It was a tough series, but the Houston Rockets defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games to advance to lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round! Wait, what? Just kidding, the Rockets totally have a shot against LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Totally. In all seriousness though, I hope the Rockets put up a fight at least. I’d expect James Harden and Russell Westbrook to at least steal a game or two. Let’s take a look at some DraftKings Showdown picks to help you build your lineup for the contest, which locks at 9:00 p.m. ET.
Set your DraftKings lineup here.
Captain’s Pick
Anthony Davis ($17,100)
I didn’t even look at AD’s price before putting this pick in. It was the easiest pick I’ve ever had to make. We all know the Rockets play small ball and we saw what Davis was able to do to a much taller front court in Portland. I can’t imagine P.J. Tucker and Robert Covington will do much to slow Davis down. He had at least 52.75 DKFP in four of five games against the Trail Blazers. It was a blood bath. I expect more of the same against Houston.
Fade of the Game
Kyle Kuzma ($6,600)
I’m making it easy on myself and not thinking too hard on this next pick. Kuzma is an easy fade because his price doesn’t seem to change despite the fact that he literally did nothing in Round 1. He topped out at 26.25 DKFP and that was actually in the close game! If the Lakers come out and dominate the Rockets, we may not even see much of Kuzma. So minutes or no minutes, there’s really no value in paying this much for Kuz, sorry man.
Value Picks
Dwight Howard ($4,200) — My thinking is the Lakers are going to win this game pretty easily. So if that’s the case, Howard should see around 20 minutes. If that’s the case, then those 20 minutes will come against an undersized Houston squad. So we should see Howard use his size to his advantage. Cleaning the glass should be easy, so I’m ok paying this price for Howard with an OK floor and some leverage.
Rajon Rondo ($2,400) — This is a dumb pick. Don’t use it. I’m just a sucker for playoff Rondo. Frank Vogel said that he’s hope Rondo will return to the lineup. If that’s the case, we can pencil Rondo in for say 10-15 minutes. At this low price I’m willing to take Rondo as a leverage play that can free up some salary for a high-priced stack.