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They may have just five wins on the season, but the Detroit Pistons enter this one with undeniable momentum, shocking the basketball world with an upset victory over the Lakers this week, handing Los Angeles just its sixth loss. Meanwhile, Golden State’s defense has begun to slip of late, and the once-promising Warriors have settled into the NBA season with a pedestrian 10-9 record. With a total of 223.5 on DraftKings Sportsbook, we should see plenty of scoring and have a plethora of options to choose from in this showdown. Let’s get into how to construct your Showdown lineups for Saturday night.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $150K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st] (DET vs GSW)
Captain
Steph Curry ($18,600 CP)
Curry may seem like an obvious choice here, but I’m not sure too many will be thrilled about paying all of this money for a guy with roughly 37 DKFP per game in his past two appearances. This might make him somewhat of a contrarian captain at this price, and it may be something worth trying on this slate. The Pistons have had more issues against point guards than any other position, allowing 24.6 points per game to the position. Curry’s usage rate surpassed 33 on Friday, something that’s happened just six times this season, and I think in a game which Golden State needs to win to reignite, the Dubs will look to Steph all night long to take a high volume of shots.
Blake Griffin ($12,000 CP)
If you want to save money here, I recommend Griffin or Mason Plumlee ($11,100 CP) considering how rough the Warriors’ interior defense has been. Rookie James Wiseman ($6,000) has struggled with positioning, giving way to Kevon Looney ($1,400), which has created separate issues for the Warriors’ defenders. Something’s not right here and it shows — the Warriors have allowed over 50 points in the paint per game over the past five, ranking in the bottom five of the league. Griffin enters off of one of his best games of the season, recording 35 minutes and posting his second 20-point game of the year. I expect him to go off again tonight, and he’s a spectacular value at Captain if you want to fit Curry, Jerami Grant ($10,200) and the like in your lineup.
Fades
Wayne Ellington ($7,200)
Look, I love rostering Ellington, but it’s absolutely a pass at this price. As hot as he is from downtown, you can’t justify paying over $7,000 on any slate for a guy who just shoots threes. He’s only hit 30 DKFP twice this year, so I have a hard time seeing him hitting value with ease, especially against Kelly Oubre Jr. ($8,200), who can’t hit triples but can certainly defend them. If Ellington decides to go cold even for a quarter, you are screwed.
Value FLEX Options
Mason Plumlee ($7,400)
I’ll start here with the aforementioned Plumlee, who isn’t the cheapest of options on this slate but has a similarly great matchup against the Warriors, who allow the most DKFP to opposing centers in the NBA and have allowed a ridiculous 26 rebounds per game over the past week. Plumlee should be able to feast on Wiseman and Looney in this game and continue his good play; he’s averaged 35 DKFP in 27.5 minutes over his past two contests.
Eric Paschall ($2,800)
Is there ever a showdown involving the Warriors where you don’t consider Paschall? He’s probably one of the steadiest options on the Warriors, playing a consistent amount per game and producing as much with averages of 17 DKFP and 18 minutes this year. He’s scored 10 or more points 11 times this season and is one of the most important players on the Warriors, leading their bench unit. He’ll also likely match up with his college teammate Saddiq Bey ($2,600) in this one, so the two should be bringing their best.
Damion Lee ($2,000)
Watching a decent amount of Warriors basketball this season, I can tell you that Lee is actually pretty good at this game! He has shown the ability to knock down threes when the Warriors need them and has earned himself some extra minutes when Golden State needs to rest players or is down a starter. I like him in this spot because he’s averaged 18.2 minutes over the Warriors’ past five games, and he only needs 8 DKFP to hit value here. That’s something that he’s done with ease all season long, I have no doubt against a bad defense he’ll do it again.
The Outcome
The Warriors should take out some of their recent frustrations on the poor Pistons, who are in a letdown spot after a win over LeBron and the Lakers. Detroit has relied too heavily on the 3-point shooting of Ellington of late, something that’s just unsustainable, and should meet some pretty skilled perimeter defenders in this one in Curry, Oubre and Green. Though it should be easy for the Pistons down low, I think it will be a struggled to create offense elsewhere, and that’s when their mediocre defense will become a huge problem.
Final Score: Warriors 110, Pistons 103
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $150K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st] (DET vs GSW)
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is jetsfan196) and I may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.