Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Wednesday, December 25th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2024-12-24 22:16:24 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.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, everyone loves the Christmas NBA slate. It’s the only slate during the regular season where the games are all spread out, and we have the chance to utilize late swap before and after each game. Speaking of late swap, this is the best time all year to use it if possible. I know everyone will be busy with their Christmas plans, but knowing where you stand relative to the field after each game can be super beneficial. If any of your lineups get off to a poor start, you’ll want to pivot away from the chalk in the upcoming games to give those lineups a chance to cash.

There are 5 games on the schedule Wednesday. We don’t have to worry about back-to-back situations, as none of the teams playing on Christmas had a game on Tuesday or have a game on Thursday. I’ll do my best to provide an update if we get breaking news Christmas morning, but I’m hoping that won’t be necessary. Let’s dive into the Santa Slate!

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Wednesday, December 25th

• 5-game slate
  - 12:00 PM ET – San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks
  - 2:30 PM ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Dallas Mavericks
  - 5:00 PM ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics
  - 8:00 PM ET – Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors
  - 10:30 PM ET – Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns
• Front end of a back-to-back: None
• Back end of a back-to-back: None
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA DFS Injury Report: The Situation Room
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

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

San Antonio Spurs (at NYK)

We kick the Christmas slate off with the Spurs, who are expected to have everyone available for this game. They travel to the Big Apple to take on the Knicks, who are 28th in pace and 6th in defensive rating this season. The Spurs are 9-point underdogs and have a team total that is 4 points lower than their season average, so it’s obviously not the best spot overall. However, this is a small slate and many will opt to fade the Spurs completely. The nice part about picking a player or two from San Antonio in tournaments is that you’ll know where you stand after the first game. Chris Paul played 34 minutes in the last game and could see something similar in a seemingly more important game. He draws the best individual matchup of the five starters. Victor Wembanyama and Devin Vassell are also worth a look in tournaments.

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