Draftkings Best NBA Showdown Picks: Mavericks vs. Thunder 5/9/24

The NBA presents a playoff matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Let’s take a look at this game from a Draftkings perspective.

Before we dive into the Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder 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.

Here are my Draftkings picks for this evening’s Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder matchup.

Draftkings Picks

Captain-Luka Doncic $13,200

Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic arrives at tonight’s playoff game with the Oklahoma City Thunder playing outstanding basketball from a statistical perspective. Let’s take a look at Luka Doncic’s recent game data to get a better understanding of his play on the basketball court.

In the Dallas Mavericks seven playoff games played in the 2024 Western Conference playoffs, Luka Doncic has averaged a robust 28.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, 8 assists, and 1.1 steals a game.

More recently, in the Dallas Mavericks 117-95 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder two days ago, Luka Doncic posted some outstanding DFS numbers. Let me be more specific. Luka Doncic accumulated 19 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals in the Mavericks Game 1 loss to the Thunder.

For the reasons just noted, I am rolling with Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic as my captain for this one game DFS slate.

Flex Plays

Kyrie Irving $10,400

Dallas Mavericks shooting guard Kyrie Irving has been the key addition to the backcourt that the Mavericks have needed to win games in the 2024 Western Conference playoffs.

In the Dallas Mavericks last seven games played (all playoff games), Dallas guard Kyrie Irving averaged 25.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.8 steals a game.

Tonight, Kyrie Irving draws an Oklahoma City Thunder defense that struggled to defend the shooting guard position in the regular season. Upon the completion of 82 games in the 2024 NBA regular season, the Oklahoma City Thunder ranked a rather low 20th in total Draftkings points allowed (43.1) to the shooting guard position a game.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander $11,400

How well has Oklahoma City point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander been playing from a statistical standpoint in the 2024 Western Conference playoffs? In the Oklahoma City Thunder’s five games played this postseason, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 27.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1 block a game.

Additional players I like to play well (Draftkings price noted): Chet Holmgren $8,800: Josh Giddey $7,400: Jaylin Williams $3,400.