NBA DFS Core Plays LIVE: Friday, January 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, everyone! A big thanks to Taylor Smith for covering the Core Plays yesterday. I was able to focus on my NFL content and decided to take the night off from NBA DFS. As I often mention, taking a break every now and then can be very good for your play in the long run.
With the unfortunate passing of assistant coach Dejan Milojević, the Warriors game for tonight has been postponed. We now have a 7-game slate for DFS. The sites have decided to include the 2 late games on the main slate. I’m going to keep the introduction nice and short today, as I have to hop on and record the NFL Tournament Takes Podcast (it should be available for download/watch back here sometime this afternoon).
Thanks for joining me, now let’s dive into the slate.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, January 19th
Slate Overview
- 7-game slate
- 7:00 PM ET – San Antonio Spurs at Charlotte Hornets
- 7:00 PM ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Orlando Magic
- 7:30 PM ET – Denver Nuggets at Boston Celtics
- 8:00 PM ET – Phoenix Suns at New Orleans Pelicans
- 8:00 PM ET – Atlanta Hawks at Miami Heat
- 10:00 PM ET – Indiana Pacers at Portland Trail Blazers
- 10:30 PM ET – Brooklyn Nets at Los Angeles Lakers
- Teams on the front end of a back-to-back: Spurs, Hornets, Sixers, Hawks
- Teams on the back end of a back-to-back: Pacers
- 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
San Antonio Spurs (at CHA): We kick off the slate with the Spurs, who are 7-33 on the season. While they aren’t good at winning basketball games, they have at least been fun to watch for the most part. They will be without their star rookie (Victor Wembanyama) tonight, as he will rest in the front half of the back-to-back. Zach Collins is listed as questionable, so we could have some serious value in the frontcourt. Throw in a matchup against the Hornets, and we have ourselves a potential stacking situation. Despite playing without Wemby, the Spurs have a team total that is 3.6 points above their season average. Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, and Keldon Johnson are all projecting as strong plays, while we will have to take a wait-and-see approach with the frontcourt. Here’s who has benefitted the most with Wemby off the floor this season:
Charlotte Hornets (vs. SAS): The Hornets have lost 9 of their last 10 games but still have a better record than the Spurs on the season. They have dealt with a lot of injuries and will be without Mark Williams and Gordon Hayward again tonight. Nick Richards, Brandon Miller, and Bryce McGowens are all listed as questionable. There could be some value here, as they draw an elite matchup at home. The Hornets are rare favorites and come into the game with a team total that is 11.6 points above their season average. LaMelo Ball has topped 47 fantasy points in all 3 games since returning from injury and played 31 minutes his last time out. He’s one of my favorite spends of the slate. The projections are also high on Miles Bridges and Terry Rozier, but I am prioritizing LaMelo over those two in my builds.
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