NBA DFS Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings - Lakers vs Suns Thursday Night Showdown

Happy Thursday, RotoBallers! Welcome to our first edition of the NBA showdown article! Some of you may recognize me from various eSports articles throughout the year and I'm here to make my NBA debut with weekly articles every Thursday for one of the NBA showdowns! In our first matchup of the season, we have a banger as two of the heavyweights in the league take each other on as the Phoenix Suns take on the LA Lakers.

I absolutely love playing the NBA showdowns daily, it has become one of my favorite forms of DFS. There is nothing more thrilling than having a lineup consisting of players from one game and sweating it out while watching it live. There is a lot less room for error though with there being fewer options to choose from. Hopefully, with all the advanced stats I will be able to bring you the best analysis possible and get you some extra cash for the weekend ahead. So strap in the season is just beginning and we will be here all season long.

I will be providing you with daily fantasy basketball picks on FanDuel and DraftKings for the Lakers vs. Suns NBA DFS showdown slate on October 26. These NBA DFS lineup picks can vary from higher-priced players and elite options to lower-priced players and value picks on both DraftKings and FanDuel. If you have any questions, you can follow me on Twitter/X @DFSKoby and please feel free to ask any questions about upcoming slates as I'm happy to answer any DMs or in our Rotoballer Discord!

MVP/Captain Plays

Kevin Durant - PF, $15,600 (DK), $16,000 (FD)

Key Stats

• 2022 Avg. Season Stats: 29.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.4 blocks and .7 steals per game.

We finally get the matchup we have been waiting for. Kevin Durant vs. LeBron James. They will be the focal points of these offenses, especially with Bradley Beal and Devin Booker both being doubtful due to injury. Kevin Durant will likely be one of the most owned players in the league, so it will be chalky. But that is the usual with most showdown slates, it's where we can get creative elsewhere that wins slates. With a couple of injuries on this Suns team, Durant's usage should increase heavily, and nearly everything will be funneled through him.

Anthony Davis - PF/C, $15,300 (DK), $16,500 (FD)

Key Stats

• 2022 Avg. Season Stats: 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists with 2 blocks and 1.1 steals per game

I almost went Lebron here, but seeing that his minutes could be on the downhill worries me slightly. Anthony Davis however after not making a single bucket in the second half still found himself with 36.6 Fantasy points in their game against Denver. I don't see that happening again so it is only up from here! That is unless he gets hurt which is always the risk you take when rostering Anthony Davis.

It is hard to tell if Phoenix is going to be tough against Centers this season as the Warriors aren't your traditional team but they did allow Looney to secure 11 boards. Davis is by far better than Looney and with Ham giving AD the trigger to shoot as much as he wants I like AD to bounce back from an awful second half and make a big impact.

Other Captains/MVPs: Lebron James, Jusuf Nurkic

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DFS Flex Plays

Jusuf Nurkic - C, $7,400 (DK), $13,000 (FD)

Are we finally seeing a resurgence in Nurkic? Maybe a new home on a contending team is what he needed to start being more aggressive at the basket again. Nurkic had a solid debut scoring 37 fantasy points. Last season, the Lakers gave up the fifth most fantasy points to opposing centers. As long as Nurkic can stay out of foul trouble early I could see him replicating this performance or possibly something even better.

Josh Okogie - SG/SF, $5,200 (DK), $10,500 (FD)

Josh Okogie hopped into the starting lineup and made quite the splash shooting 7-9 FGs, and hitting his only three-pointer. Now that Devin Booker is doubtful we should see some increased usage coming through Okogie giving him even more chances to make an impact on this game. If he continues to shoot the way he has to start the season he should be given the green light to continue shooting. Just based on the last game and an increase in usage we could see a 30+ FP performance from Okogie and I will take that all day long for his price.

Other Flex Options: Austin Reaves, Taurean Prince

DFS Value Plays

Rui Hachimura- , $4,200 (DK), $7,000 (FD)

I don't believe the Rui we saw on Tuesday night was the Rui most people were expecting including myself who fell for the trap that he was. But at this price, I can't ignore it. Rui has much higher potential and I think his lack of minutes was because of how poor he was shooting only making three of his ten shots in 15 minutes. I'm expecting Rui to have kicked a bit of the rust off and have a better performance and at his price, we are only looking for close to 20 FP or better. If the shot starts falling everything else will fall into place for Rui.

Eric Gordon- RB, $5,000 (DK), $9,000 (FD)

Eric Gordon played a whopping 32 minutes off the bench and with Booker likely out he will pushed into a starting role more than likely. So his minutes are secure and for the sweet price of 5k on DK I will gladly swoop that up. He shot 16 times, nine of them from three. The shots weren't falling quite consistently but that didn't stop him from shooting. The Lakers gave up the second most fantasy points to guards last year. I also expect Eric to facilitate a little bit more than he did off the bench as well. So we could not only see the points increase but his assist numbers too.

Other Value Plays: Gabe Vincent (DK), Grayson Allen (FD)

Have a great night and let's make some cash!

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