NBA DFS Core Plays LIVE: Monday, November 7th
Andy Means (meansy53) will be bringing Premium subscribers his top NBA DFS plays to build around for the upcoming slate. A former Duke basketball walk-on, Meansy will also give you his thoughts on the slate as a whole from a macro perspective. On weekends, the GPP maestro you all know and love, STLCards, takes the reins.
GENERAL SLATE THOUGHTS
3:12 PM ET: Initial run of the tables is complete, and I will go through now to finish off the notes. Still waiting on a lot of news so don’t get too comfortable! (I’m talking to myself, mostly)
1:45 PM ET: As of 1:45, it looks like the biggest news to hit so far is LeBron James (out), Zach LaVine (questionable), Ben Simmons (expected to play 20 minutes or so, allegedly), and Kevin Porter (questionable). I will get to the tables as soon as I can, but this Lakers news kinda threw a wrench into things.
8:50 AM ET: We have got a loooooooooong day ahead of us, so I am not going to beat around the bush. Why the long day? Here are the brief bullet points:
1) All 30 teams are playing tonight.
2) The games are all perfectly spread out, so that one game is tipping off every 15 minutes. The first game starts at 7:00 PM ET, and the last game starts at 10:30 PM ET.
Monday Morning Andy could not be more miserable at the current moment. Monday Night Andy is going to be loving life once all of the games get going. Tuesday Andy? Oh man, I have to imagine he will be over the moon when he wakes up and realizes he doesn’t have to write an article (there are no games tomorrow, FYI).
Ok, it appears I have in fact started beating around the bush, so let’s get to it. I will start by trying to be very brief about the teams on the second night of a back-to-back.
Washington Wizards: In last night’s loss in Memphis, the Wizards were without Bradley Beal (health and safety protocols) and Delon Wright (hamstring). Wright is out indefinitely, and I have not seen anything yet on Beal’s status. So for now, we are rolling with Beal as doubtful and not including him in projections. With this being the very first game of the slate though, we should know what is going on here with plenty of time to act.
Chicago Bulls: In last night’s loss in Toronto, the Bulls were without Lonzo Ball, Andre Drummond, Zach Lavine, and Coby White. We know that Lonzo and Drummond are still out. We are calling White doubtful as of now and keeping him out of projections. As for LaVine, we are assuming he plays tonight since his absence last night was for injury management on his knee. For what it’s worth, the Bulls host the Raptors tonight at 8:45 PM ET.
Toronto Raptors: As for the other side of that CHI/TOR game last night, the Raptors were without Pascal Siakam and Khem Birch. We know Siakam is out for a few weeks, and we are calling Birch doubtful for now and keeping him out of projections. I suppose it is possible that Fred VanVleet pops up on the injury report later too. Last night was his first game back after a three-game absence (back stiffness), and he logged 39 minutes.
Memphis Grizzlies: In last night’s win vs. the Wizards, the Grizzlies were without Danny Green, Jaren Jackson, and Ziaire Williams. All of them remain out for tonight as well. It is worth noting that both Ja Morant and Steven Adams got dinged up last night, but both also finished the game. So we will see if their names pop up when Memphis releases their injury report later today. For what it’s worth, the Grizzlies host the Celtics tonight at 9:00 PM ET.
Los Angeles Lakers: In yesterday’s loss vs. Cleveland, the Lakers were without Patrick Beverley, Thomas Bryant, and Dennis Schroder. The latter two are without timetables for return. Beverley missed that game yesterday with a non-COVID illness, and it was already announced that he will not be traveling to their game tonight in Utah (which starts at 10:15 PM ET). We’ll have to see if anyone else random pops up on their injury report when it is released later today. I’m guessing LeBron James and Anthony Davis will be on there, like always.
Utah Jazz: In last night’s win at the Clippers, the Jazz were without Leandro Bolmaro (Return to Competition Reconditioning) and Jarred Vanderbilt (adductor). We are calling Bolmaro doubtful for now, whereas we have Vanderbilt questionable and included in projections. Of course, we’ll have to see if any vets sit out on the second night of a back-to-back. Mike Conley play both legs of their first B2B (10/23 & 10/24) but then sat out the second leg of their most recent B2B (10/28 & 10/29).
Cleveland Cavaliers: In yesterday’s win at the Lakers, the Cavs were without Ricky Rubio and Dylan Windler. Rubio is still out for a bit, whereas Windler’s status is a little murkier. He was apparently cleared to return the middle of last week, so him being out still these past few games probably means he had a setback. For now, we are calling him doubtful. Lastly, it is worth noting that Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell were questionable leading up to yesterday’s game, but both ended up playing (a lot).
Los Angeles Clippers: In last night’s loss vs. Utah, the Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard and Luke Kennard. Kawhi is still without a timetable for return, and we are calling Kennard doubtful for now and keeping him out of projections. Furthermore, the Clippers have already announced that John Wall will not play tonight on the second night of a back-to-back. Reggie Jackson also hurt his knee last night and didn’t return after his first stint of the second half. He was seen limping in the locker room after the game, so it is possible that they are without both Jackson and Wall for tonight’s game. We have Jackson listed as questionable for now and have him included in projections, but that could very much change later in the day after more discussion. The Clippers play the last game of the night, so, yaaaaaay!
I went much longer on that than I planned, so I am going to wrap this up for now. With names like Joel Embiid, Trae Young, Damian Lillard, Tyler Herro, and Ben Simmons carrying official Q tags, we clearly have a lot of (basket)balls to drop in the news cycle. And who the heck knows what kind of random crap pops up with every single team playing tonight.
BRB, I am going to request off for November 6, 2023……..
NOTE: The tables below are unlikely to be updated once the slate locks and when I am on the Crunch Time show. For the most up-to-date information, make sure you are watching Crunch Time and monitoring LineupHQ for my Core Play tags and our Premium NBA Projections.