Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Sunday, April 20th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2025-04-20 16:52:56 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.

Yesterday’s slate was a terrific way to kick off the NBA playoffs, so why don’t we run it back again today? We’re looking at another 4-game docket with the other 4 series all tipping off, starting with Grizzlies-Thunder at 1:00 PM ET.

Let’s dive right in.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Sunday, April 20th

• 4-game main slate
  - 1:00 PM ET – Memphis Grizzlies at Oklahoma City Thunder
  - 3:30 PM ET – Orlando Magic at Boston Celtics
  - 7:00 PM ET – Miami Heat at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 9:30 PM ET – Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets
• Front end of a back-to-back: N/A
• Back end of a back-to-back: N/A
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• 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

Memphis Grizzlies (at OKC)

The Grizzlies waxed the Mavs on Friday night to officially advance to the playoffs, and their reward is to take on a team that finished the campaign with one of the best records in league history. Memphis is a hefty 13.5-point underdog this afternoon against a much more rested Thunder team. That said, the Grizzlies’ 107.75 implied team total is still the 4th-highest on this slate.

Ja Morant was questionable with a bad ankle heading into Friday’s game, but he looked no worse for the wear in 32 minutes of action. I’m not thrilled about targeting an injured Morant against an elite defense, but he’s still reasonably affordable on DK ($8,200). Desmond Bane seems to have emerged as the 2nd fiddle in this offense, with Jaren Jackson Jr. pulling up the rear. Bane is another decent mid-range value, but I don’t have a ton of interest in the scoring-reliant JJJ on this slate.

Scotty Pippen Jr. has been starting of late with Jaylen Wells out for the season, while Zach Edey has averaged north of 30 minutes per game since the Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins directly into the sun at the end of March. Pippen won’t get a ton of usage playing with the starters, but he’s still hovering in the $5,000 range with a path to 30 minutes. Edey (1.15 FP/minute) has made the most of his increased minutes, and you can argue the sites still haven’t priced him appropriately for his enhanced role. He’s looking like a core play again on DraftKings, while he’s a borderline candidate even in the 1-center FanDuel format.

Oklahoma City Thunder (vs. MEM)

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