Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Friday, April 19th
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 Noto will mix it up in all different types of contests. So, who better to walk you through the madness of an NBA DFS slate? Core Plays LIVE 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, you’ve come to the right place.
Happy Friday!
I had the scheduling wrong earlier in the week. I thought there would be one game on Thursday and one game on Friday, but we have both of the final Play-In Tournament games tonight. It actually works out much better from a DFS perspective, as the contests are going to be much bigger and there will be less overlap when it comes to roster construction.
The Heat had a clear path to beating the Sixers the other night but couldn’t hang on in the 4th quarter. Unfortunately, they suffered a key injury in the process. They’ll square off against the Bulls, who put up 131 points against the Hawks in a win at home. The winner of this game will take the 8th seed and a First Round matchup against the Celtics.
In the Western Conference, we have the Kings and Pelicans. The Kings put together a dominant performance against the Warriors and may have finally ended Golden State’s dynasty. The Pelicans were unable to beat the Lakers at home and lost one of their key players for the foreseeable future. The winner of this game will take on the Thunder in the First Round.
Cheers to the weekend! Let’s dive into tonight’s 2-game slate.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, April 19th
Slate Overview
- 2-game slate
- 7:00 PM ET – Chicago Bulls at Miami Heat
- 9:30 PM ET – Sacramento Kings at New Orleans Pelicans
- NBA DFS Injury Report: The Situation Room
- Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays
News Updates
This section will be updated as injury news is released throughout the day.
Team Previews
Chicago Bulls (at MIA): The Bulls picked up a solid win against the Hawks the other night and have to like their chances of advancing to the playoffs. They were respectable on the road during the regular season (19-22) and now get to face a Heat team without Jimmy Butler. These teams went 2-2 against each other during the regular season, so it’s no surprise to see the game feature a close spread. The issue here is that the Heat are one of the worst possible matchups for fantasy production (29th in pace and 5th in defensive rating). The Bulls come into tonight’s game with a team total that is 10.6 points below their season average.
Alex Caruso, Ayo Dosunmu, and Andre Drummond were all able to play through injuries the other night but are all listed as questionable. Caruso is the player that I am most concerned about, as he wasn’t able to play much in the 2nd half. He only logged 17 minutes the other night.
In terms of Chicago’s rotation, it was essentially Tom Thibodeau-esque. DeMar DeRozan played 44 minutes, Coby White played 43 minutes, Nikola Vucevic played 37 minutes, and Dosunmu played 41 minutes. While I love the condensed rotation, facing the Heat on the road is a much different battle than facing the Hawks at home. I have interest in both DeRozan and Vucevic, as they are the closest to matchup-proof as we are going to find on the Bulls. If Caruso or Dosunmu end up being out, Javonte Green and Dalen Terry would be the biggest beneficiaries.
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