Draftkings Best NBA Showdown Picks: Thunder vs. Pelicans 4/29/24

The Oklahoma City Thunder travel to Louisiana for a matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans. Let’s take a look at this NBA game from a DFS perspective.

Prior to discussing my Draftkings picks for the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. New Orleans Pelicans game, let’s review an important note regarding the rules and scoring for the single game showdown contests.

For those readers who are not aware, the rules and scoring for DraftKings single game showdown contests are vastly different than the traditional classic contests offered by the platform.

If you need to review the specific rules for the single game showdown contests feel free to check out the Draftkings website.

Here are my Draftkings picks for this evening’s Oklahoma City Thunder vs. New Orleans Pelicans matchup.

Draftkings Picks

Captain-Larry Nance Jr. $6,200

Yes, I know that Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a great play at captain tonight. However, with the New Orleans Pelicans playing to avoid being eliminated from the 2024 Western Conference playoffs, I am shifting my focus to New Orleans forward Larry Nance Jr. as my captain for this one game slate.

In the New Orleans Pelicans 106-85 loss to the Phoenix Suns two days ago, Larry Nance Jr. posted some outstanding DFS numbers. Let me be more specific. Larry Nance Jr. accumulated 9 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals in the Pelicans loss to the Suns.

Looking at the data just presented more closely, I observed that in the Pelicans loss to the Suns in Game 3 of the Western Conference playoffs, Larry Nance accumulated a robust 36.3 Draftkings points.

Earlier this morning, the New Orleans officially listed talented center Zion Williamson as out for this evening’s Game 4 matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder. In my opinion, Williamson’s absence in the Pelicans lineup will provide Larry Nance Jr. a big opportunity to prosper within the New Orleans offense.

In my opinion, Larry Nance Jr. will continue to play quality basketball versus this Oklahoma City Thunder team in Game 4 of the Western Conference playoffs later today.

Flex Plays

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander $11,000

Oklahoma City point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been the driving force for this Oklahoma City Thunder team this season. Having stated that, how has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander been playing recently?

Since the beginning of April, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played six games for the Oklahoma City Thunder. In those six games just noted (including playoffs), Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 26 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal a game. It has to be said, those are some quality offensive numbers from the Oklahoma City point guard.

C.J. McCollum $9,600

I mentioned earlier in this article that New Orleans Pelicans center Zion Williamson will be absent from the Pelicans lineup tonight due to injury. In addition to Larry Nance Jr., I think Pelicans guard C.J. McCollum will flourish in the Pelicans offense without Williamson in the paint.

How has New Orleans point guard C.J. McCollum performed from an offensive efficiency standpoint recently? In the New Orleans Pelicans last six games played (including playoffs), McCollum averaged 19.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.7 blocks a game.

Additional flex plays I like (Draftkings price noted): Chet Holmgren $8,800: Jalen Williams $9,000: Trey Murphy $8,400: Luguentz Dort $5,600: Cason Wallace $3,200.