Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Warriors vs. Rockets 4/23/25
Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets
April 23, 2025 9:30 pm EDT
The NBA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a Western Conference playoff matchup featuring the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets 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 this evening’s Warriors vs. Rockets matchup.
Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks
Captain-Alperen Sengun, Center, Houston Rockets $10,800
Center Alperen Sengun has been a standout performer for the Houston Rockets this season. Let’s analyze the veteran center’s relevant game data from the 2024 NBA season to reveal the significant impact that Sengun has made on his team’s overall performance.
In the 77 games that center Alperen Sengun has played for the Houston Rockets in the 2024 NBA season (including playoff games), Sengun is averaging a rather impressive 19.2 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.8 blocks a game.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the 77 games that Alperen Sengun has played for the Rockets this season, Sengun has averaged 43.1 Draftkings points a contest.
It is noteworthy that these two teams met three days ago. Who won? How did Alperen Sengun perform in the contest? In the Golden State Warriors 95-85 win over the Houston Rockets, Houston center Alperen Sengun tallied 26 points, nine rebounds, one assist and three steals.
What did we learn from the data just presented? Clearly, Sengun can post a high number of Draftkings points on any given night. Considering the elevated importance of tonight’s Western Conference playoff game I fully expect that trend to continue later today.
In my view, Alperen Sengun is the player most likely to accumulate the highest number of DraftKings points in this NBA playoff game. With that said, I am backing Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun at the captain position for this one game DFS NBA Showdown contest slate.
Flex Plays
Stephen Curry, Point Guard, Golden State Warriors $10,800
Point guard Stephen Curry has been a standout performer for the Golden State Warriors this season. With that said that, how has the veteran guard performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s take a look at Curry’s game data from the 2024 NBA season to answer that question.
In the 73 games that point guard Stephen Curry has played for the Golden State Warriors in the 2024 NBA season, Curry is averaging 24.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.4 steals a game.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the 73 games that point guard Stephen Curry has played for the Warriors this season, Curry has compiled a 44.8% field goal percentage, a 39.7% three-point percentage and a 93.3% free throw percentage.
Additional flex plays I like to play well in tonight’s game (Draftkings price noted): Jimmy Butler, Forward (Golden State Warriors) $10,600: Amen Thompson, Guard (Houston Rockets) $9,800: Draymond Green, Forward (Golden State Warriors) $8,000.
