Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Thursday, March 20th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-03-20 22:02:04 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!

Most of the attention today is going to be on March Madness, so perhaps a little extra effort on the NBA side will go a long way. We have 5 games on the schedule and a lengthy break between the first 2 and the last 3. All 5 games are included on the main slates for both FanDuel and DraftKings.

I’ll be on Crunch Time with Dean and Kirkwood tonight, so join us live at 6:00 PM ET. I’ll post the link below right before I hop on.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Thursday, May 20th

• 5-game main slate
  - 7:00 PM ET – New York Knicks at Charlotte Hornets
  - 7:00 PM ET – Brooklyn Nets at Indiana Pacers
  - 10:00 PM ET – Toronto Raptors at Golden State Warriors
  - 10:00 PM ET – Chicago Bulls at Sacramento Kings
  - 10:30 PM ET – Milwaukee Bucks at Los Angeles Lakers
• Front end of a back-to-back: Hornets
• Back end of a back-to-back: Knicks, Pacers, Bulls, Kings, Lakers
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

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News Updates

1:40 PM ET

Miles McBride is now questionable for the Knicks, which Mitchell Robinson has been ruled out. Luka Doncic has been ruled out for the Lakers. Austin Reaves is now my favorite spend on the slate, while Gabe Vincent, Jordan Goodwin, and Dorian Finney-Smith are all elite value plays.

Team Previews

New York Knicks (at CHA)

We kick off the slate with the Knicks, who are playing on the second half of a back-to-back. We don’t have their injury report yet, but we know Jalen Brunson is still out. They draw a mediocre matchup against the Hornets and come into the game with a team total that is 2 points lower than their season average.

Karl-Anthony Towns sees a 5% usage boost and a massive FP/min boost with Brunson off the floor. He remains my favorite target from the Knicks. Mikal Bridges projects well but hasn’t shown a ton of upside this season on the Knicks. On a per-dollar basis, I prefer Miles McBride for cash games and tournaments. Josh Hart and OG Anunoby are best suited as lineup fillers on this 5-game slate.

Charlotte Hornets (vs. NYK)

The Hornets have a nice matchup against the Knicks, who have struggled defensively over the last month of play. The Hornets come into the game as 7.5-point underdogs and have a team total that is 2 points higher than their season average. Brandon Miller, Tre Mann, Josh Okogie, Tidjane Salaun, KJ Simpson, and Grant Williams are out, while Moussa Diabate is listed as questionable.

As it stands right now, there’s not a single player on the Hornets with a positive RGValue. LaMelo Ball has 60+ fantasy point upside, but he hasn’t had the highest floor recently. It’s hard to trust Charlotte because they are tanking and starting to roll out an extremely balanced lineup. My favorite point-per-dollar option here is DaQuan Jeffries, who should push for 30+ minutes. Jusuf Nurkic is only $3,200 on DraftKings on a slate without much value.

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