NBA Showdown Playbook January 18: Sacramento Kings vs. Los Angeles Lakers DFS Picks
LeBron James takes center stage in tonight’s NBA DFS Showdown Slate as the Kings travel to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers. As usual, James is listed on the Injury Report with an ankle injury, but while it is something we need to be aware of, there is nothing to suggest that he will not be out on the court. Across the court, we have star power in Domantas Sabonis and De’aaron Fox for the Kings in what she be game filled with offense. Let us take a look at some options to consider when building your lineups tonight to finish out the night in the green.
NBA Injury Report
Sacramento Kings
None
Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James – Questionable (ankle)
Anthony Davis – Out
Lonnie Walker IV – Out
Austin Reaves – Out
NBA DFS Showdown Slate Picks
MVP/Captain
LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
I know that I am not getting any points for creativity here, but James is the best as he continues to perform at an elite level. We know that there is going to be a lot of offense, and not much defense, tonight and it is a favorable matchup for James against the Kings. It is a theme we will hear a lot tonight. If there are any questions as to how strong James has looked, in the second end of a back-to-back against the Rockets on Monday, he scored 48 points to go along with nine rebounds and eight assists.
Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings
At this point the count is getting crazy, but Sabonis is now up to 20 straight double-doubles and they are not of the cheap variety either. In his last five games, Sabonis is actually averaging pretty close to a triple-double with 19.8 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 9.6 assists as he is single handedly helping to make Sacramento relevant for the postseason.
Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles Lakers
Anthony Davis being sidelined helps here, but Westbrook has broken the 20 point mark in each of his last five games as he is back to being a true offensive threat. While he is still not all the way back to version of Westbrook we had become accustomed to seeing, 23 points, 8.5 assists, and 8.2 rebounds per game over his last six is pretty good.
Utility
Harrison Barnes, Sacramento Kings
Barnes has really gotten rolling as of late, and the forward is coming off a 29 point performance on Sunday as he even got to the line for 11 free attempts, making nine of them. While Barnes is averaging five rebounds per game this season, during his recent five game stretch in which he is averaging 24 points he has been quiet elsewhere with just 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. At this price though, Barnes is good for a solid level of production.
Thomas Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
It would be interesting to see what Bryant would do playing more than 25 minutes per game, but the production we are getting from the center is still pretty good. Over his last six games, Bryant is coming in at 15.3 points and 9.2 rebounds on average and that includes a rough game on Monday in which he only finished with six points and six rebounds in 18 minutes. Bryant should rebound tonight against the Kings, and we know that he will get the playing time do so.
De’aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings
I thought about not including Fox here given the inconsistency and the high price tag, but there is a fair amount of upside here and the matchup is certainly a good one. Less than two weeks ago, Fox scored 34 points against this same Lakers team to go along with nine assists, and a repeat performance is not out of the question.
Dennis Schroder, Los Angeles Lakers
Maybe tonight will be the night that Schroder makes more than three shots in a game as he has in each of his last four. The good news is that Schroder continues to play more than 30 minutes a night for the Lakers which gives him plenty of opportunity to rack up the production and knock down a few shots.
Dart Throw
Trey Lyles, Sacramento Kings
Lyles is now up to five straight games with double-digit scoring which gives him averages of 14 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in that stretch and we are still getting him at a reasonable price.
Troy Brown Jr, Los Angeles Lakers
Brown continues to play upwards of 30 minutes per game and that is always going to put him in line for production. For starters, Brown can go from 11 shots per game to four, and that inconsistency does not fare him well from a DFS perspective. We have seen him score in double figures when all goes correctly while grabbing a few rebounds, so that will put him on our radar.
Davion Mitchell, Sacramento Kings
After scoring a combined 17 points in his previous four games, Mitchell went off for 19 points off the bench on Sunday. The conditions are ripe for a repeat of that tonight, but at the same time, there is risk he simply does not get going offensively.
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Player News
Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Sam Hauser, and Luke Kornet will start Wednesday’s game against the Clippers.
Jalen Johnson had 17 points (8-of-21 FGs), nine rebounds, four assists and six steals against the Pistons on Wednesday.
Trae Young had 13 points (5-of-13 FGs), two rebounds, nine assists, two steals and one 3-pointer against the Pistons on Wednesday.
Keon Johnson logged 30 minutes in Wednesday’s loss to Phoenix, recording a stat line of 20 points (9-of-16 FGs, 1-of-1 FTs), seven rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one 3-pointer.
Jalen Duren had 14 points (6-of-7 FGs), 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks against the Hawks on Wednesday.
Dariq Whitehead shot 4-of-7 from the field and 1-of-3 from the foul line in Wednesday’s loss to Phoenix, scoring a season-high 12 points with two rebounds and three 3-pointers in 15 minutes.