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Monday’s featured NBA Showdown contest is a matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers at 10:30 p.m. ET. As usual, DraftKings is offering up a huge Showdown contest for this game, and below I give you some of my favorite options to attack for the format.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $150K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st] (OKC vs LAC)
Captain’s Picks
Paul George ($21,000)
First of all, in a possible blowout or at the very least a noncompetitive game, there will be plenty of garbage-time value plays to make George affordable. George is very expensive in this spot, but no one on this slate has close to his combination of usage rate (34%), minutes per game (35), fantasy points per minute over the last five games (1.5) and true shooting percentage (60%). Factor in that George is facing one of the worst defenses in the league and this is a no brainer. There is one concern that might warrant playing Paul George as a utility player, and not as a Captain’s Picks: Luguentz Dort. The Dorture Chamber is becoming known for his lockdown defense. On Saturday night, Steph Curry was able to score on Dort because his three-point shot was falling, but he was unable to fill up other categories on the stat sheet. On Wednesday night, Russell Westbrook only managed nine points against Dort. However, it’s still too early in Dort’s career to fade the superstars that he matches up against.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($11,400)
This is a paced up game for the Thunder (LAC ranks seventh in pace) and the Clippers allow a 2% fantasy point boost to opposing points guards. Alone, the DvP boost is not significant, but combined with the game pace, SGA’s 34 mpg, 33% usage rate and 56% true shooting percentage, and SGA could be a better point per dollar producer than Paul George. Steph Curry had one of his weakest fantasy performances of the season against the Thunder on Saturday night because the Warriors were able to take their foot off of the gas. Paul George could suffer the same fate, while Gilgeous-Alexander will likely be active no matter the game script.
UTIL Plays
Isaiah Hartenstein ($1,000)
The Clippers are -11.0 favorites, so Hartenstein could see 20 minutes of action in blowout run against the backups on a bad defensive team. At this price, those minutes might work against a good team, but it’s definitely worth considering against the Thunder (third-worst defensive rating). In a blowout loss at Portland, Hartenstein only registered 10.8 DKFP in 19 minutes, but in a blowout win over Portland at home, he scored 21.3 DKFP in 17 minutes. The Thunder have the second-worst offensive rating, so there should be plenty of rebound opportunities for the 7-foot center.
Reggie Jackson ($8,400)
The minutes are there, his 34 mpg are tied with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the most on this Showdown slate. His 24% usage rate is significantly lower than the usage of Paul George and SGA, but he is significantly cheaper and arguably has the easiest matchup. George will be guarded by Lu Dort and SGA will face the Clippers (eighth in defensive rating). Meanwhile, Jackson will be guarded by the inferior defenders on the 28th rated defense in the NBA. This matchup is exactly what Jackson needs to get his shot to start falling — his true shooting percentage is 41% ranking 166th in the NBA. Last season, Jackson’s true shooting percentage was 58%, so positive regression is coming and Monday night would be as good as a time as any for Jackson to stuff the stat sheet.
Luke Kennard ($5,200)
With Marcus Morris out, Luke Kennard has seen his minutes jump from the low 20s to the low 30s in the last two games. The Thunder are boosting opposing SG/SF fantasy points by 8%. Whether DvP in the NBA is a reliable stat can be debated, but in this case, given that the Thunder have the third-worst defensive rating, the DvP boost seems pretty sound. Kennard has a 60% true shooting percentage, and with 30-plus minutes against a bad defense, he should prove to be a good return of value.
Fades
Darius Bazley ($5,400)
Let’s not overreact to one big game against the Lakers. Bazley scored 20 points on a 4-of-8 shooting night from downtown. In his other five games, he was 1-for-21 from beyond the three-point line. He shot 57.1% from the field against the Lakers, but in his other starts he shot 30.4%. The Lakers have been a below-average defense this season, while the other team from Los Angeles has been an above-average defense. Bazley could reach double-digit rebounds, although he hasn’t this season, but it’s even more unlikely that he reaches double-digit points.
The Outcome
The Thunder have interesting young pieces, Josh Giddey ($7,600), Aleksej Pokusevski ($4,600) and Lu Dort ($5,600). While Giddey could be a future star, each could also be future role players or complementary pieces. In the present, they’re definitely not stars and will be outmatched on the road in Los Angeles.
Final Score: Clippers 120, Thunder 104
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $150K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st] (OKC vs LAC)
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is greenflagradio2) and 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.
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