Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Friday, February 20th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2026-02-20 21:32:31 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!

It’s always a good feeling when it’s the start of the weekend. While we won’t have Kevin Roth on the show anymore, I’ll still be on Crunch Time breaking down tonight’s slate. I’m hopping on with Beermakersfan at 6:15 PM ET to go through each position and answer any questions that you have about the slate. I’ll post a link to the show before hopping on.

There are 9 games on the schedule, but we only have to worry about the first 7 games. FanDuel and DraftKings are both rolling out 7-game main slates.

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, February 20th

Slate Overview

• 7-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – Utah Jazz at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 7:00 pm ET – Indiana Pacers at Washington Wizards
  - 7:00 pm ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Charlotte Hornets
  - 7:30 pm ET – Dallas Mavericks at Minnesota Timberwolves
  - 7:30 pm ET – Miami Heat at Atlanta Hawks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Milwaukee Bucks at New Orleans Pelicans
  - 8:00 pm ET – Brooklyn Nets at Oklahoma City Thunder
  - 10:00 pm ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers (not on main slate)
  - 10:00 pm ET – Denver Nuggets at Portland Trail Blazers (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

Utah Jazz (at MEM)

We kick off tonight’s slate with what is perhaps the best game environment on the schedule. The Jazz travel to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies, who are 11th in pace and 22nd in points allowed per game. Utah’s team total is 1 point higher than their season average, and the game features a spread of only 2.5 points. Keyonte George, Jusuf Nurkic, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Walker Kessler are out, while Oscar Tshiebwe is listed as questionable.

Even with all of the injuries and a nice matchup, it’s hard to trust the Jazz at the moment. They are actively tanking, and the values we were targeting a couple of weeks ago are now priced up. To make matters worse, we are starting to see a deep and balanced rotation. Brice Sensabaugh has a positive RGValue, but his minutes have been all over the map this season. Isaiah Collier has flashed upside recently, but his minutes have come crashing back down to earth after playing all 48 minutes in back-to-back games. I have the most interest in Ace Bailey, who the Jazz want to develop as much as possible the rest of the season.

Memphis Grizzlies (vs. UTA)

The Grizzlies haven’t been an easy team to trust in DFS this season, but it’s hard not to love their spot against the Jazz. On the season, Utah is ranked 2nd in pace and dead last in both points allowed per game and defensive rating. Memphis has a team total that is 6 points higher than their season average. Santi Aldama, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Brandon Clarke, Cedric Coward, Zach Edey, Ty Jerome, Ja Morant, and Scotty Pippen are all out, while Walter Clayton Jr. is doubtful.

There are currently 6 players on the Grizzlies with an RGValue above +2.4 right now in LineupHQ. For reference, there are times we don’t have 6 positive RGValues on the entire slate. With a matchup against the Jazz and Memphis missing 93 of their best players, this is a situation that we need to take advantage of in DFS. I want to see what their starting lineup looks like before making any final decisions, but here are the players who project as elite values at the moment: Olivier-Maxence, Cam Spencer, Kyle Anderson (revenge game), Jaylen Wells, GG Jackson, and Javon Small. We also have Jahmai Mashack, Taylor Hendricks, and Lawson Lovering all projected to play at least 24 minutes.

Want to read more? Sign up for NBA Premium!

Here is an example of the DFS tables that are provided to our Premium Subscribers