Draftkings Best NBA Showdown Picks: Thunder vs. Mavericks 5/11/24

The NBA presents a playoff matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Dallas Mavericks. Let’s take a look at this game from a Draftkings perspective.

Before we dive into the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks game let’s review the rules for Draftkings single game showdown contest.

Draftkings Single Game Showdown Contest Rules

You have $50,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team captain. The captain accumulates 1.5 times the standard fantasy points. Additionally, the captain is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.

The remaining four players in your lineup will receive the standard fantasy points. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your captain position if you hope to win a large field DFS GPP (guaranteed prize pool) showdown contest.

If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game showdown contest, I recommend that you check out the Draftkings website for more details.

Here are my Draftkings picks for this afternoon’s Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks matchup.

Draftkings Picks

Captain-Kyrie Irving $10,600

Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving arrives at tonight’s playoff game with the Oklahoma City Thunder playing outstanding basketball from a statistical perspective. Let’s take a look at Kyrie Irving’s recent game data to get a better understanding of his play on the basketball court.

In the Dallas Mavericks eight playoff Games played in the 2024 Western Conference playoffs, Kyrie Irving has averaged a robust 25.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.8 steals a Game.

Looking closer at the data just presented, in the Dallas Mavericks eight playoff Games played in 2024, Kyrie Irving is averaging 42.7 Draftkings points a Game.

More recently, in the Dallas Mavericks 117-95 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder two days ago, Kyrie Irving posted some quality fantasy numbers. Let me be more specific. Kyrie Irving accumulated 9 points, 3 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals in the Dallas Mavericks win over the Thunder in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

Later today, Kyrie Irving draws an Oklahoma City Thunder defense that struggled to defend the shooting guard position in the regular season. Upon the completion of 82 games in the 2024 NBA regular season, the Oklahoma City Thunder ranked a rather low 20th in total Draftkings points allowed (43.1) to the shooting guard position a game.

In summary, I am rolling with Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Luka Doncic as my captain for this one game DFS slate.

Flex Plays

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander $11,400

How well has Oklahoma City point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander been playing in the 2024 Western Conference playoffs? In the Oklahoma City Thunder’s six Games played this postseason, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks a Game.

Considering the elevated importance of tonight’s Game 3 of the Western Conference playoffs, I expect Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to play his best Game of the 2024 playoffs.

Luka Doncic $13,600

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has quickly ascended to one of the best players in the NBA. Having stated that, how has Doncic performed from an offensive efficiency standpoint in the 2024 Western Conference playoffs?

In the Dallas Mavericks eight games played in the Western Conference playoffs this season, Luka Doncic has averaged a robust 57.7 Draftkings points a game. It has to be said, those are the type of DFS numbers I need from players I select for my flex position for my DFS Showdown lineup.

Additional players I like to play well (Draftkings price noted): Chet Holmgren $9,000: Cason Wallace $2,800: Jaylin Williams $3,400.