Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Friday, April 26th
A daily fantasy sports OG, Notorious has been roaming the DFS streets ever since they were invented. He has racked up multiple live final seats and several six-figure tournament wins in his DFS career, and Noto will mix it up in all different types of contests. So, who better to walk you through the madness of an NBA DFS slate? Core Plays LIVE will zoom out on the slate as a whole, zoom in on the best NBA DFS picks, and constantly update as news breaks. Whether you are diving into the slate 5 hours before it starts or 5 minutes before it starts, you’ve come to the right place.
Happy Friday!
While we didn’t have any particularly close games last night, it was good to see two of the three higher-seeded teams bounce back with wins at home. The Magic picked up a 38-point win against the Cavaliers, and the Sixers had a double-digit win against the Knicks. The Lakers are the first higher-seeded team to fall to 0-3 in their series. Despite building a solid lead in the 1st half, they were outscored by 18 points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. They will now try to accomplish the seemingly impossible — winning 4 straight games after being down 0-3 in a series. We’ve seen it in other sports, but no NBA team has ever accomplished this feat.
We have 3 more games on the docket this evening. They all feature a spread of 6 points or less, so we should have a good night of basketball in store. I have wanted to give an update on my little one learning to ride his bike, but it’s been raining here all week. Hopefully, I’ll have a story for you on Monday. Let’s dive into the games.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, April 26th
Slate Overview
- 3-game slate
- 5:30 PM ET – Milwaukee Bucks at Indiana Pacers
- 8:00 PM ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Dallas Mavericks
- 10:30 PM ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Phoenix Suns
- NBA DFS Injury Report: The Situation Room
- Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays
News Updates
This section will be updated as injury news is released throughout the day.
Team Previews
Milwaukee Bucks (at IND): We kick off the slate with the Bucks, who are tied with the Pacers at a game apiece. Giannis Antetokounmpo has been putting up shots in practice, but he hasn’t been running or cutting. He has already been ruled out for tonight’s game. The good news is that the Pacers are the best matchup left in the playoffs. During the regular season, they were ranked 2nd in pace and 24th in defensive rating. Despite missing their best player, the Bucks have scored 108 and 109 points, respectively, in the first 2 games of the series. Milwaukee comes into tonight’s game as 6-point underdogs with a team total of 108.8 points.
While Giannis has already been ruled out, we have to keep an eye on Khris Middleton. He sprained his ankle during Game 2 and is officially listed as questionable. If he’s ruled out, we can feel mighty confident in a full Bucks stack. Even with Middleton in the lineup, Damian Lillard provides one of the highest floor/ceiling combinations on the slate. In the first 2 games of the series, he has averaged 50 fantasy points with a usage rate north of 30%. We shouldn’t expect the shot volume to slow down anytime soon, and there’s still meat on the bone when it comes to his peripheral stat production (only 8 assists in the first 2 games combined). If Middleton does end up being active, his injury should help keep ownership at a reasonable level. He has averaged 38 fantasy points in this series and saw the biggest usage and FP/minute boost with Giannis off the floor during the regular season.
Bobby Portis has been very popular with Giannis out, and while he hasn’t been awful, it does feel like he’s underwhelmed in his spot starts. He does have a double-double in each of the first 2 games and should continue to play 30+ minutes with a high usage rate. When it comes to value, there’s plenty of it on the Bucks. Patrick Beverley is still cheap and expected to see minutes in the mid-30s, Brook Lopez has averaged over 30 fantasy points in this series and is only $5,400 on DraftKings, and Pat Connaughton offers upside of 20+ fantasy points off the bench. I’m fine using Beverley and Lopez in any format, while Connaughton is best suited for a stars-and-scrubs build that you are entering in tournaments. If Middleton ends up being out, I’ll share my thoughts in the injury news section above.
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