Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Sunday, February 9th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2025-02-09 17:12:30 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.

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, but first, it’s also Weirdly Early and Tiny NBA Slate Sunday. We’ve got not 1, not 6, but 3 basketball games to sort through this afternoon with the slate tipping off nice and early at 1 PM ET. The other 2 contests get going an hour later.

It’s not too shabby for a 3-gamer, so let’s get right into it.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Sunday, February 9th

• 3-game main slate
  - 1:00 PM ET – Charlotte Hornets at Detroit Pistons
  - 2:00 PM ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Milwaukee Bucks
  - 2:00 PM ET – Toronto Raptors at Houston Rockets
• Front end of a back-to-back: Bucks, Hornets
• Back end of a back-to-back: Rockets
• 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 updates heading into lock.

Team Previews

Charlotte Hornets (at DET)

The Hornets are 10-point underdogs this afternoon in Detroit. The Pistons are pretty good now, in case you haven’t heard, while the Hornets… are not. Charlotte did accidentally get Mark Williams back after he reportedly failed his physical with the Lakers, but we’re not projecting him to be available today. Nick Smith and Jusuf Nurkic are questionable, while Brandon Miller, Josh Okogie, and Josh Green are still out. LaMelo Ball returned after a brief absence (ankle injury) on Friday and played 36 minutes in a win over the Spurs. The matchup isn’t ideal, but I still have interest in Melo if we can trust that he won’t be limited. He’s been terrific on a per-minute basis (1.5 FP/minute) all season.

Moussa Diabate will likely start at center unless Williams is randomly available. We have him projected for 32 minutes even with Nurk currently projected for 18 minutes off the bench, and he’s still a stellar value on DraftKings ($4,600). Nurk has payoff potential at only $3,400 over there, though there’s a wide range of outcomes with his minutes. Miles Bridges is still a solid play on FanDuel at $8,300 even with Ball back, while Nick Smith Jr. and DaQuan Jeffries are affordable and projected to start. Jeffries would look a little more appealing if Smith is forced to sit out with his sore back.

Detroit Pistons (vs. CHA)

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