Fantasy Basketball Picks: Top DraftKings NBA DFS Lineup Strategy for Pelicans vs. Warriors Showdown on November 5

Friday’s featured NBA Showdown contest is a matchup between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Golden State Warriors at 10:00 p.m. ET. As usual, DraftKings is offering up a huge Showdown contest for this game, and below I give you some of my favorite options to attack for this format.

Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $150K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st] (NOP vs GSW)

Captain’s Picks

Stephen Curry ($19,200)

Can the Pelicans avoid getting blown out (Brandon Ingram is questionable and leaning toward being out, follow @DKLive for injury updates)? That’s the question. While New Orleans is 1-8, they are 4-5 ATS and have not been embarrassed in their losses. Curry has been great this season, but his last two games do not show up well on the stat sheet because they weren't competitive affairs. The analysis doesn’t have to run too deep. Curry is surrounded by role players and above-average players that can carry the load against below-average teams. When a team steps up or the role players are off, then Curry takes over. In a tight game with Memphis, Curry had over a 40% usage rate and scored 59.8 DKFP. He posted similar numbers with slightly less usage but more efficiency against the Los Angeles teams and Sacramento. However, in easy wins versus the Thunder and Hornets, Curry let the rest of the Warriors go to war.

Jordan Poole ($11,100)

In a close game, Curry is the Captain's Pick, but what about in a blowout? Curry is still a utility pick, but one of his supporting characters does the heavy lifting during the first three quarters while Curry is on the court, and also picks up the garbage time minutes in the fourth quarter. It stands to reason, that the wise move would be to give the third-year player and possible future linchpin extended run during blowouts, but in a small sample size, that has not always been the case this season. It’s either Poole or Andrew Wiggins, and both have very similar stats. They’re usage rates, minutes per game, true shooting percentage and fantasy points per minute are nearly identical. We can’t predict whose shooting will be on or off, but we can speculate to how Steve Kerr allocates his minutes, and it would seem wise to give the minutes to the kid and save Wiggins this early in the season.

UTIL Plays

Andrew Wiggins ($7,800)

He can also be considered as a Captain’s Pick, if this game is not competitive. Wiggins closed out the game against the Hornets and one against the Thunder, but he also sat the entire fourth quarter in another easy win versus the Thunder. He’s playing 28 minutes per game, his usage rate is 26% and a he’s averaging 1.0 FPPM. If Wiggins works, it’s because his shot is falling and he plays the fourth quarter. He’s chucked five or more threes in five of six games, and he’s hit 40% of them in three of those contests. That’s a fifty-fifty shot. On a regular slate, that is way too risky, but on a Showdown slate, those aren’t terrible odds.

Jonas Valanciunas ($10,600)

If Curry is going to work, then someone on the Pelicans must have a big night. With Brandon Ingram likely to miss his fourth-consecutive game, Valanciunas will continue to be the Pelicans leader and see a bump in usage. Over the last three games, Jo-Val has averaged 21 points and 13 rebounds per game and that includes a 38.5% shooting performance against Sacramento — uncharacteristically low for a big man. Despite the 1-8 record, Valanciunas is staying on the court (34 minutes per game) because the Pelicans aren’t getting run out of the gym. Further adding to his value is that this is pace up spot for the Pelicans, as the Warriors play at third-fastest pace in the NBA.

Garrett Temple ($2,800)

On Wednesday night, Temple joined the starting rotation and played 34 minutes, up from 23 minutes in the previous game and well above his average of 13 minutes when Brandon Ingram was active. He shot 4-12 from the field and 1-6 from beyond the arc, but at least he was chucking and it can only go up from there. On the bright side, he collected eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Also, in that 13 point loss to the Kings, Temple closed out the game and scored five points and collected five rebounds during his last rotation. Although the game slipped away in the final five minutes, Temple was one of the more productive players on the court and should continue to see minutes on Friday night.

Fades

Draymond Green ($9,200)

There is a strong chance that this game is not competitive in the fourth quarter. The possibility of such an event is so likely that probable should be the term used rather than possible. It would not be surprising to see bets flood toward the Warriors laying the points. Under such circumstances where it is questionable to roster Stephen Curry, then it goes without saying that there are many more scenarios where Draymond Green does not return value.

The Outcome

The Warriors will take care of business and pull away from the Pelicans early. That’s not a story, but how they do it, is of interest. It’s not a team effort, it’s a hot shooting Stephen Curry that puts on a show for the Friday night audience.

Final Score: Warriors 119, Pelicans 104

Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $150K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st] (NOP vs GSW)

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