Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Saturday, April 26th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2025-04-26 16:32:38 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.

Another weekend is upon us, which means another weekend of NBA playoff action. We’re looking at a terrific 4-game slate on this fine Saturday. The Cavs will look to extend their series lead to 3-0 in Miami against the Heat to tip things off, while the Thunder will look to slam the door on the Grizzlies in the second game of the afternoon.

After that, the Nuggets will look to even their series with the Clippers in Game 4 in LA. We’ll cap things off with Game 3 of what’s been a wildly physical series between the Rockets and Warriors in the bay. That one’s knotted at a game apiece, and Jimmy Butler is questionable for the home team after a gnarly fall in Game 2.

It should be a fun slate, so let’s dive right into it.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Saturday, April 26th

• 4-game main slate
  - 1:00 PM ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Miami Heat
  - 3:30 PM ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 6:00 PM ET – Denver Nuggets at LA Clippers
  - 8:30 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

Here’s where I’ll provide news updates.

Team Previews

Cleveland Cavaliers (at MIA)

The Cavs had to sweat it out a bit in Game 2, but they’ll still head to Miami carrying a 2-0 series lead. Darius Garland is questionable for this one with a toe sprain, so we’ll see how that shakes out. We’re dealing with a small sample to this point, but the usage is elevated for Donovan Mitchell (32.6%) and Garland (28.6%), while it’s way down for Evan Mobley (16.9%) in the series. Garland missing would likely boost Mobley’s usage back up considerably, while Mitchell would continue to lead the offense. Both would be terrific plays in that situation, while I’d prefer Mitchell to Mobley given the small $500 discrepancy on DraftKings if Garland is a go. Garland himself likely won’t be limited if he suits up, and he likely won’t garner a ton of ownership thanks in part to the Q tag.

Garland sitting would also lead to a start for either De’Andre Hunter, Sam Merrill, or Isaac Okoro, while Ty Jerome would play a bigger role off the bench. Jerome gets enough usage in his normal role to be a viable cheapie in any situation, even if he only sees around 20 minutes off the bench. Jerome will be one of the most popular targets on the slate if Garland is out, but I see no problem with it. Max Strus and Sam Merrill aren’t necessarily fun targets, but both are under $4,000 on DraftKings with rotation roles. Jarrett Allen has a low floor thanks to his lack of usage, but he’s affordable and has enjoyed a slight 0.5% usage bump with Garland off the floor this season.

Miami Heat (vs. CLE)

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