Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Rockets vs. Thunder 3/3/25

Later today, the NBA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.

Before we dive into the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets 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 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets matchup.

Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks

Captain-Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Point Guard, Oklahoma City Thunder $11,600

Talented Oklahoma City point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as the backcourt leader for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season. With that in mind, what do the statistics say about Gilgeous-Alexander’s performance? To answer this question, let’s examine his game data from the 2024 NBA regular season.

In the 59 games that the veteran point guard has played for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2024 NBA regular season, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.1 blocks a game.

Last night, in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s impressive 146-132 win over the San Antonio Spurs, Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander certainly played at a high level. More specifically, Gilgeous-Alexander compiled a whopping 31 points, four rebounds, eight assists, one steal and two blocks in the Thunder’s victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Examining the data just presented more closely, in the Thunder’s victory over the San Antonio Spurs just mentioned, Gilgeous-Alexander accumulated 55.5 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 opinion, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 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 rolling with Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NBA Showdown contest.

Flex Plays

Alperen Sengun, Center, Houston Rockets $9,800

Center Alperen Sengun has been the leader in the paint for the Houston Rockets this season. Let’s analyze Sengun’s game data from the 2024 NBA regular season to better shed light on my previous statement.

In the 57 games that Alperen Sengun has played for the Houston Rockets in the 2024 NBA regular season, Sengun is averaging 43.4 Draftkings points a game.

More recently, in the Houston Rockets 100-97 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks eight days ago, Houston center Alperen Sengun tallied a robust 23 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.

Additional flex plays I like to play well (Draftkings price noted): Jalen Green, Shooting Guard, (Houston Rockets) $8,400: Jalen Williams, Forward (Oklahoma City Thunder) $9,000: Luguentz Dort, Guard (Oklahoma City Thunder) $5,400.