Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Friday, January 30th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2026-01-30 21:44:40 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 day when I can start this article with a happy Friday. We don’t have a ton of plans this weekend, so I’m looking forward to getting some things done around the house and watching a lot of golf.

We have 9 games on the schedule, and all of them are included on the main slates for both FanDuel and DraftKings. I’ll be on Crunch Time this evening (6:15 PM ET), so drop by if you have any questions right before lineup lock.

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, January 30th

Slate Overview

• 9-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – Los Angeles Lakers at Washington Wizards
  - 7:30 pm ET – Toronto Raptors at Orlando Magic
  - 7:30 pm ET – Portland Trail Blazers at New York Knicks
  - 7:30 pm ET – Sacramento Kings at Boston Celtics
  - 7:30 pm ET – Memphis Grizzlies at New Orleans Pelicans
  - 9:00 pm ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Phoenix Suns
  - 9:00 pm ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Denver Nuggets
  - 9:30 pm ET – Brooklyn Nets at Utah Jazz
  - 10:00 pm ET – Detroit Pistons at Golden State Warriors
• 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 WAS)

We kick off tonight’s slate with the Lakers. They draw an elite matchup on the road against the Wizards, who are 6th in pace and 29th in points allowed per game. The Lakers have a team total that is 4 points higher than their season average. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are both questionable, so we’ll have to keep an eye on their availability.

Let’s take a look at a few scenarios. Let’s start with Doncic off the floor:

And with Reaves off the floor:

And with both Doncic and Reaves off the floor:

With both players currently in the projections, Doncic is the only player on the roster with a positive RGValue. We love this matchup, but there won’t be a ton to love in DFS if the Lakers are at full strength tonight.

Washington Wizards (vs. LAL)

The Wizards have a slightly favorable matchup against the Lakers, who are 20th in points allowed per game and 25th in defensive rating. The Wizards are sizable underdogs and have a team total that is 1 point lower than their season average. This is a back-to-back, so we are still waiting on their injury report.

After not being able to trust this team all season, they have been surprisingly productive over the last couple of weeks. Kyshawn George has seen a spike in usage and has topped 43 fantasy points in 4 of his last 6 games. Bub Carrington is affordable and projected for 36 minutes in a home game. Alex Sarr is finally seeing more minutes and has topped 45 fantasy points in 3 of his last 5 games. With players potentially resting on the back-to-back, we might have a lot of viable targets.

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