Fantasy Basketball Picks: Top DraftKings NBA DFS Lineup Strategy for Jazz vs. Nuggets Showdown on October 26

There are only five games in the NBA on Tuesday, but one of them has the potential to be a great game when the Utah Jazz face the Denver Nuggets. They are two of the better defensive teams in the league, so it could end up being a low-scoring affair. This game will also be the featured DraftKings Showdown contest, so let’s highlight some players to consider for your entries.

Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $175K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st] (DEN vs UTA)

Utah Jazz vs. Denver Nuggets

SHOWDOWN STRATEGY

Captain’s Pick

Nikola Jokic ($18,300 CP): If Jokic is part of a Showdown slate, he has to be a top option for the Captain’s Pick. He can stuff the stat sheet in multiple categories and is off to a monstrous start, averaging 27.7 points, 16.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.7 steals across three games. While a matchup against Rudy Gobert ($10,000) might be ominous for most centers, Jokic averaged 35.3 points, 11.7 rebounds and 9.0 assists across three games against the Jazz last season.

Donovan Mitchell ($15,600 CP): If you want to fade Jokic, Mitchell also provides significant upside. He averaged a career-high 20.6 shot attempts per game last season and has kept pace this season with an average of 21.0 points per game. He’s only shot 35.7 percent from the field, but expect that to improve in short order considering he’s never shot worse than 43.2 percent from the field in his career. He’s not just a scorer, either, given that he averaged 4.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.0 steals per game last season.

UTIL Plays

Jordan Clarkson ($7,000): Make no mistake about it, Clarkson’s role is to provide instant offense off the bench for the Jazz. He had a 29.7 percent usage rate last season, which enabled him to average career highs in points (18.4) and three-pointers (3.1) per game. While he had a rough shooting performance in his last game against the Kings, the key was that he attempted 19 shots. His general lack of production in other areas makes him someone to avoid at the Captain’s spot, but he can still score enough to be worth including in a utility spot.

Joe Ingles ($5,600): After producing 14 points, three rebounds and three assists in his first game of the season, Ingles was ejected after logging just six minutes in the Jazz’s second game against the Kings. It’s a luxury to have a player of Ingles’ caliber coming off the bench and he’s done a good job of filling in for the injury-plagued Mike Conley ($7,200) in the past. Conley being healthy right now does limit Ingles’ upside, but at this cheap salary, he can contribute enough in multiple areas to still be worth considering.

PJ Dozier ($3,400): If you’re going to roll with Jokic as your Captain’s Pick, then you’re going to need to take a chance on a really cheap player. While the Nuggets don’t tend to give any of their bench players heavy playing time, Dozier logged at least 21 minutes in two of their first three games. That enabled him to score 20.8 and 14.5 DKFP, respectively.

Fades

Michael Porter Jr. ($7,800): Someone must not have told Porter’s jump shot that the regular season has started. He’s looked rusty, shooting 38.2 percent from the field. Given that he shot at least 50.9 percent from the field in both of his first two seasons, expect him to right the ship soon. However, this is a tough matchup to try and get back on track given that the Jazz had the third-best defensive rating in the league last season.

The Outcome

This is a tough spot for the Nuggets, who suffered a 12-point loss at home to the Cavaliers on Monday. They now have a quick turnaround and have to play on the road against the Jazz, who were 31-5 at home last season. Jokic might be able to keep things close if he has another monster performance, but expect the Jazz to ultimately prevail.

Final Score: Jazz 112, Nuggets 105

Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $175K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st] (DEN vs UTA)

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is mbarner51) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above.

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