Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Thursday, October 24th
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. Noto’s 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.
As you may or may not know, I plan one lineup per slate in NBA DFS. The only sport that I’ve ever had a ton of success at when it comes to MME is golf. I am batting a solid .000 after the first two slates of the season. I’ve already gotten bit by the injury bug and the foul trouble bug, but those are the breaks in NBA DFS. With NBA DFS Sims producing such great results for users, I might have to try my hand at MME at some point over the next few weeks.
After last night’s 10-game slate, we have a much more manageable 4 games on tap. We’ve seen a couple of these teams (Wolves, Celtics) in action already, but the other six teams will be playing in their season-opener. As always, I will cover the top projected plays and hit on any potential pivots, as well as my favorite tournament plays.
It’s almost the weekend. Let’s get after it.
NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Thursday, October 24th
Slate Overview
- 4-game slate
- 7:00 PM ET – Boston Celtics at Washington Wizards
- 7:30 PM ET – San Antonio Spurs at Dallas Mavericks
- 10:00 PM ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Denver Nuggets
- 10:00 PM ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Sacramento Kings - Playing in first half of a back-to-back: None
- Playing in second half of a back-to-back: None
- NBA DFS Injury Report: The Situation Room
- Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays
News Updates
This section will be updated as injury news is released throughout the day.
Team Previews
Boston Celtics (at WAS)
Should we just hand the Larry O’Brien Trophy to the Celtics and fast-forward to next season? I genuinely thought it was a good spot for the Knicks on opening night. I was wrong. The Celtics came out strong, and their foot never left the gas pedal. They now travel to Washington to take on the Wizards, who had the 2nd-worst defensive rating in the preseason. They were one of the best contributors to a fantasy-friendly game environment last season, and that appears to be the case again this season. The Celtics boast a team total of 122.8 points, which is easily the highest on the slate.
We saw a very balanced attack from the Celtics on opening night. All five starters scored double-digits and three of them (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White) scored over 20 points. One of the most interesting statistics in the box score was Tatum dishing out 10 assists. He only did that once during the regular season in 2023-24, but had at least 10 assists three times in the playoffs. If this is a sign of things to come, his fantasy production is going to be even better this season. He projects as the top RGValue on both DraftKings and FanDuel.
Jrue Holiday was extremely efficient (7-for-9 from the floor) on Tuesday and still only finished with 30 fantasy points. I know the matchup is elite, and the slate is small, but I’m not sure what his ceiling is when he has the 4th-highest usage rate among the starters. White isn’t that much more expensive than Holiday and offers more upside. Brown is a player that I don’t find myself rostering very often. I generally try to find the extra salary to get up to Tatum. However, he should be lower-owned than both Tatum and White. Al Horford logged 26 minutes in the blowout the other night and filled up the stat sheet as usual. He remains a strong lineup filler. Sam Hauser is currently questionable with a back injury. If he’s ruled out, more minutes could open up for Payton Pritchard (9 3-point attempts the other night) and the starting wings.
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