Draftkings Best NBA Showdown Picks: Knicks vs. Pacers 5/17/24

The NBA presents a playoff matchup between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers. Let’s take a look at this game from a Draftkings perspective.

Before we dive into the New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers 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 tonight’s New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers matchup.

Tyrese Haliburton $10,000

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton has certainly been the leader in the backcourt that the Pacers have needed to win playoff games this season.

In the Indiana Pacers ten games played in the 2024 Eastern Conference playoffs, Tyrese Haliburton averaged 18.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 1.4 steals a game.

More recently, in the Indiana Pacers 121-91 win over the New York Knicks three days ago, Tyrese Haliburton posted some quality DFS numbers. Haliburton accumulated 13 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in the Pacers win over the Knicks in Game 5 of Eastern Conference Semifinals.

It should be noted that the Indiana Pacers have officially listed Tyrese Haliburton as questionable for this evening’s game. I recommend that all readers review the starting lineups for both teams prior to setting your Draftkings lineup for this one game slate.

Flex Plays

Donte DiVincenzo $8,200

How important has Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo been to the New York Knicks this postseason? Let’s take a look at DiVincenzo’s recent game statistics to answer that question. In the New York Knicks last six games played (all playoff games), DiVincenzo has averaged an impressive 21.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.4 steals, and 1 block a game.

Looking at the data just presented more closely I observed that in the New York Knicks last six games played in the 2024 Eastern Conference playoffs, Donte DiVincenzo has averaged an impressive 39.1 Draftkings points a game.

I also like Donte DiVincenzo’s matchup in this game. Why? DiVincenzo draws an Indiana Pacers 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 Indiana Pacers ranked a rather low 20th in total Draftkings points allowed (43.1) to the shooting guard position a game.

Alec Burks $4,400

Last week, talented Knicks forward OG Anunoby suffered a hamstring injury. The unfortunate injury has resulted in OG Anunoby missing multiple playoff games. Anunoby will not be available for tonight’s playoff game either.

The lack of Anunoby in the Knicks lineup has opened the door for other players to contribute from an offensive standpoint.

From a DFS perspective, which New York Knicks player will benefit the most from Anunoby’s absence? In my opinion, Alec Burks is the answer to that question. In the New York Knicks 121-91 loss to the Indiana Pacers earlier in the week, Burks accumulated 18 points and 5 rebounds.

In summary, I think Alec Burks is the best fantasy value of any player on this one game slate with a Draftkings price of only $4,400.

Additional players I like (Draftkings price noted): Pascal Siakam $8,600: Miles McBride $4,800: Isaiah Hartenstein $7,200.