Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Monday, February 24th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-02-24 23:34:59 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!

I hope everyone had a tremendous weekend. We were so busy working on house projects and visiting family that I decided to take the weekend off from NBA DFS. I did, however, sweat my PGA DFS lineups and bets. It could have been a much better Sunday had Aaron Rai held his lead on the back nine at the Mexico Open.

It’s funny, my worlds are colliding a bit in the 3A High School basketball tournament here in Utah. My cousin plays for a small high school in Southern Utah, while my girlfriend’s brother-in-law coaches for a school in Salt Lake. If they both win their games today, they will square off in the next round of the state tournament.

We kick the week off with 8 games on the NBA schedule. FanDuel is including all 8 games on their main slate, while DraftKings has removed CHA/SAC.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Monday, February 24th

• 8-game main slate on FD, 7-game main slate on DK
  - 7:00 PM ET – Brooklyn Nets at Washington Wizards
  - 7:00 PM ET – Denver Nuggets at Indiana Pacers
  - 7:00 PM ET – Chicago Bulls at Philadelphia 76ers
  - 7:00 PM ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Detroit Pistons
  - 7:30 PM ET – Miami Heat at Atlanta Hawks
  - 8:00 PM ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Oklahoma City Thunder
  - 9:00 PM ET – Portland Trail Blazers at Utah Jazz
  - 10:00 PM ET – Charlotte Hornets at Sacramento Kings
• Front end of a back-to-back: Hornets
• Back end of a back-to-back: Clippers, Pistons, Pacers, Wizards, Heat, Hawks, Wolves, Thunder
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA DFS Injury Report: The Situation Room
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

Editor’s Note: Looking for more places to play? Check out our Underdog Fantasy promo code and PrizePicks promo code, two of the best DFS apps available today.

News Updates

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

Team Previews

Brooklyn Nets (at WAS)

The Nets have been one of the least trustworthy teams in NBA DFS this season, yet they have the best possible matchup in NBA DFS tonight. Something has to give here. On the season, the Wizards are 4th in pace and bottom 5 in rebounding rate, points allowed per game, and defensive rating. I’m pretty sure RotoGrinders could put together a team that could score 50 points on the Wizards at this point. The Nets come into this game with a team total that is 3 points higher than their season average. Noah Clowney, D’Angelo Russell, and Cam Thomas have all been ruled out.

Cameron Johnson has averaged close to a fantasy point per minute this season and has flashed a high ceiling at times. However, his playing time is far from consistent, which makes him tough to trust in cash games and small-field tournaments. However, given the matchup, I am prioritizing him in tournaments. Nic Claxton has topped 40 fantasy points in 2 of his last 3 games and makes a lot of sense against a bad rebounding team. I also don’t mind Trendon Watford, who is cheap and has topped 20 fantasy points in 5 straight games.

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