The NBA presents FanDuel basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Los Angeles Lakers vs. New Orleans Pelicans game let’s review the rules for the FanDuel single game showdown contest.
FanDuel Single Game Contest Rules
Here are the FanDuel single game contest rules. You have $60,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team MVP. The MVP accumulates 1.5x times the standard FanDuel fantasy points value. Additionally, the MVP is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.
The remaining five players in your lineup will be flex plays. The five flex positions will receive the standard FanDuel points value. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your MVP position if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) FanDuel single game contest.
If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game contest, I highly recommend that you check out the FanDuel 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 FanDuel picks for tonight’s Lakers vs. Pelicans matchup.
FanDuel NBA DFS Picks
MVP-Luka Doncic, Point Guard, Los Angeles Lakers $15,200
Veteran point guard Luka Doncic has been a standout performer for the Los Angeles Lakers this season. With that said, how has Doncic performed from a statistical standpoint in 2025? Let’s review Doncic’s relevant player data from the 2025 NBA season to better shed light on his overall contributions to his team.
In the eight games that point guard Luka Doncic has played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2025 NBA regular season, Doncic has averaged 34.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.4 blocks a game.
Looking closer at the data just presented, in the eight games that point guard Luka Doncic has played for the Los Angeles Lakers last season, Doncic has compiled a 47.6% field goal percentage, 30.8% three-point percentage and a 77.5% free throw percentage.
Last month, in the Golden State Warriors 119-109 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles point guard Luka Doncic certainly played at a high level. Let me be more specific. In the Golden State Warriors defeat of the Lakers, Doncic amassed 43 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and one block in 41 minutes of play.
Examining the data just presented more closely, in the Golden State Warriors victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, Luka Doncic tallied a massive 76.9 FanDuel points.
As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the MVP position for a FanDuel NBA single game 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, Luka Doncic is the most likely player to post the most FanDuel points in this NBA regular season game. For that specific reason, I am backing Los Angeles Lakers point guard Luka Doncic at the MVP position for this one game FanDuel NBA DFS contest.
Additional flex plays I like to play well in tonight’s NBA regular season game (FanDuel price noted): Deandre Ayton, Center (Los Angeles Lakers) $10,000: Derik Queen, Forward (New Orleans Pelicans) $8,400: Marcus Smart, Guard (Los Angeles Lakers) $6,600.