Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Friday, November 7th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-11-07 21:12:20 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 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.

Happy Friday!

I hope the 1-game slate treated those who partook in DFS well last night. I have some great news — we are officially retiring the Elf on the Shelf in the Farnsworth household. The boys are too old to believe in the elf, and our baby girl is too young to know what’s going on. I must thank Pocket the Elf for his many years of service. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. This year, we are transitioning to homemade Advent calendars.

We have 11 games on the schedule tonight, but only the first 9 games are included on the main slates for FanDuel and DraftKings. Yes, the sites have finally agreed on a slate size. We’ll have projections up for the 2 late games, but this article, the Consensus Value Rankings, and the Expert Survey will all focus on the 9-game main slate.

Cheers to the weekend. Let’s dive into the slate.

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, November 7th

Slate Overview

• 9-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Washington Wizards
  - 7:00 pm ET – Boston Celtics at Orlando Magic
  - 7:30 pm ET – Toronto Raptors at Atlanta Hawks
  - 7:30 pm ET – Detroit Pistons at Brooklyn Nets
  - 7:30 pm ET – Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs
  - 8:00 pm ET – Dallas Mavericks at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 8:00 pm ET – Utah Jazz at Minnesota Timberwolves
  - 8:00 pm ET – Charlotte Hornets at Miami Heat
  - 8:00 pm ET – Chicago Bulls at Milwaukee Bucks
• 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

Cleveland Cavaliers (at WAS)

We kick off tonight’s slate with the Cavaliers, who draw one of the best matchups on the slate. The Wizards are 3rd in pace and dead last in points allowed per game. Cleveland has one of the highest team totals (127.5 points) I have ever seen. Lonzo Ball, Max Strus, and Dean Wade are all out.

Darius Garland played 26 minutes in his first game of the season. That number will slowly creep up, but he can be avoided for now. Donovan Mitchell is coming off his best game of the season (67 fantasy points) and should come in at fairly low ownership given the size of tonight’s slate. With De’Andre Hunter back for this game, Sam Merrill and Jaylon Tyson offer more risk than upside. Hunter is worth a look in large-field tournaments after scoring 38 and 39 fantasy points in his last 2 games. Jarrett Allen doesn’t have the minute upside that I am looking for, but Evan Mobley is capable of scoring 50+ fantasy points in this matchup.

Washington Wizards (vs. CLE)

The good news for the Wizards is that the Cavaliers like to play as fast as they do. The bad news is that the Cavaliers are top 10 in both points allowed per game and defensive rating. Washington is listed as a 13-point underdog and has a team total of 114 points. Bilal Coulibaly has been ruled out, but everyone else is expected to be available tonight.

With 8 other games to choose from tonight, I plan to have very little exposure to the Wizards. The only player on my radar here is Alex Sarr, who has averaged 1.47 DK / 1.49 FD points per minute with a usage rate of 26%. Despite scoring 51 and 44 fantasy points in his last 2 games, he’s only $6,900 on DraftKings.

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