Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Friday, December 20th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2024-12-21 00:15:06 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 Fridayyyyyy!

Life is good. It’s officially the weekend; Christmas is only 5 days away, we have a fun NBA slate tonight, and then we have NFL all weekend.

Do you know what store is wild? We went to Scheels last night for some last-minute Christmas shopping. I’ve been to Scheels plenty of times, but I’ve always had a purpose and a plan ahead of time, so I’ve never explored the different parts of the store. It’s like when you go to the grocery store for milk, you don’t walk through every aisle. You head for the milk, you grab some candy, and you get out of there. We walked through every section of Scheels last night and noticed that you are immediately immersed in the culture of each one. It’s like transporting into different worlds. We were amazed how many different walks of life are all shopping in the same store. The hunting and fishing sections had a lot of camo and boots, while the golf and basketball sections had more sweats and Jordans. I’d walk through a section and immediately know if I belonged there or not.

Anyway, let’s get back to the NBA slate. There are only 3 games on the schedule, and all 6 teams are playing in a back-to-back set. The Hornets and Thunder are playing on the second half of a back-to-back, while the Sixers, Bucks, Cavaliers, and Heat are playing on the front half of a back-to-back. Let’s dive into the team previews.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, December 20th

• 3-game slate
  - 7:00 PM ET – Charlotte Hornets at Philadelphia 76ers
  - 7:30 PM ET – Milwaukee Bucks at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 8:00 PM ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Miami Heat
• Front end of a back-to-back: Sixers, Bucks, Cavaliers, Heat
• Back end of a back-to-back: Hornets, Thunder
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA DFS Injury Report: The Situation Room
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

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News Updates

1:30 PM ET – The Hornets have ruled out Brandon Miller and have decided to give both LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams the night off. This certainly makes the Hornets a lot more appealing on this small slate. We currently have Seth Curry and Josh Green projected to start, but Nick Richards and Cody Martin should both see an uptick in minutes. Let’s see who benefits the most with those three (and Tre Mann) off the floor this season:

Team Previews

Charlotte Hornets (at PHI)

We kick off our Friday night with the Hornets, who are playing on the second half of a back-to-back. They have yet to submit an injury report but will be without Tre Mann and Grant Williams. We’ll have to wait and see with Brandon Miller and the rest of the roster. They travel to Philadelphia to take on the Sixers, who are 28th in pace and 10th in points allowed per game. The Hornets are 11-point underdogs and have the lowest team total on the slate. As it stands right now, with Miller in the projections, there’s not a single player with a positive RGValue in LineupHQ. I’ll provide an update once the Hornets release their initial injury report.

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