Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Hornets vs. 76ers 12/20/24

On Friday night, the NBA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Philadelphia 76ers and the Charlotte Hornets. Let’s take a look at this game from a Draftkings perspective.

Before we dive into the Philadelphia 76ers vs. Charlotte Hornets 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 evening’s Philadelphia 76ers vs. Charlotte Hornets matchup.

Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks

Captain-LaMelo Ball, Point Guard, Charlotte Hornets $10,800

Charlotte point guard LaMelo Ball has been the driving force behind the Charlotte Hornets success on the offensive side of the basketball this season. Having stated that, how has the talented young point guard performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Ball’s recent game data to answer that question.

In the 20 games that LaMelo Ball has played for the Charlotte Hornets in the 2024 NBA regular season, Ball has averaged an impressive 30.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 1.4 steals a game.

Upon closer examination of the data just presented, in the 20 games that point guard LaMelo Ball has played for the Charlotte Hornets this season, Ball is averaging a robust 52.1 DraftKings points.

Last night, in the Washington Wizards 123-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets, Charlotte point guard LaMelo Ball certainly played at a high level. Let me be more specific. Ball tallied 34 points, four rebounds, 13 assists, and one steal in the Washington Wizards victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

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.

In my view, Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NBA regular season game. For that specific reason, I am backing LaMelo Ball at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NBA Showdown contest.

Flex Plays

Tyrese Maxey, Point Guard, Philadelphia 76ers $9,800

In the last 18 games that point guard Tyrese Maxey has played for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2024 NBA regular season, Maxey has averaged 25.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.1 steals a game.

More recently, in the Philadelphia 76ers 108-100 win over the Chicago Bulls last month, Tyrese Maxey played exceptionally well. More specifically, Maxey compiled 25 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists, and one steal in the 76ers victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Additional flex plays I like to play well in this evening’s NBA game (Draftkings price noted): Paul George, Forward (Philadelphia 76ers) $9,600: Miles Bridges, Forward (Charlotte Hornets) $7,600: Andre Drummond, Center (Philadelphia 76ers) $7,000.