Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Thunder vs. Mavericks 10/27/25

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 Thunder vs. Mavericks matchup.

Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks

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

Talented point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been a solid performer for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season. With that said, how has Gilgeous-Alexander performed from a data perspective in 2025? Let’s review the veteran point guard’s relevant player data from the 2025 NBA season to answer that question.

In the three games that point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2025 NBA regular season season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 40 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocks a game.

Looking closer at the data just presented, in the three games that point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season, Gilgeous-Alexander compiled a 52.7% field goal percentage, 22.7% three-point percentage and an 84.1% free throw percentage.

More recently, in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 141-135 double overtime win over the Indiana Pacers four days ago, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander certainly played at a high level. Let me be more specific. In the Thunder’s victory over the Pacers, Gilgeous-Alexander amassed 55 points, eights rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block.

Examining the data just presented more closely, in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s defeat of the Indiana Pacers just mentioned, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tallied a whopping 78.5 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.

In my view, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NBA playoff game. For that specific reason, I am backing Oklahoma City point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NBA Showdown contest.

Flex Plays

Isaiah Hartenstein, Center, Oklahoma City Thunder $7,600

Two days ago, in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s dominant 117-100 win over the Atlanta Hawks, Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein played exceptionally well. In the Thunder’s defeat of the Hawks, Hartenstein accumulated 14 points, ten rebounds, two assists and two steals in only 29 minutes of play.

Additional flex plays I like to play well in this NBA regular season game (Draftkings price noted): Chet Holmgren, Forward (Oklahoma City Thunder) $9,600: Anthony Davis, Center (Dallas Mavericks) $11,000: Cooper Flagg, Forward (Dallas Mavericks) $8,000.