Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Thunder vs. Mavericks 5/18/24

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 tonight’s Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks matchup.

Draftkings Picks

Captain-Shai Gilgeous-Alexander $12,600

Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander arrives at tonight’s playoff game with the Dallas Mavericks playing outstanding basketball.

In the Oklahoma City Thunder’s last five games played in the 2024 postseason, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.4 points, 9 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.4 steal, and 2.4 blocks a game.

Looking closer at the data just presented, in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s last five Games played in the 2024 Western Conference playoffs, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 61.2 Draftkings points a Game.

More recently, in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 104-92 loss to the Dallas Mavericks three days ago, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander posted some quality fantasy numbers. Let me be more specific. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander accumulated 30 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 block, and 2 steals in the Thunder’s loss to the Mavericks in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

Later today, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander draws a Dallas Mavericks defense that had issues allowing fantasy points to the point guard position in the regular season. Upon the completion of 82 Games in the 2024 NBA regular season, the Dallas Mavericks ranked a rather low 20th in total Draftkings points allowed (50.1) to the point guard position a Game.

In summary, I am backing Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Alexander-Gilgeous as my captain for this one game DFS slate.

Flex Plays

Captain-Luka Doncic $13,400

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

In the Dallas Mavericks last three games played in the 2024 Western Conference playoffs, Luka Doncic has averaged an impressive 58.3 Draftkings points a game.

Considering the elevated importance of tonight’s Game 6 of the Western Conference playoffs, I like Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic’s chances of performing at a high level in tonight’s matchup with the Thunder.

It should be noted that the Dallas Mavericks have officially listed Luka Doncic as questionable for tonight’s game. I recommend that all readers review the starting lineups for both teams prior to setting your DFS lineup for this one game slate

Jalen Williams $9,400

How well has Oklahoma City power forward Jalen Williams been playing from a statistical standpoint in the 2024 Western Conference playoffs? In the Oklahoma City Thunder’s last three games played this postseason (all versus Dallas), Jalen Williams averaged 14.1 points, 7 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 2.3 steals a game.

Additional players I like to play well (Draftkings price noted): Chet Holmgren $8,800: Kyrie Irving $9,800: Derrick Jones $4,800: Jaylin Williams $3,400.