SportsLine’s Mike McClure, a daily Fantasy pro with more than $2 million in winnings, gives optimal NBA DFS lineup advice for Friday, April 25
The 2025 NBA playoffs continue on Friday with three games, and all of the respective series are moving to new locations. However, Friday’s NBA DFS player pool is filled with stars who are known to excel in hostile, road environments including LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Haliburton. Meanwhile, Damian Lillard will play his first home game since returning from missing a month due to DVT, as Lillard had 14 points in 37 minutes on Tuesday. With some rust shaken off, and a couple of more days of recovery, Lillard could well outperform his NBA DFS price tags on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings, making him an NBA DFS value pick for Friday.
Speaking of value, the likes of Andrew Nembhard, Wendell Carter Jr. and Jaden McDaniels have provided just that during the postseason. Can these role players keep up their production? Or, which other under-the-radar options should you consider for your NBA DFS lineups? Before making any NBA DFS picks, be sure to check out the NBA DFS advice, player rankings, stacks, and top daily Fantasy basketball picks from SportsLine’s Mike McClure.
McClure is a DFS professional with more than $2 million in career winnings. He’s also a predictive data engineer at SportsLine who uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every minute of every game 10,000 times, taking factors like matchups, statistical trends and injuries into account. This allows him to find the best NBA DFS values on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel and create optimal lineups that he shares only over at SportsLine. They’re a must-see for any NBA DFS player.
On Thursday, McClure identified Grizzlies point guard Scotty Pippen Jr. as one of his top NBA DFS picks on both sites. The result: Pippen had a postseason career-high of 28 points, to go along with five rebounds, five assists and three steals, returning 50.2 points on DraftKings and 48.5 points on FanDuel. Anybody who included him in their lineups could have been well on the way to a profitable day.
McClure has turned his attention to NBA action on Friday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Friday, April 25
For Friday, one of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks is Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards, who is listed at $8,500 on DraftKings and $9,200 on FanDuel. Edwards has at least 22 points and six rebounds in both postseason games thus far, but the biggest difference between his Game 1 and Game 2 stat lines came with his assists. After nine dimes in the postseason opener, Minnesota struggled with shooting in Game 2 as Edwards didn’t have a single assist. The Wolves ranked fourth in 3-point percentage in the regular season, so the Law of Averages says Minnesota should regress to the mean, make more jumpshots, and boost Edwards’ assists potential.
Edwards should also get a bit of a boost in returning to Minneapolis for the T’Wolves’ first home playoff game since being eliminated in the Western Conference Finals to Dallas last year. He had 28 points, nine rebounds and six assists in that contest, and has a recent history of filling up the box score in games after postseason defeats. Over his last three playoff games which came after a loss, Edwards is averaging 25.3 points, 8.3 assists and 8.0 rebounds, and that could be the floor for his stat line on Friday.
Another part of McClure’s optimal NBA DFS strategy includes Bucks PF/C Bobby Portis ($5,100 on DraftKings and $6,500 on FanDuel). Portis had 28 points in Game 2, which was one off his postseason career high, as well as 12 rebounds. This performance coming in Lillard’s return bodes well for Portis’ stock going forward as it indicates he won’t be any less of a focal point of Milwaukee’s offense.
Portis’ successful history versus Indiana also indicates he’ll have a huge role on Friday and throughout this series. He is averaging a double-double over his last 10 games versus Pacers, as the opponent’s fast pace of play is conducive to piling up stats. Portis is putting up 16.2 points and 11 rebounds over this stretch, including double-doubles in seven of the 10 outings. Outside of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Portis, the rest of Milwaukee is shooting just 37.6% in the series, so look for the Bucks to lean on their most efficient players to get back into this series. See McClure’s other NBA DFS picks right here.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Friday, April 25
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Friday because of a dream matchup. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.
Who is DFS pro Mike McClure putting in his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Friday? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NBA DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has over $2 million in career winnings, and find out.
