FanDuel Best NBA DFS Picks: Bucks vs. Cavaliers 11/17/25
Milwaukee Bucks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
November 17, 2025 7:00 pm EDT
The NBA presents FanDuel basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Milwaukee Bucks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game let’s review the rules for the FanDuel single game showdown contest.
FanDuel Single Game Contest Rules
Here are the FanDuel single game contest rules. You have $60,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team MVP. The MVP accumulates 1.5x times the standard FanDuel fantasy points value. Additionally, the MVP is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.
The remaining five players in your lineup will be flex plays. The five flex positions will receive the standard FanDuel points value. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your MVP position if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) FanDuel single game contest.
If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game contest, I highly recommend that you check out the FanDuel website for more details.
*I recommend that all readers review the starting lineups for both teams prior to setting your DFS lineup for this one game slate.
Here are my FanDuel picks for tonight’s Milwaukee Bucks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers matchup.
FanDuel NBA DFS Picks
MVP-Donovan Mitchell, Guard, Cleveland Cavaliers $13,400
Veteran guard Donovan Mitchell has been the floor general that the Cleveland Cavaliers have needed to win games in 2025. With that said, how has Mitchell performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Mitchell’s relevant game data from the 2025 NBA season to better shed light on the talented guard’s overall contributions to his team.
In the 12 games that guard Donovan Mitchell has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2025 NBA regular season, Mitchell has averaged 30.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.5 blocks a game.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the 12 games that Donovan Mitchell has played this season, Mitchell has compiled a 49.8% field goal percentage, a 38.1% three-point percentage, and an 83.3% free throw percentage.
Earlier this month, in the Cleveland Cavaliers 132-121 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell played exceptionally well. Let me be more specific. In the Cavaliers victory over Philadelphia, Mitchell amassed a massive 46 points, four rebounds, eight assists and one steal in 35 minutes of play.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the Cleveland Cavaliers defeat of the 76ers, Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell tallied a robust 63.8 FanDuel points.
As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the MVP position for a FanDuel NBA single game lineup is absolutely vital if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) DFS contest. Keep that in mind as you construct your lineups.
In my opinion, Donovan Mitchell is the most likely player to post the most FanDuel points in this NBA regular season game. Having stated that, I am backing Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell at the MVP position for this one game FanDuel NBA DFS contest.
Flex Plays
Jarrett Allen, Center, Cleveland Cavaliers $11,200
In addition to Donovan Mitchell, center Jarrett Allen has been a key contributor for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season.
In the 12 games that Jarrett Allen has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2025 NBA regular season, Allen has averaged 15.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks.
Additional flex plays I like to play well in tonight’s NBA regular season game (FanDuel price noted): Giannis Antetokounmpo, Forward (Milwaukee Bucks) $15,600: Bobby Portis, Forward (Milwaukee Bucks) $5,000: Lonzo Ball, Guard (Cleveland Cavaliers) $4,000.
