Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Friday, April 3rd

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2026-04-03 18:24:26 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. So, who better to walk you through the madness of NBA DFS slates on DraftKings and FanDuel? Core Plays LIVE will zoom out on the slate as a whole, zoom in on the best plays, 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!

If you are sweating the cut line at the Valero Texas Open, may the odds ever be in your favor. I would love to be on the right side of a cut sweat this week.

It’s a great day for sports, as we also have MLB games all day. Dave Potts writes the best article in the industry and has you covered for today’s slate with his Million Dollar Musings.

This is the point of the NBA season that is a true struggle. The team is either actively trying to win or actively trying to lose. When those teams face each other, we get some massive spreads. We have 8 games on the main slate tonight, and 6 of them feature spreads of at least 13.5 points. Unfortunately, this slate might come down to who can predict which games are going to stay competitive.

It’s an ugly one, but let’s dive into tonight’s slate.

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, April 3rd

Slate Overview

• 8-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – Indiana Pacers at Charlotte Hornets
  - 7:00 pm ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Philadelphia 76ers
  - 7:30 pm ET – Atlanta Hawks at Brooklyn Nets
  - 7:30 pm ET – Chicago Bulls at New York Knicks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Utah Jazz at Houston Rockets
  - 8:00 pm ET – Toronto Raptors at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 8:00 pm ET – Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks
  - 8:30 pm ET – Orlando Magic at Dallas Mavericks
  - 10:00 pm ET – New Orleans Pelicans at Sacramento Kings (not on main slate)
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• 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

Indiana Pacers (at CHA)

We kick off tonight’s slate with the Pacers, who are 15.5-point underdogs against the Hornets, who rank 26th in pace and 8th in points allowed per game. It’s a potential blowout and a bad matchup, so the Pacers likely offer more risk than upside. Indiana’s team total is 111 points, which is 2 points lower than their season average. Johnny Furphy, T.J. McConnell, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Jarace Walker, and Ivica Zubac are all out, while Jalen Slawson is doubtful.

It’s tough to make a strong case for any individual player on the Pacers. There are a lot of cheap options that should see sizable roles, but figuring out which ones are going to play well feels like a tall task. My main piece of advice is to avoid paying up for Pascal Siakam. It’s a bad matchup, and the Pacers are starting to limit his playing time. Ethan Thompson, Kobe Brown, and Quenton Jackson can be used as lineup fillers.

Charlotte Hornets (vs. IND)

The Hornets picked up a blowout win last night and will likely do the same tonight. They are 15.5-point favorites against the Pacers, who are 29th in rebounding rate and 26th in points allowed per game. Charlotte’s team total is 126 points, which is 10 points higher than their season average. We are still waiting on their injury report, but Grant Williams (doubtful) is the only notable player listed in the Situation Room.

I’ve been avoiding the Hornets over the last few weeks. Since acquiring Coby White, we haven’t seen much upside from LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Kon Knueppel. It doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of big outings, but there are a lot of mouths to feed in this offense. The problem here is that even if the Pacers keep this game competitive (which I don’t expect to happen), you still have to guess right between White, Ball, Miller, Knueppel, and Miles Bridges. I see more risk than GPP potential here.

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