Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Friday, February 28th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-02-28 23:17:05 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!

After a great slate on Wednesday, nothing went right on Thursday. Kyrie Irving was the only player in my main lineup with a fire emoji next to his score, which is never ideal. We have a massive 10-game slate on tap tonight (8-game slate on DraftKings), so we’ll save the pleasantries and the anecdotal stories for another day.

Cheers to the weekend! I will be hopping on Crunch Time at 6:15 PM ET, so you can catch all of my final thoughts for the slate there.

Let’s dive into the team previews.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, February 28th

• 10-game main slate
  - 7:00 PM ET – Denver Nuggets at Detroit Pistons
  - 7:30 PM ET – Portland Trail Blazers at Brooklyn Nets
  - 7:30 PM ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics
  - 7:30 PM ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Atlanta Hawks
  - 8:00 PM ET – Indiana Pacers at Miami Heat
  - 8:00 PM ET – Toronto Raptors at Chicago Bulls
  - 8:00 PM ET – New York Knicks at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 9:00 PM ET – New Orleans Pelicans at Phoenix Suns
  - 9:30 PM ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Utah Jazz
  - 10:00 PM ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers
• Front end of a back-to-back: Nets, Pistons, Grizzlies
• Back end of a back-to-back: Nuggets, Pelicans, Suns, Wolves, Lakers
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

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News Updates

1:40 PM ET

Lauri Markkanen has been ruled out for the Jazz, while Jordan Clarkson is listed as questionable. Aaron Gordon is listed as questionable for the Nuggets. Jrue Holiday has been ruled out for the Celtics, while Kristaps Porzingis is questionable.

Team Previews

Denver Nuggets (at DET)

We kick the slate off with the Nuggets, who are playing on the second half of a back-to-back. They have a solid matchup against the Pistons and come into the game with a team total that is 3 points lower than their season average. They have yet to submit an injury report, so we’ll see if any key players end up sitting out tonight.

Nikola Jokic is viable each and every slate. He’s gotten to the point where he’s so expensive that he rarely garners much ownership. He’s really the only player on the Nuggets that deserves consideration unless you are MME’ing the slate.

Detroit Pistons (vs. DEN)

The Pistons have a nice matchup at home and catch the Nuggets at an opportune time (second half of a back-to-back). They come into the game with a team total that is 5 points higher than their season average. Jaden Ivey is still out, which opens up minutes in the backcourt and usage in the offense.

Cade Cunningham has averaged 52 fantasy points with Ivey out of the lineup this season and has been on a tear over the last few weeks. Targeting point guards against the Nuggets is one of my favorite pastimes, so I will be prioritizing Cunningham on this slate. Jalen Duren is affordable and projects well, but targeting centers against Jokic is always a risk. I would only look his way in large-field tournaments.

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