Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Friday, April 4th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-04-04 22:00:31 Premium Content Part of the product NBA DFS

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 has long been one of the top NBA DFS minds in the industry. On weekends, Taylor Smith takes the reins. Their Core Plays LIVE article 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, Core Plays LIVE has everything you need for your DraftKings and FanDuel lineups.

Happy Friday!

I can’t believe it’s already the weekend. This week flew by. We officially have less than two weeks left in the regular season. I don’t know about you, but I think meaningful basketball can’t come soon enough. It’ll be great breaking down slates where all of the teams are actually trying to win games.

We have 10 games on the schedule tonight. FanDuel has included all 10 on their main slate, while DraftKings only has the first 7 on their main slate. I’ll try to update for injury news as much as possible, but I will be on Crunch Time tonight at 6:15 PM ET. We will be breaking down the NBA and MLB slates, so it should be a lot of fun.

I hope everyone has a tremendous weekend. Let’s dive right into the team previews.

*NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, April 4th

• 10-game main slate on FD, 7-game main slate on DK
  - 7:00 PM ET – Sacramento Kings at Charlotte Hornets
  - 7:00 PM ET – Utah Jazz at Indiana Pacers
  - 7:30 PM ET – Phoenix Suns at Boston Celtics
  - 7:30 PM ET – Detroit Pistons at Toronto Raptors
  - 8:00 PM ET – Portland Trail Blazers at Chicago Bulls
  - 8:00 PM ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Houston Rockets
  - 8:00 PM ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at San Antonio Spurs
  - 10:00 PM ET – Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors
  - 10:30 PM ET – New Orleans Pelicans at Los Angeles Lakers
  - 10:30 PM ET – Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Clippers
• Front end of a back-to-back: Pistons, Mavericks, Clippers
• Back end of a back-to-back: Blazers, Raptors, Warriors, Lakers
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

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News Updates

1:45 PM ET

RJ Barrett and Ochai Agbaji have been ruled out for the Raptors. Jakob Poeltl and Immanuel Quickley will play, while Scottie Barnes is questionable. Isaiah Joe is questionable for the Thunder. Dalen Terry and Julian Phillips will play for the Bulls.

Team Previews

Sacramento Kings (at CHA)

We kick the slate off with the Kings, who have an average matchup against the Kings. They are 10.5-point favorites and have a team total that is a point lower than their season average. They are fighting to stay in the playoff picture, so they have plenty of motivation.

While the Kings don’t have a single player with a positive RGValue, they are at least a little interesting, given the fact that they have to win to stay in the playoff picture. At the very least, Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan are worth a look in tournaments.

Charlotte Hornets (vs. SAC)

The Hornets draw a mediocre matchup at home against the Kings and come into the game with a team total that is a point lower than their season average. LaMelo Ball, Tre Mann, Brandon Miller, Josh Green, Damion Baugh, and Grant Williams are all out, while Nick Smith is listed as questionable.

Even with all of the injuries, the Hornets are expected to roll out a deep and balanced rotation. I’m not looking to spend up on anyone here, but I don’t mind looking to KJ Simpson in tournaments. The matchup is reasonable, and we have him projected to play 31 minutes at home.

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