There are 10 games on the slate in the NBA on Wednesday night and we’ve got four Showdown contests on DraftKings to pick from, including Nets vs. 76ers. The earliest of the Showdown slates, Philly enters the game coming off two bad losses without center Joel Embiid, who is out after dislocating his finger. The Nets got Kyrie Irving back, but were taken care of easily by the Jazz on Tuesday. With Brooklyn on the second of a back-to-back, it seems the 76ers are in the perfect bounce-back spot at home. Let’s go over how to approach building your lineup for the DFS Showdown.
Who should you play in the Captain’s spot?
I’m a huge fan of Ben Simmons ($16,500) in Classic DraftKings contests and I think he’s basically a lock for Captain on this slate. With no Embiid, we should see Simmons take on more of an offensive role down low in the post. He’ll have an easy matchup against the Nets, who really don’t have anyone who can matchup with Simmons. The All-Star’s ceiling is a triple-double and that appears to be very attainable. Plus, we really aren’t paying up that much for him, and I think the difference between Simmons and the next highest scoring Captain will be wide.
Kyrie Irving ($15,000) appears to be back, but I’m not crazy about him in this contest at this price. Sure, he played 30+ minutes last night, but I can’t imagine he’ll do that again on the second of a back-to-back. My feeling is Irving will play around 20-25 minutes, so his ceiling will be limited too much. Plus, the Sixers are still an elite defensive team playing at home.
Who should I play in the UTIL spot?
I think the obviously choice of lineup strategy is to stack the 76ers, right? We know the Nets are tired and are struggling on the road. I like Tobias Harris ($9,200) and Al Horford ($9,000), as well as Josh Richardson ($8,400). I think you can pick two of those three, and then fit in some value. Mike Scott ($3,200) is the obvious choice filling in for Embiid in the starting lineup. But my pivot would be to Matisse Thybulle ($3,800), who got some run last game vs. the Pacers for his defense. The rookie has some offensive upside, we just don’t see it often. If he can get 20+ minutes, I think he can return value.
Nobody on the Nets stands out much, particularly in the priced up guys. If I have to choose anyone — and you’re forced to play at least one Brooklyn player — Rodions Kurucs ($2,800) is dirt cheap. He’d make it easy to stack the 76ers studs and he’s been shooting 45.5% from distance in limited minutes over 24 games this season. If Kurucs can get some garbage time late in the game, at this price, a few 3s is all we’re looking for.