Best lineup strategy for Bulls vs. Magic NBA Showdown

To begin the 7 p.m. ET slate on Saturday night, we have the Chicago Bulls taking on the Orlando Magic. These two teams just played on Friday, where the Magic escaped with a 123-119 win. This game features a few great DFS plays that could end up making or breaking your lineup. Many DFS players will opt to put Zach LaVine or Nikola Vucevic in their captain spots, which would not be bad ideas.

However, where you can really separate yourself from your opponent is with the FLEX picks, in which both teams have some interesting choices. Let’s go over the Showdown fantasy outlook for the game for contests on DraftKings.

Captain’s Picks

Nikola Vucevic ($16800) - Vucevic is the highest-priced player in Saturday night’s contest, which makes sense based on what he did Friday night. Against these same Chicago Bulls, the veteran big man scored 43 points (career-high) to go along with 19 rebounds. For his efforts, Vucevic rewarded DFS players with 77.8 DFKP, easily surpassing his season average of 47.7 DKFP per game. In the Magic’s last five games, Vucevic is averaging 46.7 fantasy points.

Zach LaVine ($16200) - In most showdown contest, you usually cannot go wrong with whoever you pick at the top of board. LaVine is in that category as he’s the Bulls best player and can easily score 30 or sometimes 40 points.

On Friday night, he scored 45 DKFP (26 points, eight assists, and four rebounds) in 36 minutes played. Here’s something else to take note of: LaVine has scored at least 21 points or more in eight straight games. Also, he’s averaging 44.3 fantasy points over those eight games.

FLEX Plays

Patrick Williams ($7800) - Williams was an unknown heading into the draft due to him not starting at Florida State. However, the fourth overall pick has done a good job in his first season with the Bulls. Against the Magic on Friday night, Williams had 20 points (career-high) and seven rebounds. It was his fourth-straight game scoring 10 points on more. He also recorded a season-high 35.8 DKFP against an Orlando team that is ranked 13th against SF/PFs (OPRK) this season. Williams will look to duplicate that performance as the Bulls are banged up in the frontcourt.

Khem Birch ($6300) - Unlike Williams, Birch would be a low-risk high-reward FLEX play to help balance out your lineup. On Friday night, the veteran big man filled up the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds, and three assists (23 DKFP). It was the second time in three games that Birch went over 20 plus fantasy points. This season, he is averaging 7.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 19.4 fantasy points per game.

Fades

Terrence Ross ($6200) - The veteran wing player has struggled in his last three games, averaging 4.6 points and 12.1 DKFP per game. Both numbers are simnifically lower than Ross’s season stats of 13.8 ppg and 23.1 fppg. On Friday night against Chicago, he had seven points, four rebounds, and two assists (15.5 DKFP), which is an improvement from his previous two games. But until we see Ross scoring back into double figures, it is going to be a tough to confidently play him in DFS.

The Outcome

After last night’s dominating performance from Vucevic, we should expect to see better defense from the Chicago Bulls. Now will it be enough to capture the win? That is hard to say because this Bulls team has been in some many close games but somehow find a way to bungle it. LaVine will shoulder the offensive workload for Chicago and hopefully Coby White can give them a 20-point effort.

Final score: Magic 105, Bulls 102