Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Monday, January 27th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-01-27 23:44:39 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. While I was rooting for the Commanders and Bills in the Conference Championship games, I still think a rematch of 2023 Super Bowl between the Eagles and Chiefs should be a fun one. I had a pretty quiet weekend — went to dinner with some friends for my birthday, went to my friend’s daughter’s dance recital, and looked at a few houses. The highlight of my weekend was PGA DFS, as I won a few single-entry tournaments. The golf channel in the RG Discord also had a ton of screenshots. I’ll say it again — 2025 is the year for the RG golf community. We’d love to have you join.

As for tonight in the association, there are 12 games on the schedule. The NBA went out of its way to avoid competition from the NFL yesterday, so 28 of the 30 teams had the day off. We now have a wonky schedule all week. FanDuel has included all 12 of the games on their main slate, while DraftKings left the final 2 games off of their main slate. The best news is that we don’t have any teams playing on the second half of a back-to-back.

Let’s dive into the slate.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Monday, January 27th

• 12-game FD main slate, 10-game DK main slate
  - 7:00 PM ET – Detroit Pistons at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 7:00 PM ET – Los Angeles Lakers at Charlotte Hornets
  - 7:30 PM ET – Orlando Magic at Miami Heat
  - 7:30 PM ET – Sacramento Kings at Brooklyn Nets
  - 7:30 PM ET – Memphis Grizzlies at New York Knicks
  - 7:30 PM ET – New Orleans Pelicans at Toronto Raptors
  - 7:30 PM ET – Houston Rockets at Boston Celtics
  - 8:00 PM ET – Denver Nuggets at Chicago Bulls
  - 8:00 PM ET – Atlanta Hawks at Minnesota Timberwolves
  - 8:30 PM ET – Washington Wizards at Dallas Mavericks
  - 9:00 PM ET – Milwaukee Bucks at Utah Jazz
  - 9:30 PM ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Phoenix Suns
• Front end of a back-to-back: Lakers, Rockets, Hawks, Jazz, Bucks
• Back end of a back-to-back: None
• 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

Detroit Pistons (at CLE)

We kick off the slate with the Pistons, who are 10.5-point underdogs on the road against the Cavaliers. Their team total matches their season average, so this isn’t a particularly good or bad spot on paper.

Jaden Ivey has been ruled out, while Tobias Harris is listed as questionable. Jalen Duren continues to offer a high floor (23+ fantasy points in 18 straight games), while Cade Cunningham continues to see a high usage rate with Ivey out. Both are viable on this slate, but I wouldn’t call them priorities.

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