NBA DFS, 2026: Top FanDuel, DraftKings picks, lineups, advice for Thursday, April 23 from a daily Fantasy pro

Three NBA Game 3 matchups highlight Thursday's 2026 NBA playoffs. Knicks vs. Hawks will tip at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Cavaliers vs. Raptors at 8 p.m. ET and Nuggets vs. Timberwolves at 9:30 p.m. ET, as there is a smaller-than-usual NBA DFS player pool. Even with that, the likes of Jamal Murray, James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Johnson, Evan Mobley and Nikola Jokic are high-quality options available as daily Fantasy basketball picks and within NBA DFS lineups.

Before making any NBA DFS picks on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel for this slate, you need to see what Mike McClure has to say.

McClure is a DFS professional with over $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 and create optimal lineups that he shares only at SportsLine. They're a must-see for any NBA DFS player.

For Thursday, one of McClure's top NBA DFS picks is Nuggets center Nikola Jokic ($12,700 on DraftKings, $12,500 on FanDuel). He's also building around Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards. Edwards has scored 22 points or more over the past three games, and has scored 28.6 points in five games against Denver this season, including playoffs.

McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Thursday! This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You absolutely need to see who it is before locking in any lineups.

What are the top NBA DFS picks for Thursday? ... Join SportsLine now to see DFS pro Mike McClure's top picks, stacks, and player pools for FanDuel and DraftKings, and cash in BIG on NBA DFS!