Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Sunday, January 5th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2025-01-05 22:21:09 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.

We’re looking at a relatively light NBA workload Sunday with just 5 games on the DraftKings and FanDuel main slates. As usual, we’re tipping off a bit earlier today with the first games starting at 6 PM ET.

Let’s dive in.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Sunday, January 5th

• 5-game main slate
  - 6:00 PM ET – Charlotte Hornets at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 6:00 PM ET – New Orleans Pelicans at Washington Wizards
  - 6:30 PM ET – Utah Jazz at Orlando Magic
  - 7:00 PM ET – Los Angeles Lakers at Houston Rockets
  - 8:30 PM ET – Sacramento Kings at Golden State Warriors
• Front end of a back-to-back: Magic, Kings
• Back end of a back-to-back: Warriors, Jazz
• 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

Charlotte Hornets (at CLE)

The first game of the night looks like a complete mismatch, as the Hornets are 15.5-point underdogs in Cleveland. LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller are also questionable for Charlotte after missing Friday’s game. Vasilije Micic and Seth Curry drew spots starts in the last game. I’d have minimal interest in Micic without LaMelo, but he’s shown a very low floor even in a starting role. Mark Williams (1.42 FP/minute) is the headliner here regardless of the injury news, as his minutes have been on the rise, and he’s been incredibly productive. The matchup stinks, but I’d imagine the Hornets will get Williams his minutes regardless of whether the game stays competitive. Miles Bridges would see a major bump in his role if Ball and/or Miller sit again, though he currently projects decently enough even with both players currently projected to play. LaMelo shoots enough to be a viable GPP target if he suits up, but there’s major risk of failure from this team as a whole in this matchup.

Cleveland Cavaliers (vs. CHA)

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