Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Rockets vs. Thunder 10/21/25
Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
October 21, 2025 7:30 pm EDT
On Tuesday night, the NBA presents Draftkings basketball fans with an NBA regular season matchup featuring the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder 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 night’s Rockets vs. Thunder matchup.
Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks
Captain-Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Guard, Oklahoma City Thunder $10,200
Talented point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the driving force behind the Oklahoma City Thunder’s success on the basketball court in 2025. With that said, how did Gilgeous-Alexander perform from a statistical standpoint last season? Let’s review the veteran point guard’s relevant player data from the 2024 NBA season to answer that question.
In the 76 games that point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2024 NBA regular season season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks a game.
Looking closer at the data just presented, in the 76 games that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2024 NBA regular season, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged a massive 53.1 Draftkings points a 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. Keep that in mind as you construct your lineups.
In my view, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NBA regular season game. Having stated that, I am backing Oklahoma City point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the captain position for this one game NBA DFS Showdown slate.
Flex Plays
Chet Holmgren, Forward, Oklahoma City Thunder $8,000
In addition to point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, forward Chet Holmgren was a key contributor for the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2025.
In the 32 games that Chet Holmgren played for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2024 NBA regular season, Holmgren averaged 15.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.7 steals and 2.2 blocks a game.
Examining the data just presented more closely, in the 32 games that Chet Holmgren played for the Thunder last season, Holmgren averaged a robust 33.7 Draftkings points a game.
In conclusion, I fully expect Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren to continue his outstanding play in tomorrow night’s NBA regular season matchup with the Houston Rockets.
Additional flex plays I like to play well in this NBA regular season game (Draftkings price noted): Alperen Sengun, Center (Houston Rockets) $9,400: Jabari Smith Jr., Forward (Houston Rockets) $5,800: Isaiah Hartenstein, Center (Oklahoma City Thunder) $6,200.
