Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Hornets vs. Nuggets 2/20/25
Draftkings picks and predictions for this week's Hornets vs. Nuggets matchup.
Charlotte Hornets vs. Denver Nuggets
February 20, 2025 9:00 pm EDT
The NBA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Denver Nuggets and the Charlotte Hornets. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Denver Nuggets vs. Charlotte Hornets game let’s review the rules for the Draftkings single game showdown contest.
Draftkings Single Game Showdown Contest Rules
You have $50,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team captain. The captain accumulates 1.5 times the standard fantasy points. Additionally, the captain is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.
The remaining four players in your lineup will receive the standard fantasy points. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your captain position if you hope to win a large field DFS GPP (guaranteed prize pool) showdown contest.
If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game showdown contest, I recommend that you check out the Draftkings website for more details.
*I recommend that all readers review the starting lineups for both teams prior to setting your DFS lineup for this one game slate.
Here are my Draftkings picks for this week’s Charlotte Hornets vs. Denver Nuggets matchup.
Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks
Captain-Nikola Jokic, Center, Denver Nuggets $12,600
Denver center Nikola Jokic is undoubtedly one of the best players in the National Basketball Association today. Having stated that, how has Jokic played from a statistical perspective this season? Let’s examine Jokic’s relevant player data from the 2024 NBA regular season to answer that question.
In the last 49 games that center Nikola Jokic has played for the Denver Nuggets in the 2024 NBA regular season, Jokic is averaging a robust 65.9 Draftkings points a game.
More recently, in the Denver Nuggets 132-121 win over the Portland Trail Blazers six days ago, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic certainly played at a high level. More specifically, Jokic tallied 26 points, 15 rebounds, 11 assists and two steals in the Denver Nuggets victory over the Trail Blazers.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the Denver Nuggets win over the Portland Trail Blazers just mentioned, Denver center Nikola Jokic amassed a massive 66.3 Draftkings points.
As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the captain position for a Draftkings NBA showdown lineup is absolutely vital if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) DFS contest. Keep that in mind as you construct your lineups for this one game DFS slate.
In my view, Nikola Jokic is the player most likely to accumulate the highest number of DraftKings points in this NBA regular season game. With that said, I am rolling with Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic at the captain position for this one game DraftKings NBA Showdown contest slate.
Flex Plays
LaMelo Ball, Point Guard, Charlotte Hornets $9,800
In the 33 games that LaMelo Ball has played for the Charlotte Hornets in the 2024 NBA regular season, Ball has averaged a robust 27.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.3 blocks a game.
Upon closer examination of the data just presented, in the 33 games that point guard LaMelo Ball has played for the Charlotte Hornets this season, Ball is averaging an impressive 48.5 DraftKings points a contest.
Additional flex plays I like to play well in this NBA regular season game (Draftkings price noted): Jamal Murray, Point Guard (Denver Nuggets) $8,200: Miles Bridges, Power Forward (Charlotte Hornets) $8,800: Christian Braun, Guard (Denver Nuggets) $7,000.
