Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Knicks vs. Pacers 5/31/25
New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers
May 31, 2025 8:00 pm EDT
The NBA presents Draftkings basketball fans with an Eastern Conference playoff matchup featuring the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Indiana Pacers vs. New York Knicks game let’s review the rules for the 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 Knicks vs. Pacers matchup.
Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks
Captain-Karl-Anthony Towns, Center, New York Knicks $10,600
Talented center Karl-Anthony Towns has been the leader in the paint that the New York Knicks have needed to win games this season. With that said, how has Towns performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Towns relevant game data from the 2024 NBA season to answer that question.
In the 89 games that center Karl-Anthony Towns has played for the New York Knicks in the 2024 NBA season (including playoff games), Towns is averaging 23.9 points, 12.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.7 blocks a game.
Examining the data just presented more closely, in the 89 games that Karl-Anthony Towns has played for the New York Knicks this season, Towns has compiled a 52.6% field goal percentage, a 42% three-point percentage and an 82.9% free throw percentage.
As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the captain position for a Draftkings WNBA 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.
In my view, Karl-Anthony Towns is the most likely player to accumulate the most DFS points in this NBA playoff game. Having stated that, I am backing New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NBA single game contest.
Flex Plays
Pascal Siakam, Forward, Indiana Pacers $9,200
In the 92 games that power forward Pascal Siakam has played for the Indiana Pacers in the 2024 NBA season (including playoff games), Siakam has averaged 20.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks a game.
Looking closer at the data just presented, in the 92 games that Pascal Siakam has played for the Pacers this season, Siakam is averaging a robust 36.9 Draftkings points a contest.
It should be noted that these two teams have met multiple times this season. How has Siakam performed in the matchups with the Knicks? In the Indiana Pacers 130-121 victory over the New York Knicks earlier this week, Pascal Siakam played rather well. Siakam amassed 30 points, five rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal in the Pacers defeat of the Knicks.
Additional flex plays I like to play well in this NBA playoff game (Draftkings price noted): Tyrese Haliburton, Point Guard (Indiana Pacers) $11,200: Jalen Brunson, Point Guard (New York Knicks) $11,600: Josh Hart, Forward (New York Knicks) $8,000.
