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Saturday’s featured NBA Showdown contest involves the Golden State Warriors and the Philadelphia 76ers at 8:30 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 the format.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $60K Fadeaway [$20K to 1st] (GSW vs PHI)
Captain’s Picks
Joel Embiid ($18,900)
It’s been a rough start to the season for Embiid. He’s battled injuries and COVID-19, which has kept his production in check. That said, he’s started to turn things around. He’s scored at least 50.0 DKFP in six of seven games since returning to the lineup, and he’s increased his usage rate to 34.5% over that time frame. Overall, he’s averaged 1.59 DKFP per minute over the past month, which is the top mark in this contest. Steph Curry ($19,200 CP) has averaged just 1.40 DKFP per minute over that time frame, so I give Embiid a clear edge.
Jordan Poole ($10,500)
If you’re not going to use Embiid at Captain, paying down for someone like Poole makes sense. He stands out as underpriced compared to other players in that price range. Guys like Tyrese Maxey ($11,400 CP), Andrew Wiggins ($11,100 CP) and Seth Curry ($10,800 CP) are all more expensive than Poole, but I would argue that Poole has a higher ceiling than all of them. Poole has averaged 0.99 DKFP per minute this season, and he’s scored at least 33.75 DKFP in back-to-back games.
UTIL Plays
Stephen Curry ($12,800)
Pairing Curry and Embiid is not going to be easy – especially if you use one in the Captain’s spot – but it could be necessary if you want to win. Those two players have easily the highest ceilings in this matchup, and it’s going to be tough to duplicate those points elsewhere. I’d rather get creative with some of my value options and lock in the stud production than consider fading either Curry or Embiid.
Otto Porter Jr. ($4,600)
Porter has been arguably the best bargain in all of basketball this season. He signed for the veteran minimum during the offseason, but he has become an important part of the Warriors’ rotation. He’s also been great for fantasy owners. He’s averaged 0.93 DKFP per minute this season, and his role with the team has grown of late. He’s logged at least 24.2 minutes in four of his past five games, and he should continue to see a few additional minutes for as long as Andre Iguodala ($1,000; knee) is sidelined. Iguodala is questionable on Saturday, so make sure to monitor his status prior to lineup lock.
Gary Payton II ($1,800)
As far as the true punt plays go, Payton is my favorite on this slate. “The Mitten” hasn’t seen a ton of playing time recently, but he should be good for around 15 minutes in this matchup. He’s been the best fantasy producer in this tier, averaging 1.00 DKFP per minute this season. He has a wide range of outcomes, but that’s exactly the type of player you’re looking for to round out your Showdown lineups.
Fades
Andre Drummond ($6,400)
Drummond is an excellent fantasy producer, and he’s averaged 1.24 DKFP per minute this season. Unfortunately, he just doesn’t have much of a role when Embiid is healthy. He serves strictly as the backup center in that situation, which limits him to 15 minutes per game or less. Even someone as good as Drummond isn’t capable of returning value with such minimal playing time.
The Outcome
The 76ers are a decent team, but they’re simply not in the same class as the Warriors. The Warriors have outscored their opponents by 12.9 points per 100 possessions, while the 76ers have posted a Net Rating of +0.7. That number is higher when they have Embiid at full strength, but they’re still significantly worse than the Warriors.
The Warriors are just slight favorites with this game in Philly, but I still think they should be able to take care of business.
As for the Showdown contest, I expect the winning lineup to have both Curry and Embiid, with one of those players in the Captain spot. That means some under-the-radar player will also likely pop in the winning lineup, and identifying that player is going to be the key to this slate. I’m planting my flag on Payton, but there are other options to consider as well.
Final Score: Warriors 108, 76ers 100
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $60K Fadeaway [$20K to 1st] (GSW vs PHI)
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is mlamarca) 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. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
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