Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Tuesday, May 6th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-05-06 22:36:18 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!

The Second Round is off to an interesting start, as all 3 underdogs have stolen Game 1 on the road. The Pacers beat the Cavaliers, the Knicks beat the Celtics, and the Nuggets beat the Thunder. We saw two big comebacks from the road teams in last night’s games.

We are back at it on Tuesday, as there are 2 games on the schedule. We get Game 2 of the IND/CLE and Game 1 of the GSW/MIN. The latter was expected to be the most competitive series in the Second Round, so we’ll see if that comes to fruition.

This is setting up to be a great slate because ownership is spread out, and there are a lot of options considering the fact that there are only 2 games on the schedule. Let’s dive into the team previews!

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Tuesday, May 6th

• 2-game main slate
  - 7:00 PM ET – Indiana Pacers at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 9:30 PM ET – Golden State Warriors at Minnesota Timberwolves
• 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 could not be stopped in their series opener against the Cavaliers. They scored at least 28 points in every quarter and won the game 121-112. They have already stolen home-court advantage from Cleveland, so we’ll see if they rest on their laurels tonight in Game 2. They are listed as 9-point underdogs and have a team total that is 7 points lower than their season average. All of their key players should be available tonight.

Tyrese Haliburton has topped 50 fantasy points in 3 straight games and has seen a 2% usage boost in the playoffs. He can fill up the stat sheet and is playing more minutes in the postseason, so he feels a tad underpriced despite his mediocre projection. Aaron Nesmith has topped 23 fantasy points in 5 straight games but is priced up and only projected for 29 minutes. I’d rather target Andrew Nembhard, who has logged 37 minutes in back-to-back games. T.J. McConnell will have a big outing or two in this series, but I’ll wait to target him once the series shifts back to Indiana.

Pascal Siakam has been quiet in each of the last 3 games and might have the worst individual matchup of the five starters. The Cavaliers have an elite defensive frontcourt. I don’t say this often, but I prefer Myles Turner over Siakam. He’s cheaper and has averaged 32 fantasy points per game in the playoffs. I don’t love targeting role players on the road, but Bennedict Mathurin is $3,500 on DraftKings and projected for 21 minutes. He scored 22 fantasy points off the bench in Game 1.

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