
Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Pistons vs. Rockets 1/20/25
Breaking down the best Draftkings picks for this afternoon's Pistons vs. Rockets matchup.
Detroit Pistons vs. Houston Rockets
January 20, 2025 2:00 pm EDT
Later today, the NBA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Houston Rockets and the Detroit Pistons. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Houston Rockets vs. Detroit Pistons 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 afternoon’s Detroit Pistons vs. Houston Rockets matchup.
Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks
Captain-Alperen Sengun, Center, Houston Rockets $11,000
Center Alperen Sengun has undoubtedly been a standout performer for the Houston Rockets this season. With that said, how has Sengun played from a statistical perspective? Let’s analyze Sengun’s game data from the 2024 NBA regular season to reveal the significant impact that the talented young center has made on the team’s overall performance.
In the 41 games that Alperen Sengun has played for the Houston Rockets in the 2024 NBA regular season, Sengun is averaging 44.7 Draftkings points a game.
It is noteworthy that these two teams met earlier this season. Who prevailed? How did Alperen Sengun perform in the game? In the Houston Rockets thrilling 101-99 win over the Detroit Pistons in November, Alperen Sengun certainly played at a high level. Let me be more specific. Sengun accumulated a robust 27 points, ten rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in the Houston Rockets win over the Detroit Pistons.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the Houston Rockets win over the Detroit Pistons just mentioned, Houston center Alperen Sengun tallied 46.8 Draftkings points.
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, Alperen Sengun appears to be the player most likely to accumulate the highest number of DraftKings points in tonight’s NBA regular season game. Consequently, I am selecting Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun as my captain for this single game DraftKings NBA Showdown contest.
Flex Plays
Cade Cunningham, Point Guard, Detroit Pistons $12,000
Point guard Cade Cunningham has been a key contributor to the Detroit Pistons success on the offensive side of the basketball this season. Let’s dive into Cunningham’s game data from this season to better shed light on my previous statement.
In the 38 games that Cade Cunningham has played for the Detroit Pistons in the 2024 NBA regular season, Cunningham has averaged 24.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 9.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.8 blocks a game.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the 38 games that Cade Cunningham has played for the Detroit Pistons this season, Cunningham is averaging 50.3 Draftkings points a game.
Additional flex plays I like to play well this evening (Draftkings price noted): Fred Van Vleet, Point Guard (Houston Rockets) $9,200: Tobias Harris, Forward (Detroit Pistons) $7,400.