Another challenging night for MomentRanks Play awaits us, as we again only have one game on the schedule. The Conference Semifinals begins with a bang: the Bucks head to Brooklyn to start the series against the Nets.
This star-studded matchup may be the matchup of the playoffs, with the big three of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving meeting reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and his supporting cast of Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton. I see this as the first real test for Brooklyn’s All-Star trio and can not wait to see how it plays out.
Since everyone is choosing from just one game tonight, limiting the variance in the lineups, I will go into some more obscure options that might help you differentiate from the pack. It is going to be hard to find Moments to beat the six star players I just mentioned, but we’ll try our best to look at some options. What is going to matter most is what Moment type you select for the stars you deploy in your team.
Always remember that when building a roster in MomentRanks Play, each Moment can unlock a Moment Boost by achieving over their last-ten game averages (L10) in the stat that corresponds to the featured play. This means choosing the correct Moment is crucial to your lineup’s success.
Make sure to understand the scoring and bonuses for Play before choosing your squad. Keep in mind that play type will dictate the Moment Boost if a player goes over their 10-game averages. You can also watch this quick tutorial on Play scoring if you ever need a refresher.
Important note: as previously posted, the First Round Head-to-Head Contest will include all games played until June 6. This means that today’s and Sunday’s head-to-head games (June 5-6) will count toward the First Round Contest leaderboard.
Let’s get into it.
Core Moments
Kevin Durant — Series 2 Common /15,000 3-Pointer — $59
Durant has only two Moment types: Dunk or 3-Pointer. He has 26.6 points per game and 2.0 3-pointers made on average over his last ten. It’s an easy choice to go with the 3-pointer; KD would need more than 40 points to get the same boost as just three triples. Likelihood is if he hits 40 points, he’s shooting from deep. This is the lock of the day.
James Harden — Series 2 Common /40,000+ Assist — $9
Harden looks to be the most effective on the assist Moment, as he has shown the potential to go for well over 10 in a night. He does carry a 9.3 ssist per game average over his last ten games but the only other option for him, a 3-pointer Moment, is also decently high with a 2.7 L10 average.
If you think Harden hits five 3s but only dishes out 10 assists then check out this premium pivot, as his cheapest possible 3-pointer Moment is $165.
Kyrie Irving — Series 1 Common /3,163 Steal ($139)
I do see the price tag here, but every single cheaper Irving Moment would have a scoring boost, and that is going to be the default for people trying to get Kyrie’s base score into their lineup. I wouldn’t recommend doing this, as a good boost can surpass a base score easily. Of course, if it’s your only option — Kyrie should probably be in your lineup.
But if you want to grab this steal it might be the only way to play Kyrie tonight and finish at the top of the Daily Contest.. He’s at 1.2 steals L10, so if he can get two or maybe even three tonight this will be a winning Moment on a small schedule night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo — Series 2 Common /35,000 Block ($9)
Another case of limited possibility, the majority of decently priced Moments for Greek Freak are all scoring Moments. The one outlier is this block Moment, and with Anteteokounmpo only blocking five shots in his last 10 games (many of which weren’t competitive against Miami), just one block will trigger the boost. If you don’t think he’ll record a block, then go ahead and pivot to the 40k+ dunk at $6.
Jrue Holiday — Series 1 Common /3,342 Assist ($91)
Holiday is most likely going to be the main distributor for the Bucks tonight, and with a 7.9 average in assists over the last 10 contests, we are getting a gift by our boost activating at 8. Every Moment of Holiday’s with a lower price is a scoring Moment, and you know how I feel about the limited upside of scoring Moments.
The same thing goes here as before, if you somehow think Holiday stays under 8 assists, pivot to the cheaper jump shot Moment for $3.
Khris Middleton — Series 1 Common /3,288 3 Pointer ($45)
Middleton may find his team trailing the offensive powerhouse of the Nets and it wouldn’t surprise me if he shot a bunch from deep. His L10 average is only 2.1 threes per game, so this is a high upside way to play Middleton in a high-paced game.
You could pivot to the $4 assist Moment if you wanted, but he doesn’t carry very high potential to drop 10 in the category like some other featured players.
Sleeper Moments
Brynn Forbes — Series 2 Common /12,000 3 Pointer ($5)
Forbes has been a powder keg, when he gets hot… watch out! I think we just saw the start of his great shooting run in the series against the Heat. The Nets are not much of a defensive minded team, and if the score is getting run up, look for Forbes to take enough long range shots to get past his 2.8 L10 average in the category and unlock his boost.
PJ Tucker — Series 2 Common /35,000 3 Pointer ($3)
Am I out of my mind? Maybe. Does PJ Tucker have a 0.5 average over the last 10 games in threes made? Yep. This is a super deep sleeper, not for the faint of heart, but if PJ gets open in the corner and makes three shots from long range that’s an easy 22.5 bonus points — and that’ll be tough to match. This might be good for a low-cost match, as some Moments today are expensive.
Have questions about setting your lineup on Play? Check out the Play FAQ, or send me a tweet, @JustinPerri8.