Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Tuesday, May 13th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-05-13 16:35:14 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 Tuesday!

I hope many of you had a good slate last night. It ended up being a solid slate for me, thanks to Jalen Brunson and Mike Conley of all people. Most of my double-ups and small-field tournaments came down to Conley and Brandin Podziemski vs. Gary Payton and Draymond Green. Luckily, I landed on the right side of that 2v2.

As for the games, the Knicks pulled off another incredible comeback to beat the Celtics for the third time in the last 4 games. They now have three chances to close out the series and move on to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Warriors were unable to beat the Wolves at home, which means they will have to win Game 5 in Minnesota without Steph Curry to extend the series. I did see an interesting statistic that 6 of the last 7 NBA Finals winners were the team that eliminated Jimmy Butler in the playoffs. This could bode well for the Wolves over the next few weeks.

Time to dive into the team previews on tonight’s 2-game slate. Also, I’ll have all of my content for the PGA Championship this evening.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Tuesday, May 13th

• 2-game main slate
  - 7:00 PM ET – Indiana Pacers at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 9:30 PM ET – Denver Nuggets at Oklahoma City Thunder
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

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

Indiana Pacers (at CLE)

The Pacers picked up an easy win in Game 4 at home. They were up by 30+ points for most of the second half and have now scored at least 120 points in 3 of the first 4 games of the series. They now have 3 chances to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, although 2 of those games will be in Cleveland. For Game 5, the Pacers are listed as 7.5-point underdogs and have a team total of 111 points.

Tyrese Haliburton hasn’t done much over the last 2 games, but he did score 40 and 55 fantasy points in the first 2 games of the series. While he does have a high ceiling, he has only averaged 34 fantasy points against the Cavaliers in all of their meetings this season. Aaron Nesmith has been volatile and doesn’t have the same minute floor as other starters on tonight’s slate, but he has topped 38 fantasy points in 3 games already this postseason. I continue to prefer Andrew Nembhard, who has logged at least 36 minutes in 3 of his last 5 games.

As predicted, T.J. McConnell has had his big outings already, and both came at home (29 fantasy points in each of the last 2 games). Obi Toppin has quietly topped 15 fantasy points in every game so far this series. Bennedict Mathurin has topped 20 fantasy points in 3 of the first 4 games of the series. While all 3 players are viable, I prefer to target role players when they are playing at home in the playoffs. Pascal Siakam has been awfully quiet but is priced down to $6,300 on DraftKings. Myles Turner is always capable of a big game, but he’s never a priority on these slates.

Ultimately, I expect to be underweight on the Pacers tonight.

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