Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Wednesday, March 12th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-03-12 22:50:58 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!

I hope everyone is having a great week thus far. My friends talked me into running 5 miles at 6:30 this morning. It was 38 degrees (Fahrenheit) and completely dark. I thought I had made a huge mistake at the start, but it ended up being great. There’s something about getting cardio or a workout in early in the morning that makes you feel so accomplished throughout the day. I’m not sure if I’m up for another half marathon this year, but we shall see.

There are 9 games on the schedule tonight. FanDuel has all of the games included on their main slate, while DraftKings has left the final 2 games off of theirs. The best part about the slate is that only 1 team is playing on the first or second half of a back-to-back. Let’s hope we don’t have to sift through too many injuries throughout the day.

As always, thanks for joining me. Let’s dive into the team previews.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Wednesday, March 12th

• 9-game main slate on FD, 7-game main slate on DK
  - 7:30 PM ET – Charlotte Hornets at Atlanta Hawks
  - 7:30 PM ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Boston Celtics
  - 7:30 PM ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Toronto Raptors
  - 8:00 PM ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Miami Heat
  - 8:00 PM ET – Phoenix Suns at Houston Rockets
  - 8:00 PM ET – Utah Jazz at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 8:00 PM ET – Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs
  - 10:00 PM ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets
  - 10:00 PM ET – New York Knicks at Portland Trail Blazers
• Front end of a back-to-back: None
• Back end of a back-to-back: Clippers
• 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

Charlotte Hornets (at ATL)

We kick the slate off with the Hornets, who draw an elite matchup against the Hawks. On the season, Atlanta is 2nd in pace and 27th in points allowed per game. I know it’s tough to trust the Hornets, but they have a team total that is 7 points higher than their season average. Brandon Miller, Tre Mann, Josh Okogie, KJ Simpson, and Grant Williams are all out, while Jusuf Nurkic is listed as questionable.

Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball are both projecting for sub-20% ownership despite immense ceilings. They are two of the top tournament plays on the board. I’ll side with Bridges as my favorite of the two, as he has had a 32% usage rate over the last 4 games. I don’t expect to have exposure to anyone else on the Hornets, but Mark Williams should see a significant boost if Nurkic is unable to suit up.

Atlanta Hawks (vs. CHA)

The Hawks are still without Jalen Johnson and Larry Nance. They have two key injuries to monitor, as Trae Young and Caris LeVert are both questionable. The Hawks have a decent matchup against the Hornets and come into the game with a team total that is 4 points higher than their season average.

If Young is active, he becomes an interesting large-field tournament play. If he’s ruled out, Keaton Wallace and Terance Mann will see major upticks in playing time. With Young and LeVert out the other night, Wallace and Mann both played over 30 minutes. We also saw a major uptick in usage for Dyson Daniels. Onyeka Okongwu is the only player who currently has a positive RGValue in LineupHQ. He has topped 44 fantasy points in 3 of his last 5 games.

Here is an example of the DFS tables that are provided to our Premium Subscribers

Want to read more? Sign up for Premium!