Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Friday, October 24th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-10-24 22:23:14 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!

We had an incredible 2-game slate last night. The Thunder and Pacers went into double overtime, while the Nuggets and Warriors went into single overtime. It was hard to make a bad lineup in DFS, as so many players exceeded salary-based expectations. My lineups ultimately fell short because I chose to prioritize Nikola Jokic over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Have you seen videos of kids doing the Airwalk? We try our best to be cool parents, but keeping up with all the dances, lingo, and trends is difficult. We decided to learn the Airwalk the other night with our 11- and 9-year-olds. Little did we know, my better half was filming us the entire time. Watching those videos back was hilarious. I am quite a bad dancer. What we thought we looked like in our heads was not what we looked like in actuality. It’s a work in progress, but we will get there. Maybe if I win a GPP, I’ll post the video.

As for tonight, there are 12 games on the schedule. We have a rare 6:30 PM ET game that is not included on the main slate for either site. Additionally, DK decided to roll out a 7-game slate, so our focus for the last 4 games on the slate will be for FanDuel only.

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

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Friday, October 24th

Slate Overview

• 7-game main slate on DK, 11-game main slate on FD
  - 6:30 pm ET – Milwaukee Bucks at Toronto Raptors
  - 7:00 pm ET – Atlanta Hawks at Orlando Magic
  - 7:30 pm ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Brooklyn Nets
  - 7:30 pm ET – Boston Celtics at New York Knicks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Detroit Pistons at Houston Rockets
  - 8:00 pm ET – Miami Heat at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 8:00 pm ET – San Antonio Spurs at New Orleans Pelicans
  - 8:30 pm ET – Washington Wizards at Dallas Mavericks
  - 10:00 pm ET – Utah Jazz at Sacramento Kings
  - 10:00 pm ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers
  - 10:00 pm ET – Golden State Warriors at Portland Trail Blazers
  - 10:30 pm ET – Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Clippers
• 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

Atlanta Hawks (at ORL)

The Hawks are 5-point underdogs tonight against the Magic, who were one of the worst matchups for fantasy production last season. Atlanta comes into the game with a team total of 113.3 points, which is below the average of the 24 teams in action tonight. Zaccharie Risacher is listed as questionable.

This isn’t a team that I am prioritizing on the 7-game slate or the 11-game slate. Trae Young always deserves consideration in large-field tournaments, but he’s not priced at any sort of discount. Jalen Johnson put up 45 fantasy points in the opener, but he doesn’t project nearly as well as the other superstars on the slate.

Orlando Magic (vs. ATL)

It’s only 1 game, but the Magic played at the 3rd-fastest pace in their opener. If that continues, they’ll be a much better team to target in DFS than they were last season. They draw a nice matchup against the Hawks and come into the game with a team total of 118.3 points. Moe Wagner is still out, but everyone else should be available tonight.

Desmond Bane wasted no time getting shots up with his new team. He had a 31% usage rate in his Magic debut and finished with 36 fantasy points. Naturally, he cut into the usage of Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero. It’s going to be difficult choosing between these three when they are all healthy. We have Banchero projected as the best value of the three, but I view them as comparable plays. Tyus Jones is only $3,500 on DraftKings and played 23 minutes in the opener.

Cleveland Cavaliers (at BKN)

The Cavaliers struggled in their first game of the season, losing to the Knicks in New York. They’ll look to bounce back against the Nets, who are not expected to win many games this season. The Cavaliers have the highest team total on the board tonight. Darius Garland and Max Strus are still out, while De’Andre Hunter is questionable after missing the opener.

Donovan Mitchell had a 36% usage rate in the opener and should continue to dominate usage while Garland is out. He’s a strong tournament play against the Nets. Sam Merrill and Jaylon Tyson started on the wing on Wednesday. Merrill played 28 minutes, while Tyson only logged 20 minutes. Their appeal hinges on the availability of Hunter. Evan Mobley put up 46 fantasy points and took 18 shot attempts in the first game of the season. He should be able to fill up the stat sheet against Brooklyn.

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