Best lineup strategy for Nets vs. Raptors Game 1 NBA Showdown

The Toronto Raptors will begin their title defense against the seventh-seeded Brooklyn Nets on Monday at 4:00 p.m. ET. DraftKings has Showdown contests available for the matchup, and we’ll go over the best lineup strategies. Set your DraftKings lineup here.

Captain’s Picks

The Raptors have a ton of players who can get hot on any given day, but there are two matchups I’d like to key in on. Pascal Siakam ($14,700) will have the best mismatch in this game. Lance Thomas and Rodions Kurucs shouldn’t come close to containing the All-Star. Kyle Lowry ($15,900) and Fred VanVleet ($13,200) could take advantage of Brooklyn’s below average point guard group. Both are capable of finding success against Chris Chiozza and Tyler Johnson.

Caris LeVert ($15,000) is a must-have because of his high usage, but I’m not sold on him as a captain in GPPs. Toronto has great team defense and plenty of lengthy wings to throw at him. The Raptors are built to slow him down significantly, but he should still carry a heavy workload and put up solid stats.

FLEX Options

Serge Ibaka ($7,400) dealt with some knee pain on Friday but should be ready to go after the weekend. The Nets have struggled to defend the paint despite Jarrett Allen’s success, so Ibaka should have a decent shot at getting a double-double.

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot ($4,800) is providing a valuable scoring punch off the bench for the Nets and cracked 20 points three times in the bubble. He’s established himself as one of the most dangerous offensive threats Brooklyn has aside from LeVert.