NBA DFS: Top DraftKings, FanDuel daily Fantasy basketball picks for Thursday, April 25 include LeBron James

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Two teams who suffered last-minute, if not last-second, defeats on Monday will look to bounce back on Thursday in the 76ers and Lakers. In their favor is that they each have an MVP in Joel Embiid and LeBron James, not to mention other top-tier options in the NBA DFS player pool such as Tyrese Maxey and Anthony Davis. Forming NBA DFS stacks with these sets of teammates will be a popular NBA DFS strategy for tonight's respective Game 3s. However, what more economical options can you surround these elite talents with?

Embiid has been matching up with New York's Isaiah Hartenstein quite often, and the Knicks' big man has more than held his own. He's averaging 10 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 blocks in the series but is still not even amongst the five most expensive centers in Thursday's NBA DFS player pool on both DraftKings and FanDuel. With Mitchell Robinson (questionable, ankle) popping up on the injury report, Hartenstein could be in line for even more court time tonight. Before making your 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 and create optimal lineups that he shares only over at SportsLine. They're a must-see for any NBA DFS player.

On Wednesday, McClure highlighted Heat forward Nikola Jovic as one of his top picks in his NBA DFS player pool on both sites. The result: Jovic had 11 points, nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block, returning 38.25 points on DraftKings and 37.8 points on FanDuel. Anybody who included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.

McClure has turned his attention to NBA action on Thursday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.

Top NBA DFS picks for Thursday, April 24

For Thursday, one of McClure's top NBA DFS picks is rostering Lakers forward James who is listed at $9,500 on DraftKings and $10,500 on FanDuel. The Lakers being in a 2-0 hole isn't the fault of James, who is averaging 26.5 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals in the series. Despite L.A. suffering 10 straight defeats to Denver, James has still scored at least 21 points in each of his last 11 games against the Nuggets, with five double-doubles over that stretch.

James gets a two-day rest between Games 2 and 3, and he's been at his best this season when having two days off. James averages his most points (27.1), rebounds (8.4) and assists (9.1) with two days of rest compared to any other rest interval. He's also been on an incredibly efficient shooting run as of late as over his last nine games, counting both the regular and postseason, James is converting on 61.1% of his field goal attempts and 52.5% of his 3-point attempts.

Another part of McClure's optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering 76ers guard Kyle Lowry ($4,700 on DraftKings and $5,400 on FanDuel). The veteran had 18 points in Game 1 versus the Knicks before filling up the box score in Game 2 with eight points, six rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. For the series, Lowry is averaging 13 points, five rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and one block per game.

Lowry has played 34 and 39 minutes in the two games of this series, and you have to go back to 2022 to find the last time that he logged 34-plus minutes in back-to-back games. More court time means more opportunities to rack up NBA DFS points, and Lowry has made it a habit to increase his production versus New York in the postseason. Over the last two years, he's averaging 12.4 points in eight playoff games versus the Knicks compared to just eight points across six regular season games versus New York. See McClure's other NBA DFS picks right here.

How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Thursday, April 25

McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Thursday 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 Thursday? 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.