Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Monday, December 1st

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-12-01 21:40:22 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 Monday!

There are few things better than waking up the next morning after a big win in DFS. Despite 6 fantasy points from Cam Ward, my main lineup still finished 8th in the Milly Maker on yesterday’s NFL slate. I entered the lineup in a handful of other contests as well and profited a cool $50,000 on the day. The best part is that every player that I had tagged in LineupHQ was in my lineup, so I played everyone that I wrote up in my article. Ah, it feels good. I hope many of you had a good week as well.

Now, we aren’t here to talk about football. We have 9 NBA games to break down tonight. The first 6 are included on the main slate on DraftKings, while all 9 games are included on the main slate on FanDuel. We have some teams playing on the second half of back-to-backs, and we have plenty of injured players in the association at the moment. It should be a busy day of news, so let’s dive right into the team previews.

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Monday, December 1st

Slate Overview

• Slate size – FanDuel: 9 games, DraftKings: 6 games
  - 7:00 pm ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Indiana Pacers
  - 7:00 pm ET – Milwaukee Bucks at Washington Wizards
  - 7:00 pm ET – Atlanta Hawks at Detroit Pistons
  - 7:30 pm ET – Chicago Bulls at Orlando Magic
  - 7:30 pm ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Miami Heat
  - 7:30 pm ET – Charlotte Hornets at Brooklyn Nets
  - 9:00 pm ET – Houston Rockets at Utah Jazz
  - 9:00 pm ET – Dallas Mavericks at Denver Nuggets
  - 10:00 pm ET – Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

News Updates

1:45 PM ET

We already have some big injury news for tonight’s slate.

Alex Sarr has been ruled out for the Wizards. Marvin Bagley now stands out as one of the top value plays on the slate, while Kyshawn George offers tremendous upside for tournaments. Tristan Vukcevic is a decent punt on DraftKings ($3,300).

Coby White is now doubtful for the Bulls. I still don’t love anyone in this matchup against the Magic, but Ayo Dosunmu and Kevin Huerter should both push for 30+ minutes.

Kristaps Porzingis has been ruled out for the Hawks. Onyeka Okongwu is viable in all formats.

Darius Garland, Lonzo Ball, and Sam Merrill are all out for the Cavaliers. This makes Donovan Mitchell and Craig Porter Jr. solid options against the Pacers.

Zach Collins and Dalen Terry have been ruled out for the Bulls.

Team Previews

Cleveland Cavaliers (at IND)

The Cavaliers kick off the slate. They travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers, who are 10th in pace and 21st in points allowed per game. The Cavaliers are 5.5-point favorites and have a team total that is slightly higher than their season average. This is a back-to-back situation, so they haven’t released their injury report yet. If you look at the Situation Room, we are expecting them to be without Jarrett Allen, Larry Nance, Max Strus, and Sam Merrill.

Donovan Mitchell has averaged just under 50 fantasy points per game this season and leads the team with a usage rate of 31%. He tends to get lost in the shuffle on these large slates, and that’s exactly what I expect to happen. He’s firmly in play for tournaments. Darius Garland has played 31 and 32 minutes the last 2 games, so he shouldn’t be on any minute restriction moving forward. If Mitchell or Garland ended up getting the night off, Craig Porter Jr. would become a strong value play.

De’Andre Hunter has struggled recently and would likely need a big player or two to be out for me to consider him on a large slate like this one. I much prefer Jaylon Tyson, who is cheaper and who has topped 29 fantasy points in 5 of his last 7 games. He is likely to start again with Allen expected out. Evan Mobley sees a small boost in FP/min. production with Allen off the floor and draws a nice matchup against a beatable Pacers’ frontcourt. He projects as the top RGValue on the Cavaliers.

Indiana Pacers (vs. CLE)

The Pacers have been one of the worst teams in basketball this season, which is brutal for fans since they made it to the NBA Finals last year. Tonight, they host the Cavaliers, who are 7th in pace and 14th in points allowed per game. This game should be one of the fastest-paced on the slate. The Pacers have a team total that is 4 points higher than their season average. Tyrese Haliburton, Aaron Nesmith, and Obi Toppin are all out.

Andrew Nembhard has been held under 31 fantasy points in 5 of the last 6 games. While I like the pace of this one, there are better matchups to exploit. Bennedict Mathurin offers more upside than Nembhard, but he’s also significantly more expensive. He’s worth a look in large-field tournaments. On a per-dollar basis, my favorite guard from the Pacers is T.J. McConnell. He has averaged over 30 fantasy points in his last 4 games.

Jarace Walker and Jay Huff have been good sources of value recently, but they are both priced up for tonight’s game. Pascal Siakam has scored at least 45 fantasy points in 4 of his last 5 games, but the Cavaliers have an excellent defensive frontcourt. I don’t mind Mathurin or Siakam, but McConnell is my favorite target here.

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