Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Monday, April 28th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-04-28 23:09:56 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 Monday!

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a great weekend. It was pretty quiet over here. We watched my niece and nephew, we got started on some long overdue yard work, and we visited my stepsister, who was back in town after moving to Tonga a few years ago. It was a simple weekend, but those are often the best.

As for tonight’s NBA slate, there are only 2 games on the schedule. We need to get used to the 2-game slates, as we’ll get a lot of them moving forward. Once teams start getting eliminated and we get into the 2nd round of the playoffs, 2-game slates will be the biggest we get.

Let’s dive into the team previews!

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Monday, April 28th

• 2-game main slate
  - 7:30 PM ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Miami Heat
  - 10:00 PM ET – Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• 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

Cleveland Cavaliers (at MIA)

We start tonight’s slate with the Cavaliers, who have a chance to sweep the Heat with a win in Miami. Other than a brief scare in Game 2, the Heat have not been a competitive opponent in this series. Despite being a difficult matchup on paper, the Cavaliers have been able to rack up 124, 121, and 121 points in the first 3 games. While their team total for tonight’s game is 12 points lower than their season average, it is still the highest on the slate. Darius Garland missed Game 3 and is listed as questionable for tonight’s Game 4.

With Garland out in Game 3, Sam Merrill started (18 minutes), while Caris LeVert, De’Andre Hunter, and Ty Jerome all played 22+ minutes off the bench. Let’s take a look at who benefits the most with Garland off the floor in terms of usage and FP/min production:

Surprisingly, Evan Mobley sees a sizable usage and FP/min boost with Garland off the floor. He’s been quiet in this series, but he would be an interesting tournament play if Garland is out again. Max Strus has scored 29 and 39 fantasy points in the last 2 games and has a path to 30+ minutes if Garland is out.

As it stands right now with Garland in the projections, Donovan Mitchell is the only player on the roster with a positive RGValue. Jarrett Allen is a strong cash game option, offering a high floor at an affordable price on both FanDuel and DraftKings. Even though Cleveland doesn’t project that well, they are one of my favorite teams to target.

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