Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Saturday, December 28th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2024-12-28 23:30:03 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 Saturday!

Taylor Smith needed coverage for today, so I am on Core Plays duty. I hope everyone’s weekend is already off to a good start. Let’s keep that going by having a good slate of NBA DFS. There are 9 games on the schedule today but 2 of those are early games. We will focus on the 7-game main slates for both FanDuel and DraftKings. For those who wanted an update on the stomach virus situation (nobody), things have gotten worse. It has spread to all sides of all families involved.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Saturday, December 28th

• 9-game slate
  - 3:00 PM ET – Miami Heat at Atlanta Hawks
  - 6:00 PM ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Charlotte Hornets
  - 7:00 PM ET – New York Knicks at Washington Wizards
  - 8:00 PM ET – Milwaukee Bucks at Chicago Bulls
  - 8:30 PM ET – Phoenix Suns at Golden State Warriors
  - 9:00 PM ET – Detroit Pistons at Denver Nuggets
  - 9:30 PM ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Utah Jazz
  - 10:00 PM ET – Dallas Mavericks at Portland Trail Blazers
  - 10:30 PM ET – Sacramento Kings at Los Angeles Lakers
• Front end of a back-to-back: Hawks, Heat, Thunder
• Back end of a back-to-back: Knicks, Nuggets, Mavericks, Suns, Warriors
• 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 PrizePicks promo code and Sleeper 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.

1:45 PM ET – Damian Lillard will play tonight. Jordan Clarkson will play tonight. Keyonte George has been ruled out. Andre Drummond is now questionable.

Team Previews

New York Knicks (at WAS)

The Knicks find themselves in one of the best matchups on the slate. They are facing the Wizards, who are 4th in pace and 29th in defensive rating this season. Jalen Brunson is currently listed as questionable, so we’ll have to keep an eye on his availability. Cam Payne and Miles McBride would see major upticks in playing time. With everyone in the projections, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges lead the way in terms of RGValues. I wouldn’t sleep on Karl-Anthony Towns either. While he has struggled the last 2 games, he has still topped 55 fantasy points in 6 of his last 9 outings.

Washington Wizards (vs. NYK)

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