Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Celtics vs. Thunder 1/5/25

Later today, the NBA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Boston Celtics. Let’s take a look at this game from a Draftkings perspective.

Before we dive into the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Boston Celtics game let’s review the rules for Draftkings single game showdown contest.

Draftkings Single Game Showdown Contest Rules

You have $50,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team captain. The captain accumulates 1.5 times the standard fantasy points. Additionally, the captain is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.

The remaining four players in your lineup will receive the standard fantasy points. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your captain position if you hope to win a large field DFS GPP (guaranteed prize pool) showdown contest.

If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game showdown contest, I recommend that you check out the Draftkings 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 Draftkings picks for this afternoon’s Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Oklahoma City Thunder matchup.

Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks

Captain-Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Point Guard, Oklahoma City Thunder $11,000

Talented point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as the leader Oklahoma City Thunder have needed to be successful on the offensive side of the basketball this season. With that statement in mind, what do the statistics say about Gilgeous-Alexander’s performance in 2024? To answer this question, let’s examine Gilgeous-Alexander game data from the 2024 NBA regular season.

In the 34 games that point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2024 NBA regular season, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 2.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks a game.

Last month, in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s impressive 123-105 win over the Washington Wizards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander certainly played at a high level. Let me be more specific. Gilgeous-Alexander compiled a whopping 41 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals, and three blocks in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s victory over the Washington Wizards.

Examining the data just presented more closely, in the Thunder’s victory over the Washington Wizards, Gilgeous-Alexander accumulated 68.8 Draftkings points.

As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the captain position for a Draftkings NBA showdown 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 for this one game DFS slate.

In my opinion, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NBA regular season game. For that specific reason, I am rolling with Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NBA Showdown contest.

Flex Plays

Jayson Tatum, Forward, Boston Celtics $10,800

In 32 games that forward Jayson Tatum has played for the Boston Celtics in the 2024 NBA regular season, Tatum is averaging a robust 28.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.5 blocks a game.

More recently, in the Boston Celtics dominating 142-105 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas Day, Jayson Tatum played exceptionally well. More specifically, Tatum tallied 32 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in the Celtics victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Additional flex plays I like to play well (Draftkings price noted): Jalen Williams, Power Forward (Oklahoma City Thunder) $9,000: Jaylen Brown, Forward (Boston Celtics) $9,400: Isaiah Joe, Guard (Oklahoma City Thunder) $2,000.