Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Thursday, December 12th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2024-12-12 23:44:23 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 Thursday!

We take a break from the NBA Cup and get back to the regular NBA schedule. There are only 3 games on the schedule, but this is shaping up to be a fun slate. We’ll get into it more in the team previews, but there are some injuries (Jayson Tatum, Brandon Ingram) on the slate that have opened up a lot of options. We don’t have any teams playing on the first or second half of a back-to-back.

With Christmas coming up, I wanted to provide some fun activities for you to consider. Here are some ideas that ChatGPT came up with:

For middle-aged men who love sports, Christmas is the perfect time to combine competitive spirit with festive cheer—and maybe a little bit of extra eggnog. You could kick off the season with a pick-up football or basketball game, where your “old man’s knees” get a solid workout, or try winter sports like skiing or ice skating, pretending you still have the speed of your youth (but mostly just trying to avoid falling). If you’re feeling really ambitious, start a holiday fantasy sports league and watch your friends argue over which backup quarterback to draft while you secretly eat all the Christmas cookies.

You can also set up a Christmas-themed sports challenge—think dribbling a basketball with a Santa hat or seeing who can still do a proper push-up after eating half the holiday ham. Or, for a more relaxed pace, host a sports movie marathon featuring classics like Rudy or The Mighty Ducks, where the most athletic thing you’ll do is pass the remote. For some charitable fun, sign up for a 5k run (because, hey, you’ve got to work off all those Christmas treats) or host a sports trivia night and see who remembers the rules better—your friends from high school or your brain after a few too many holiday cocktails. Finally, consider a Secret Santa gift exchange, but make it sporty—nothing says “holiday spirit” like a new set of golf balls and an awkward hug. Whether you’re on the field or on the couch, Christmas for sports fans is all about keeping the fun alive, with just a hint of “I can’t believe I used to run five miles without complaining.”

Let’s dive into the slate.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Thursday, December 12th

• 3-game slate
  - 7:30 PM ET – Detroit Pistons at Boston Celtics
  - 7:30 PM ET – Toronto Raptors at Miami Heat
  - 8:00 PM ET – Sacramento Kings at New Orleans Pelicans
• Front end of a back-to-back: None
• 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

Editor’s Note: Looking for more places to play? Check out our PrizePicks promo code and Underdog Fantasy 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.

Team Previews

Detroit Pistons (at BOS)

We kick the slate off with the Pistons, who have a bad combination of a difficult matchup and a healthy roster. They should have everyone available tonight, yet they are 12.5-point underdogs and come into the game with a team total of only 110.5 points. Despite there being only 3 games on the schedule, the Pistons are not projecting well on this slate. They don’t have a single player with a positive RGValue or an Opto% higher than 20%. It’s not even a good spot for tournaments, as no player has a Smash% over 10%. Unless you are building 5+ lineups, I think it’s safe to avoid the Pistons in all formats.

Boston Celtics (vs. DET)

The Celtics will be without Jayson Tatum and Sam Hauser, as they host the visiting Pistons. This is not a great matchup on paper, but the Celtics are still 12.5-point favorites and have the highest team total on the slate. Here’s who stands to benefit the most with those two off the floor:

Additionally, let’s take a look at fantasy production for the starters in the games Tatum has missed the last 2 seasons:

Jaylen Brown: +11 fantasy points per game

Jrue Holiday: +4 fantasy points per game

Derrick White: +13 fantasy points per game

Kristaps Porzingis: +5 fantasy points per game

As you can see, everyone should benefit from Tatum out of the lineup. In terms of priority, I would rank them in the following order: Brown, White, Porzingis, and then Holiday. For cash games, Al Horford stands out as a nice lineup filler. For tournaments, I like the idea of being overweight on Payton Pritchard.

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