Best lineup strategy for Pistons vs. Rockets NBA simulation Showdown

The featured simulated basketball contest on DraftKings for Wednesday afternoon is between the Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets. Here, we’ll go over how to approach lineup construction for the fantasy basketball contest.

Captain’s Picks

James Harden ($17,700)

I don’t have enough time or words to explain why Harden is the best Captain’s option in this particular contest. For one, we’re used to seeing Harden priced up around $20K in Showdown contests. We could feasibly roll any box score from Harden this season. If that’s the case, the sky’s the limit. That’s why when we can get actually salary value on a player like Harden we take advantage of it.

Blake Griffin ($8,100)

So this is a weird play. Griffin has only played in 18 games this season due to injuries. That makes him a really attractive play because the lack of variance. He can’t roll a ton of box scores, most of them are decent. There is worry of some busted boxes. The thing is there are at least 10-12 games in which Griffin returns pretty good fantasy value. He should go low owned compared to guys like Harden and Russell Westbrook.

FLEX Options

Eric Gordon ($4,600)

So Gordon is the lotto ticket of this contest — and any contest the Rockets are featured in. We all know that Gordon had the 50-point game in January. So that’s the golden ticket we’re looking for so we can go to Willy Wonka’s Factory. Even if Gordon doesn’t put up that box, he has plenty of decent games among the 34 he’s played in this season. I’d call him a very good lineup starter.

Sekou Doumbouya ($1,600)

In more “Prices I don’t understand” we get to Dr. Doum. For whatever reason he’s priced under $2K. For one, Doumbouya is another player who hasn’t played in every game for the Pistons this season. He’s got 19 starts in 38 games, which is a great ratio. I mean, the more I look into the more Doumbouya becomes an absolute lock for this contest. Could you imagine rolling one of his box scores that had a double-double or his 24-point game? That point total alone is over 10x salary value.