NBA DFS Core Plays LIVE: Friday, December 8th
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.
I’m not going to lie, I absolutely love the In-Season Tournament. Meaningful basketball in November and December? Sign me up.
In yesterday’s intro, I talked about some of the differences between my childhood and my son’s childhood. You know what else is different? They are a lot more aware of what they are eating and drinking. My group of friends all have kids around the same age, which is nice for several reasons. All the kids are all obsessed with Prime. Not Amazon Prime like myself but the drink. One of the kids said he keeps all of his empty bottles in his room so that he can brag to his friends about how much of it he has consumed.
I was pretty confused, so I asked all the kids what’s so cool about it. I was expecting them to talk about the flavor or the bright colors of the bottle, but they went on and on about how it doesn’t have sugar and how it provides you with more electrolytes than water or Gatorade. If Bobby Boucher (Waterboy) had an issue with Gatorade, just wait until he hears about Prime. Oh and yesterday, my little one asked me about cholesterol. It’s certainly good that they are more aware, but kids these days are strange.
We have 13 games on tap on Friday night. While none of the teams are playing on the front or back end of a back-to-back, there are a lot of injuries to monitor throughout the day. As always, we’ll start with the team previews and post injury updates throughout the day.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, December 8th
Slate Overview
- 13-game slate
- 7:00 PM ET – Atlanta Hawks at Philadelphia 76ers
- 7:00 PM ET – Toronto Raptors at Charlotte Hornets
- 7:00 PM ET – Detroit Pistons at Orlando Magic
- 7:30 PM ET – Washington Wizards at Brooklyn Nets
- 7:30 PM ET – New York Knicks at Boston Celtics
- 8:00 PM ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Miami Heat
- 8:00 PM ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Memphis Grizzlies
- 8:00 PM ET – Golden State Warriors at Oklahoma City Thunder
- 8:30 PM ET – Chicago Bulls at San Antonio Spurs
- 9:00 PM ET – Houston Rockets at Denver Nuggets
- 9:00 PM ET – Sacramento Kings at Phoenix Suns
- 10:00 PM ET – Dallas Mavericks at Portland Trail Blazers
- 10:00 PM ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Utah Jazz
- Teams on the front end of a back-to-back: None
- Teams on the back end of a back-to-back: None
- 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
Atlanta Hawks (at PHI): We kick off this massive slate with the Hawks, who draw a mediocre matchup on the road against the Sixers. They are sizable underdogs, and their team total is 6.2 points below their season average. The big injury to monitor here is Trae Young, who is questionable with an illness. Here’s the CourtIQ with Young and Jalen Johnson off the floor this season:
From a projections standpoint, Clint Capela and Young have positive RGValues but aren’t priorities. If Young is out, then the Hawks become a lot more appealing.
Philadelphia 76ers (vs. ATL): The Sixers are coming off of an elite matchup against the Wizards and now get another one against the Hawks. On the season, Atlanta is ranked 3rd in pace and 26th in defensive rating. The Sixers should be at full strength here and have an implied total that is 3.8 points higher than their season average. Joel Embiid has topped 68 fantasy points in each of the last 4 games. It’s a good matchup, making him one of the best spends on the board.
Toronto Raptors (at CHA): The Raptors are a tough team to predict and play at a slow pace. The good news is that they draw a pace-up matchup against the Hornets, who are dead last in defensive rating this season. The Raptors have a healthy team total of 114 points. A case can always be made for Pascal Siakam or Scottie Barnes, but they aren’t players that I am actively targeting tonight.
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