Draftkings Best NBA Showdown Picks: Thunder vs. Rockets 12/1/24

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 Draftkings 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 $11,800

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 last 15 games that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2024 NBA regular season, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 28.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.1 blocks a game.

More recently, in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s impressive 134-128 win over the Los Angeles Clippers earlier this month, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander certainly played at a high level. More specifically, Gilgeous-Alexander compiled a whopping 45 points, three rebounds, nine assists, five steals, and two blocks in the Thunder’s victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Examining the data just presented more closely, in the Thunder’s victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, Gilgeous-Alexander accumulated a massive 77.8 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.

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

Fred VanVleet, Point Guard, Houston Rockets $8,400

Point guard Fred VanVleet has been a key contributor to the Houston Rockets success on the offensive side of the basketball this season.

In the last 15 games that Fred VanVleet has played for the Houston Rockets in the 2024 NBA regular season, VanVleet averaged a robust 15.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.7 steals a game.

In summary, I fully expect Houston Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet to continue his outstanding play in tonight’s NBA regular season matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Additional flex plays I like to play well in this evening’s NBA game (Draftkings price noted): Alperen Sengun, Center (Houston Rockets) $9,800: Cason Wallace, Guard (Oklahoma City Thunder) $6,000.