Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Wednesday, April 2nd

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-04-02 22:09:26 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 Wednesday!

Believe it or not, I didn’t watch a single second of sports last night. We watched our 3-year-old nephew overnight last night and had both of our boys as well. It was a little trial run at what it will be like when our baby girl is born here in 8 short weeks. The boys were great with him, we enjoyed the never-disappointing Chick-Fil-A, and everyone got to bed with ease. It was surprisingly easy. All nights won’t be that easy, but it was a fun glimpse into the future.

Here’s a random but related tip of the day — don’t fully cover your nose and mouth while sneezing. I made that mistake last night trying not to wake up our nephew. Brutal.

As for tonight’s NBA schedule, there are 9 games in action on Wednesday. FanDuel has included all 9 games on their main slate, while DraftKings only has the first 8 games on their main slate. We have a large slate and 4 teams playing on the second half of a back-to-back, so it should be a busy day of injury news. This is one of the strangest slates in recent memory, as 8 of the 9 games have double-digit spreads. Let’s dive into the team previews.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Wednesday, April 2nd

• 9-game main slate on FD, 8-game main slate on DK
  - 7:00 PM ET – New York Knicks at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 7:00 PM ET – Charlotte Hornets at Indiana Pacers
  - 7:00 PM ET – Sacramento Kings at Washington Wizards
  - 7:30 PM ET – Miami Heat at Boston Celtics
  - 8:00 PM ET – Utah Jazz at Houston Rockets
  - 8:30 PM ET – Atlanta Hawks at Dallas Mavericks
  - 9:00 PM ET – San Antonio Spurs at Denver Nuggets
  - 9:30 PM ET – Detroit Pistons at Oklahoma City Thunder
  - 10:30 PM ET – New Orleans Pelicans at Los Angeles Clippers
• Front end of a back-to-back: Wizards
• Back end of a back-to-back: Hawks, Knicks, Spurs, Nuggets
• 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

1:50 PM ET

Collin Sexton and Walker Kessler will play for the Jazz. They are an easy team to fade tonight. Miles Bridges and Nick Smith are questionable for the Hornets. Alex Caruso and Jaylin Williams are questionable for the Thunder. Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson will play tonight, while Cam Payne and Miles McBride have been ruled out.

Team Previews

New York Knicks (at CLE)

We kick off the slate with the Knicks, who are playing on the second half of a back-to-back. They have a tough draw on the road against the Cavaliers and come into the game with a team total that is 6 points lower than their season average. They have yet to submit an injury report, but we expect them to be without Jalen Brunson, Miles McBride, Cam Payne, and Mitchell Robinson.

OG Anunoby put up 50 fantasy points last night and has topped 40 fantasy points in 4 of his last 5 games. He projects the best here, although I am a tad worried about a blowout (11-point spread). Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart have difficult individual matchups against the Cavaliers’ frontcourt. Delon Wright has topped 30 minutes in 3 straight games and makes for a strong value play. He’s my favorite play from the Knicks.

Cleveland Cavaliers (vs. NYK)

The Cavaliers catch the Knicks at a good time, as they are playing on the second half of a back-to-back. They come into tonight’s game with a team total that is a point lower than their season average. Ty Jerome is still out, but everyone else is expected to be available for Cleveland.

Given the large spread, the relatively low team total, and the overall health of the Cavaliers, they aren’t priorities on this slate. However, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Darius Garland can be targeted in tournaments.

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