Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Thunder vs. Knicks 1/10/25

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

Before we dive into the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. New York Knicks 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. New York Knicks matchup.

Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks

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

Point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has clearly illustrated that he is the leader of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s offense this season. With that said, what do the statistics say about Gilgeous-Alexander’s performance in the 2024 NBA regular season? Let’s examine Gilgeous-Alexander’s game data from this season to answer that question.

In the 36 games that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2024 NBA regular season, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging a whopping 31.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 2.1 steals, and 1.2 blocks a game.

These two teams met earlier this season. Who prevailed? How did Shai Gilgeous-Alexander perform in the game? In the Oklahoma City Thunder’s thrilling 117-107 win over the New York Knicks one week ago, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played exceptionally well. Let me be more specific. Gilgeous-Alexander compiled 33 points, four rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one block in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s victory over the New York Knicks.

Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s victory over the New York Knicks just mentioned, Gilgeous-Alexander tallied 52.5 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.

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

Karl Anthony Towns, Center, New York Knicks $11,200

In the 33 games that center Karl Anthony Towns played for the New York Knicks in the 2024 NBA regular season, Anthony Towns is averaging a massive 25.3 points, 14.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 0.9 steals, and 1.1 blocks a game.

More recently, in the New York Knicks convincing 119-103 win over the Utah Jazz on New Year’s Day, Karl Anthony Towns played at a high level. Towns tallied 31 points, 21 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in the New York Knicks victory over the Utah Jazz.

Additional flex plays I like in this matchup (Draftkings price noted): Jalen Brunson, Point Guard (New York Knicks) $10,200: Josh Hart, Small Forward (New York Knicks) $9,000: Isaiah Hartenstein, Center (Oklahoma City Thunder) $8,600.