Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Pacers vs. Pelicans 11/1/24

The NBA presents a regular season matchup featuring the Indiana Pacers and the New Orleans Pelicans. Let’s take a look at this game from a Draftkings perspective.

Before we dive into the Indiana Pacers and the New Orleans Pelicans 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 Indiana Pacers vs. New Orleans Pelicans matchup.

Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks

Captain-Zion Williamson, Forward, New Orleans Pelicans $10,000

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson was the leader that the New Orleans Pelicans needed to advance to the NBA playoffs last season. Let’s take a look at Williamson’s game data from the 2023 NBA regular season to better shed light on my previous statement.

In the 70 games that Zion Williamson played for the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2023 NBA regular season, Williamson averaged a massive 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.7 blocks a game.

Now that we have ascertained how Williamson played in 2023, let’s shift our focus to this season. In the four games that Zion Williamson has played for the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2024 NBA regular season, Williamson averaged 18.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.5 blocks a game.

More recently, in the New Orleans Pelicans 105-103 win over the Portland Trailblazers six days ago, Zion Williamson certainly played at a high level. More specifically, Williamson compiled 16 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks, and one steal.

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 opinion, Zion Williamson is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this evening’s NBA regular season game. For that specific reason, I am backing New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NBA Showdown contest.

Flex Plays

Pascal Siakam, Forward, Indiana Pacers $8,600

In the four games that forward Pascal Siakam has played for the Indiana Pacers in the 2024 NBA regular season, Siakam is averaging a robust 40.6 Draftkings points a game.

Last week, in the Indiana Pacers 135-132 victory over the Boston Celtics, Pascal Siakam played exceptionally well. Let me be more specific. Siakam accumulated 29 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists in the Pacers win over the Celtics. It has to be said, those are the type of DFS numbers I need to see from a player that I select at the flex position for a Draftkings NBA Showdown contest.

Additional flex plays I like to play well this evening (Draftkings price noted): Tyrese Haliburton, Point Guard (Indiana Pacers) $9,600: Brandon Ingram, Forward (New Orleans Pelicans) $9,400.