Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Hornets vs. Trail Blazers 2/22/25

Later today, the NBA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers. Let’s take a look at this game from a Draftkings perspective.

Before we dive into the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers 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 tonight’s Charlotte Hornets vs. Portland Trail Blazers matchup.

Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks

Captain-LaMelo Ball, Point Guard, Charlotte Hornets $11,200

Talented point guard LaMelo Ball has been a standout performer for the Charlotte Hornets 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 34 games that LaMelo Ball has played for the Charlotte Hornets in the 2024 NBA regular season, Ball has averaged 27.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.3 blocks a game.

Upon closer examination of the data just presented, in the 34 games that point guard LaMelo Ball has played for the Charlotte Hornets this season, Ball is averaging a rather impressive 48.4 DraftKings points a contest.

More recently, in the Charlotte Hornets 100-97 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball certainly played at a high level. Let me be more specific. Ball tallied 24 points, four rebounds, ten assists and one steal in the Charlotte Hornets victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

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

Flex Plays

Anfernee Simons, Guard, Portland Trail Blazers $7,800

In the 52 games that shooting guard Anfernee Simons has played for the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2024 NBA regular season, Simons has averaged 18.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 0.8 steals a game.

It is noteworthy that these two teams met earlier this season. Who prevailed? How did Simons perform in the game? In the Portland Trail Blazers 102-97 win over the Charlotte Hornets last month, Anfernee Simons accumulated 27 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.

Looking closer at the data just presented, in the Trail Blazers victory over the Hornets, Simons compiled a robust 36.3 Draftkings points.

Additional flex plays I like to play well in this NBA regular season game (Draftkings price noted): Miles Bridges, Power Forward (Charlotte Hornets) $10,000: Deni Avdija, Forward (Portland Trail Blazers) $7,400.