Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Friday, February 21st

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-02-21 23:20:33 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!

It certainly doesn’t feel like a Friday. Wednesday felt like a Monday after having no games early in the week, and yesterday felt a bit like a Friday. It’s been a strange week, but we have already made it to the weekend. I will be on Crunch Time again tonight, so I won’t be able to update this article while I’m on the show. I’ll be on at 6:20 PM ET, and the show will go right up through lineup lock. I’ll post the link to the show when it becomes available.

As for tonight’s NBA slate, we have 9 games on the schedule. The first 6 games are included on the DraftKings main slate, while all 9 games are included on the FanDuel main slate. The Grizzlies, Magic, Cavaliers, Knicks, Bucks, and Spurs are all playing on the second half of a back-to-back, so it could be a busy day of injury news.

Let’s dive right into the team previews.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, February 21st

• 9-game main slate
  - 7:00 PM ET – Memphis Grizzlies at Orlando Magic
  - 7:00 PM ET – Milwaukee Bucks at Washington Wizards
  - 7:00 PM ET – New York Knicks at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 7:30 PM ET – Miami Heat at Toronto Raptors
  - 8:30 PM ET – Detroit Pistons at San Antonio Spurs
  - 8:30 PM ET – New Orleans Pelicans at Dallas Mavericks
  - 9:30 PM ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Houston Rockets
  - 9:30 PM ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Utah Jazz
  - 10:00 PM ET – Golden State Warriors at Sacramento Kings
• Front end of a back-to-back: Rockets, Jazz
• Back end of a back-to-back: Grizzlies, Magic, Cavaliers, Knicks, Bucks, Spurs
• 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

This section will be updated as injury news is released throughout the day.

Team Previews

Memphis Grizzlies (at ORL)

We kick the slate off with the Grizzlies, who draw a difficult matchup on the road against the Magic. This is a pace-down spot, and they are facing one of the best defenses in the league. They come into the game as 3-point favorites, but their team total is 10 points lower than their season average. To make matters worse, they are playing on the second half of a back-to-back. We’ll see if they decide to rest anyone in this spot. With everyone currently in the projections, nobody has a positive RGValue.

Orlando Magic (vs. MEM)

The Magic are also playing on the second half of a back-to-back and have yet to submit an injury report. Jalen Suggs and Moe Wagner will likely be out again, but we’ll have to wait and see with the rest of the roster. They have a favorable matchup at home against the Grizzlies, who are 1st in pace and 23rd in points allowed per game. With everyone currently in the projections, Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Wendell Carter all have positive RGValues.

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