Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Monday, January 20th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-01-20 15:51:53 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 great weekend. We finally got some good football games and it was another solid week of PGA DFS for yours truly. The RotoGrinders Discord also had some big golf winners. I’ve said it a few times, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a big year for the RG golf community. If you are an RG Combo member, check out the content each week. If not, maybe give it a chance. It’s personally my favorite sweat of all the major sports.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. As is tradition in the NBA, we have a full day of basketball on tap. The sites have finally agreed on the slate size, as both FanDuel and DraftKings are rolling out a 5-game main slate that starts at 2:00 PM ET. Don’t forget to get those lineups in early. In order for this article to have some shelf life, I am going to be writing it on Sunday night. We won’t have official injury reports from the teams, but I will still try to cover all players currently dealing with injuries.

We have our 20-week ultrasound tomorrow morning (!!), so I might not be able to provide as many updates prior to lock.

Let’s dive into the team previews.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Monday, January 20th

• 5-game main slate
  - 2:00 PM ET – Detroit Pistons at Houston Rockets
  - 2:30 PM ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 3:00 PM ET – Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks
  - 3:30 PM ET – Phoenix Suns at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 5:00 PM ET – Boston Celtics at Golden State Warriors
• Front end of a back-to-back: Knicks
• Back end of a back-to-back: Bulls, Clippers
• 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

Detroit Pistons (at HOU)

We kick off the main slate with the Pistons, who draw a difficult matchup on the road against the Rockets. The Pistons’ team total is the lowest on the slate and 4 points lower than their season average. There’s currently not a single player on their roster listed in the Situation Room (except for Jaden Ivey, who is likely out for the season), so we’ll assume they are essentially going to be at full strength. I view this as a good spot to fade the Pistons as a whole. Cade Cunningham has underwhelmed recently and is priced above $10,000. The only players on my radar are Tim Hardaway (cheap and could push for minutes in the 30s) and Jalen Duren (30+ fantasy points in 5 of his last 6 games).

Houston Rockets (vs. DET)

The Rockets are in 2nd place in the Western Conference. They have been extremely impressive this season. They draw a slightly favorable matchup against the Pistons and come into the game with a team total that is 2 points higher than their season average. Jalen Green is the first player of note here. He has scored at least 42 fantasy points in 5 of his last 6 games and continues to have an elite usage rate. Amen Thompson (questionable) has been a slate-breaker recently, topping 45 fantasy points in 3 of his last 5 games. Green is cheaper than Thompson, but they are both viable on this short slate. It’s not the best matchup for Alperen Sengun, but he’s certainly capable of topping 50 fantasy points here.

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