his numbers no matter what the Knicks’ defense does.

Game 5 was a return to form for Anunoby, who scored 19 points. Having Karl Anthony-Towns playing the way he does stretches the defense, which therefore leaves the middle open for Anunoby to do his thing. The New York forward was also 3-4 from three-point land, which is always nice to see. Anunoby is finding new ways to score, and that should be scary for the Detroit defense.

Sit ‘Em

Although it’s hard to erase the image of his late-game heroics in Game 4, Hardaway Jr. felt the impact of the inconsistency he’s been showing for a bit. Forget the fact that he only scored eight points; he went 1-7 from three-point range. That’s a dreadful statistic to see when Hardaway Jr.’s main way of scoring is getting the ball kicked out to him from Cunningham. Talent-wise, Hardaway Jr. is much better than this, but it’s not a good idea to start him in DFS where consistency is a necessity.

Duren can’t be blamed for not being one of the driving forces of the Pistons’ offense. That still doesn’t make him a great pick for DFS, however. Duren only had nine points in the last game, and that’s about standard for the Detroit center. Duren is also a rebounding machine, which is always nice to see, but his lack of points makes him a tough sell from a DFS standpoint.

Fade of the Game

Especially now that they’ve lost Game 5, New York will probably let their starters play most of the game. If they lose Game 6, rest assured, the Knicks will play their starters for most of Game 7. Neither of those scenarios looks good for Cameron Payne, who only managed to score two points in Game 5. The only bench player to be relevant in any way was Mitchell Robinson during that game, so it’s ill-advised to bet on Payne having a huge scoring night.