Third Round Strategy: Who Do You Have Left?

We have officially arrived in the third round of the playoffs. The #1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks were knocked out by an underdog Miami Heat team. Philadelphia lost in embarrassing fashion to Boston. We are left with a Final Four of Miami, Boston, LA Lakers, and Denver. Is this.... 2020 or 2023? Deja Vu starts to set in as we all feel we've seen this before!

Some of our rosters might be looking a little bit depleted. I know mine is. Here is who I'm down from advancing teams:

Miami: Jimmy Butler (both formats), Gabe Vincent (Fantasy Postseason)

Boston: Jayson Tatum (Google Drive), Malcolm Brogdon (both formats)

LA Lakers: None

Denver Nuggets: Jamaal Murray (Google Drive), Aaron Gordon (Fantasy Postseason)

I missed out on Devin Booker in Google Drive. I missed out on Kevin Durant in Fantasy Postseason. In many ways, the second round did not go as planned. Boston losing Game 5 really threw off my game plan. 

I want to give a big shout out to Jerry for the way he managed his roster the past two rounds. He comes into the third round with Jimmy Butler and Jayson Tatum both around. Well played by him, he picked his series winners and stuck with them. That's what it takes to get the job done if you believe in your picks.

Third Round strategy is a little bit more straightforward:

1) In formats without the round multiplier, you should start at the top, or near to it. Players can get hurt and there isn't much reason to hold on to good players in favour of bench players. The exception to this: a) saving a star player for the most important game where they can become the focus, and b) if a player is hurt and a specific role player will have an increased role (e.g. Paul Reed last round). Keep this in mind as Jamaal Murray is questionable for Game 1 with an illness. 

2) In formats with a round multiplier, start from the 4th best option on the team you expect to lose and work your way up. Adjust your strategy for every game that team wins, where you can either dip to their 5th best option or pick an option from the team you expect to win.

I'm expecting Boston vs Lakers in the finals, but would not be surprised to see Denver make it, considering how good they are. I've also doubted Miami two straight rounds and they've won both times. We will see how things play out!

My pick for Game 1 tonight depends on Jamaal Murray's availability. It will be officially made later today. Who do you have?

For reference, the 2020 NBA Playoffs.