Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Friday, December 5th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-12-05 23:27:25 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 an NBA DFS slate? 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!

Last night was one of my best slates of the season. It was pretty simple in my eyes — eat the chalk with the Celtics, play Austin Reaves instead of LeBron James, and then use Noah Clowney and Sandro Mamukelashvili as contrarian plays. The strategy worked to perfection. I hope a few of you had nice nights as well.

We have officially made it to the weekend. My family is taking a little road trip down to southern Utah for a Christmas party with my extended family. My grandparents live in a small town of about 2,000 people and have lived in the same house for 40 years. It’s so great to be able to share these traditions with the wonderful new people in my life.

We have a massive NBA slate on tap, as there are 12 games on the schedule. All 12 games are included on FanDuel’s main slate, while only the first 11 games are included on DraftKings’ main slate. Cheers to the weekend; let’s dive into the games!

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, December 5th

Slate Overview

• Slate size – FanDuel: 12 games, DraftKings: 11 games
  - 7:00 pm ET – Los Angeles Lakers at Boston Celtics
  - 7:00 pm ET – Miami Heat at Orlando Magic
  - 7:30 pm ET – Portland Trail Blazers at Detroit Pistons
  - 7:30 pm ET – Charlotte Hornets at Toronto Raptors
  - 7:30 pm ET – San Antonio Spurs at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 7:30 pm ET – Utah Jazz at New York Knicks
  - 7:30 pm ET – Denver Nuggets at Atlanta Hawks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Milwaukee Bucks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Phoenix Suns at Houston Rockets
  - 8:00 pm ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 8:00 pm ET – Indiana Pacers at Chicago Bulls
  - 9:30 pm ET – Dallas Mavericks at Oklahoma City Thunder
• 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

Los Angeles Lakers (at BOS)

We kick off tonight’s slate with the Lakers, who beat the Raptors in Toronto last night. We don’t have their initial injury report yet, but we are expecting them to be without Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Marcus Smart. Add in a tough matchup on the road against the Celtics, and it’s easy to see why the Lakers have a team total of only 108 points.

Let’s see who benefits the most with Luka and LeBron off the floor this season:

With those two off the floor this season, Austin Reaves has seen an 8% usage boost and a massive 0.37 FP/min. boost. After scoring 67 fantasy points last night, Reaves should be considered a priority in both cash games and tournaments. Nobody else on the Lakers projects well, but that doesn’t mean we can’t target them in tournaments. Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura should be more involved offensively, while Jake LaRavia, Gabe Vincent, and Dalton Knecht should all see an uptick in minutes.

Boston Celtics (vs. LAL)

The Celtics are also playing on the second half of a back-to-back after beating the Wizards last night. They draw an average matchup against the Lakers and come into the game with a team total that is 2 points lower than their season average. We don’t have their initial injury report yet, but we know that Jaylen Brown’s status is up in the air.

We saw ceiling performances from Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Jordan Walsh, Anfernee Simons, and Neemias Queta last night with Brown out of the lineup. Granted, they were facing the worst defensive team in the NBA, but it shows how much opens up offensively when Brown is off the floor. If he’s active, he’s the only player from the Celtics on my radar. If he’s out again, I have no issue going back to any of the starters or Simons off the bench. Luckily, we’ll know his status before lock.

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