Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Wednesday, November 20th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2024-11-21 00:13:59 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!

This is always my busiest day of the week, so I’ll save my Thanksgiving takes for another day.

I hope you all had some Dalton Knecht in your lineups last night. He tied a rookie record with 9 made 3-pointers, and it only took him 12 attempts. I had no Knecht in my lineups, so it wasn’t a great slate. We are back at it on Wednesday with an 8-game main slate on both FanDuel and DraftKings. Four teams are playing on the second half of a back-to-back (Cavaliers, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Thunder), and one team is playing on the front half of a back-to-back (Magic).

Let’s dive into the team breakdowns.

NBA DFS Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Wednesday, November 20th

• 8-game slate
  - 7:30 PM ET – Chicago Bulls at Milwaukee Bucks
  - 7:30 PM ET – New Orleans Pelicans at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 8:00 PM ET – Portland Trail Blazers at Oklahoma City Thunder
  - 8:00 PM ET – Indiana Pacers at Houston Rockets
  - 8:00 PM ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 10:00 PM ET – New York Knicks at Phoenix Suns
  - 10:00 PM ET – Atlanta Hawks at Golden State Warriors
  - 10:30 PM ET – Orlando Magic at Los Angeles Clippers
• Front end of a back-to-back: Magic
• Back end of a back-to-back: Cavaliers, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Thunder
• 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

1:35 PM ET – Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson agrees with me on this being a good spot to rest players. Darius Garland, Dean Wade, Caris LeVert, Sam Merrill, and Isaac Okoro have all been ruled out. Donovan Mitchell should see a major spike in usage and is a strong spend-up option on this slate. Here’s who benefits the most with Garland and LeVert off the floor (I couldn’t run the ON/OFF tool with all five players out because the sample size was too small):

Evan Mobley sees solid usage and FP/min boosts with those two off the floor, Ty Jerome should start and is one of the most appealing value plays, and Craig Porter could be a strong point-per-dollar option as well.

Team Previews

Chicago Bulls (at MIL)

The Bulls will be without Lonzo Ball and Patrick Williams as they travel to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks. This has been a mediocre matchup on paper, as the Bucks are close to the league average in pace and points allowed per game. The two areas Milwaukee has struggled are rebounding and allowing a high 3-point percentage. We know Chicago will push the pace, so this game has some serious fantasy appeal.

We currently have Julian Phillips projected to start, but Jalen Smith is projecting as the better value (especially on DraftKings). A case can certainly be made for Josh Giddey, Coby White, and Zach LaVine. However, my favorite target on the Bulls is Nikola Vucevic. The Bucks have struggled on the glass, he’s more than capable of knocking down 3s, and he has an excellent track record against Brook Lopez. He has scored at least 40 fantasy points in 7 of his last 8 games in this matchup.

Milwaukee Bucks (vs. CHI)

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