Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Nuggets vs. Suns 12/25/24

Tomorrow night, the NBA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.

Before we dive into the Denver Nuggets vs. Phoenix Suns 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 tomorrow evening’s Denver Nuggets vs. Phoenix Suns matchup.

Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks

Captain-Nikola Jokic, Center, Denver Nuggets $13,600

Center Nikola Jokic has been the driving force behind the Denver Nuggets success on the offensive side of the basketball this season. An analysis of Jokic’s game data from the 2024 NBA regular season reveals the significant impact he has had on the team’s overall performance.

In the last 24 games that center Nikola Jokic has played for the Denver Nuggets in the 2024 NBA regular season, Jokic is averaging a robust 67.6 Draftkings points a game.

Earlier this month, in the Denver Nuggets convincing 141-111 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, Nikola Jokic certainly played at a high level. Let me be more specific. Jokic compiled an impressive 48 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and one block in the Nuggets win over the Atlanta Hawks.

Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the Denver Nuggets win over the Hawks just mentioned, Denver center Nikola Jokic tallied a whopping 85 Draftkings points. It has to be said, those are the type of DFS numbers I need to see from a player that I select at the captain position for a Draftkings NBA Showdown contest.

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.

I believe Nikola Jokic is the player most likely to accumulate the highest number of DraftKings points in tonight’s NBA regular season game. Having stated that, I am backing Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as the captain for this single game DraftKings NBA Showdown contest slate.

Flex Plays

Kevin Durant, Forward, Phoenix Suns $11,000

Talented forward Kevin Durant has emerged as the pivotal leader that the Phoenix Suns lineup has needed to play at a high level this season. To evaluate his performance from a statistical standpoint, let’s examine Durant’s game data from the 2024 NBA regular season.

In the last 17 games that Kevin Durant has played for the Phoenix Suns in the 2024 NBA regular season, Durant has averaged an impressive 27.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.8 blocks a game.

Examining the data just presented more closely, in the last 17 games that Kevin Durant has played for the Phoenix Suns this season, Durant has averaged 44.9 Draftkings points a game.

Additional flex plays I like to play well in this evening’s NBA game (Draftkings price noted): Jamal Murray, Point Guard (Denver Nuggets) $9,400: Bradley Beal, Guard (Phoenix Suns) $9,000: Tyus Jones, Point Guard (Phoenix Suns) $6,200.