Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Sunday, February 2nd

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2025-02-02 19:35:10 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.

I don’t remember the last time I was utterly floored by sports news the way I was when I saw word of yesterday’s trade. Stars switch teams all the time in the NBA, of course, but you’ll rarely see something that out of the blue, especially featuring players whose names you haven’t heard a whole lot in reports or trade rumors. It could change the entire balance of power in the Western Conference overnight, a truly wild turn of events.

But enough about the Clippers’ acquisition of Drew Eubanks. We’ve got to get down to business because the NBA is starting its games at a wildly early hour today for some reason. The main slates tip off at 3 PM ET. We’re looking at 4 games on FanDuel and 5 over on DraftKings.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Saturday, February 2nd

• 5-game DK main slate, 4-game FD main slate
  - 3:00 PM ET – Chicago Bulls at Detroit Pistons
  - 3:30 PM ET – Dallas Mavericks at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 3:30 PM ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Toronto Raptors
  - 6:00 PM ET – Boston Celtics at Philadelphia 76ers
  - 8:30 PM ET – Memphis Grizzlies at Milwaukee Bucks
• Front end of a back-to-back: Pistons, Grizzlies
• 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

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News Updates

Here’s where I’ll provide news updates.

Team Previews

Chicago Bulls (at DET)

The Bulls are still expected to be without Zach LaVine today in Detroit, where they’re 5.5-point underdogs against the upstart Pistons. LaVine’s absence has cleared more usage for Lonzo Ball (+3.8%), Coby White (+2.9%), and Patrick Williams (+2.5%), and we got word that Ball is cleared to play upwards of 28 minutes prior to the last game, when he finished with just 24. The matchup is a decent one, so I’m willing to go right back to the well with Ball, White, and Ayo Dosunmu in LaVine’s absence. Matas Buzelis (0.88 FP/minute) could be a decent value in an elevated role off the bench. The pricier Bulls are tougher sells (Nikola Vucevic, Josh Giddey), but they are still viable in GPPs at lower ownership than their more affordable teammates.

Detroit Pistons (vs. CHI)

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