There will be an NBA game tonight for possibly the final time of the 2024-25 season, as the Oklahoma City Thunder could clinch their first title since 1979 — and their first since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008 — with a win tonight against the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
That also means that it could be the final time in the 2024-25 season that DraftKings is offering a DFS Showdown contest. Tonight’s prize pool is $750,000, with $200,000 being awarded to the winner, and in order to build a winning lineup, you’ll have to use your Captain’s Pick correctly. Here are my two favorite options for tonight’s contest.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $750K Finals Shootaround [$200K to 1st, 3PT Throne Eligible] (OKC @ IND)
SF/PF Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder at Indiana Pacers, $16,200 CP
It’s hard to not pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($21,300 CP), who will likely become just the fourth player in NBA history to win a scoring title, MVP, and Finals MVP in the same season, but his DFS salary is just a little bit too expensive for my liking. It’s not like he hasn’t been elite — he’s averaged 53.5 FPTS per game, or 80.2 FPTS per game if you’d captained him every game — but Williams has had elite value too. So far this series, Gilgeous-Alexander has returned 0.0038 FPTS per dollar if you captained him every game, while Williams has been worth 0.0037 FPTS per dollar. With a negligible difference in bang for your buck and a ceiling like his Game 5 performance, captaining Williams allows you to fill out your lineup with Pascal Siakam ($10,200), not Isaiah Hartenstein ($5,400).
I don’t trust that the Pacers have the requisite personnel to guard all three Oklahoma City stars. Andrew Nembhard ($6,000) has done a pretty good job against Gilgeous-Alexander, holding him to 17-for-41 shooting, 11 assists, and seven turnovers, and Myles Turner ($6,200) has limited Chet Holmgren ($8,800) to 22 points on nine-for-30 shooting with zero assists and two turnovers, blocking him six times. So while forcing Gilgeous-Alexander into a quiet(er) performance and completely taking Holmgren out of the game are good, that leaves Aaron Nesmith ($4,800) on Williams, and Nesmith simply doesn’t have the strength to contend with Williams’ slashing style. Maybe Rick Carlisle will try Siakam on him — something he’s only done for 29.4 partial possessions so far — but barring that, I expect J-Dub’s hot form to continue.
PF Pascal Siakam, Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, $10,200
Siakam is an overwhelming favorite to be named Finals MVP if Indiana ends up winning the series, and as an architect of two of the most unlikely championship runs of all time, three All-Star appearances, two All-NBA teams, and a Most Improved Player award, the Cameroonian would have a surprisingly strong Hall of Fame case when he eventually retires. Despite a quiet Game 2, Siakam has been spectacular on both ends of the floor this series, averaging 20.6 points, 7.4 boards, 4.2 assists, and 3.4 combined blocks/steals (64.4 FPTS per game as captain). In Game 4, he became only the fourth player in NBA history to record a 20-point, eight-rebound, five-assist, five-steal (50.0-FPT) line in an NBA Finals game, which he followed up with 28 points, six boards, five assists, two blocks, and three steals (51.5 FPTS) in Game 5.
Siakam is one of few Pacers who’s managed to get anything going against Alex Caruso ($6,600), scoring 18 points in 57 partial possessions against him on five-for-10 shooting, dishing out three assists without a turnover. He’s also out-maneuvered Williams, scoring 22 points with a five-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio on six-for-13 shooting, including two-for-three from beyond the arc. Siakam has shown himself capable of taking on a bigger role when Tyrese Haliburton ($10,600), who’s hampered by a calf injury, is compromised, having scored 23 or more points (41.75 or more FPTS) in three of the five regular-season games he played without his co-star.
