Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Friday, November 14th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2025-11-14 23:49:11 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. On weekends, Taylor Smith takes the wheel. 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.

Congratulations on making it to Friday. You did it. Your reward is a full slate of Emirates® NBA Cup action. What more could you want? I somehow managed to cut the middle finger on my non-shaving hand with a razor this morning, so I’ll be attempting to write several thousand words here with a sizable band-aid on that digit. Sometimes you just have to play through the pain when called into duty.

We are on #floodwatch here in Southern California, so I’ll be tuning in to tonight’s hoopage. I assume that means we will actually get 0.2 inches of rain, but you never know. Time to batten down the hatches.

It looks like we have quite a few games with wide point spreads on this slate, along with a Terribowl between the Clippers and Mavs to cap off the 8-game DraftKings docket. On FanDuel, we have 9 games to consider, including a rematch of Wednesday’s Warriors-Spurs clash.

Let’s dive in.

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, November 14th

Slate Overview

• 9-game main slate (FD), 8-game main slate (DK)
  - 7:00 pm ET – Miami Heat at New York Knicks
  - 7:00 pm ET – Brooklyn Nets at Orlando Magic
  - 7:30 pm ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Detroit Pistons
  - 8:00 pm ET – Portland Trail Blazers at Houston Rockets
  - 8:00 pm ET – Sacramento Kings at Minnesota Timberwolves
  - 8:00 pm ET – Los Angeles Lakers at New Orleans Pelicans
  - 8:00 pm ET – Charlotte Hornets at Milwaukee Bucks
  - 8:30 pm ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Dallas Mavericks
  - 9:30 pm ET – Golden State Warriors at San Antonio Spurs
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

News Updates

Here’s where I’ll provide news updates.

Team Previews

Miami Heat (at NYK)

The Heat used to be a team I hated to see on the schedule, but the times are a-changing. Miami is still running at the NBA’s fastest pace, and it isn’t particularly close. They’re averaging more than 2 possessions more than any other team per game, so this team has a completely new offensive identity. Tonight, they’re listed as 5.5-point underdogs in New York City to a Knicks team dealing with a notable injury. On the Miami side, they’re still down Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and, of course, Terry Rozier.

Bam has been out for a bit now, while Herro still hasn’t played all season. Salaries around the industry have largely adjusted for this situation, but the Heat still have some interesting options. Norman Powell (30%) leads the team in usage without Bam, while Jaime Jaquez Jr., Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jovic, and Kel’el Ware are all averaging north of 1.00 DK FP/minute. I think Powell and Wiggins are still excellent individual options likely to go overlooked on such a big slate. It’s a tougher spot for Ware given the Knicks’ defensive prowess down low, but I still have some interest at $6,300 on DK, where we can roster multiple centers. Jaquez is the ultimate tournament play. He’s been absolutely crushing this season (1.18 FP/minute), but his path is a bit narrower at these raised salaries while he’s still hovering around 30 minutes per game off the bench.

I’m not sure this is the spot to be messing with Jovic or Pelle Larsson, especially given the Knicks’ twin-tower frontcourt. The last Heat piece worth a shout is Davion Mitchell, who’s still reasonably priced in the mid-$5,000s. He doesn’t typically offer a huge ceiling, but his role is stable.

New York Knicks (vs. MIA)

The big news out of New York is that Jalen Brunson will be sidelined for a spell after injuring his ankle in the last game. Brunson (J-Brun?) is the driving force and usage leader for the Knicks offense, so they’ll have a different look. Even without him, their 122-point implied team total is among the highest on the board thanks to the matchup against the pedal-to-the-metal Heat.

In news that should surprise nobody, Karl-Anthony Towns (30.8%) leads New York in usage without J-Brun. Even at $9,400 on DK and $8,900 on FD, KAT is hard to ignore, especially with Adebayo’s defense missing from the Miami side. OG Anunoby (+5.1%) gets a noteworthy usage boost without Brunson as well. He’s another Knick who isn’t necessarily discounted now that he’s in the $7,000 range, but he still projects well in the matchup. As usual, I like Mikal Bridges as a pivot if the ownership skews heavily toward OG.

We’re expecting Miles McBride ($4,800 DK, $4,400 FD) to start in Brunson’s spot with a 32-minute projection. He’s an early core play candidate. Josh Hart and Jordan Clarkson have paths to increased minutes off the bench if the Knicks thin their rotation out. Hart is a viable midrange play in all formats, while I don’t mind taking shots on Clarkson in GPPs as potential leverage on the McBride chalk.

Brooklyn Nets (at ORL)

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