Best lineup strategy for Rockets vs. Trail Blazers NBA Showdown

The Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers close out the six-game Tuesday main slate with a DraftKings Showdown contest at 9:00 p.m. ET. We take you through some of the best and worst options to keep in mind when crafting your lineup.

Captain’s Pick

Russell Westbrook ($15,600)

This is the second no-brainer Captain of these write-ups for today. Russ is priced third among the top options including James Harden ($19,200) and Damian Lillard ($16,500). My only issue with Westbrook here is he’s most likely going to be the highest owned of the trio (if I know the sharps). You could argue Jusuf Nurkic ($14,700) with the Rockets lacking size as well.

Fade of the Game

Robert Covington ($8,200)

This may come back and bite us in the ass but there’s some reasoning behind fading RoCo. His price jumped up $800 since the last game at $7,400. He’s returned value in each of the first two contests, but at a lower price. If Covington regresses at all, he may not hit the number we want, which is around 40-45 fantasy points. It may be difficult for Covington to clean the glass over Nurk and Zach Collins.

Value Picks

P.J. Tucker ($5,200) — I’m not crazy about Tucker because he isn’t a great scorer. The great thing about the Rockets is these starters need to play around 36 minutes a game because of depth issues with Eric Gordon out. Tucker should — if nothing else — play a ton. He’s also Houston’s only option to throw at guys like Nurk and Collins.

Zach Collins ($4,400) — In a perfect world we try and fit in two of the top 3 studs, both Nurk and Collins and a value. Collins has started and looks really good so far for Portland. He’s run himself into foul trouble but I can’t imagine that’s an issue when you’re 6 inches taller than anyone on the other team. Collins has a high ceiling in this game if he gets the minutes.