NBA DFS Core Plays LIVE: Monday, December 18th
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, and Noto will mix it up in all different types of contests. 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 NBA DFS picks, 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.
I hope everyone had a tremendous weekend. We are officially 7 days from Christmas.
For the first time in a long time, I didn’t even look at anything NBA-related over the weekend. I didn’t play DFS, I didn’t make bets, and I didn’t even check the scores. Granted, I was sweating NFL games on Saturday and Sunday, but it was nice to take a break from the NBA grind. If you ever feel like you are burnt out, or if you feel like you aren’t playing your best, I highly recommend taking a couple of slates off. I feel refreshed and ready to get back after it tonight.
I took my little one to see the new Willy Wonka movie last night. I wasn’t a huge fan of the original or the one with Johnny Depp, so my expectations were quite low. However, it was a really good movie. There was one part that made my little one laugh harder than I have ever heard him laugh. If you have kids who will be out of school for the next couple of weeks, this is something that should be able to keep them entertained for a couple of hours.
As for tonight’s slate, we have 11 games to break down. Two teams are playing in the second half of a back-to-back (Rockets, Wizards) and one team is playing in the first half of a back-to-back (Grizzlies). As usual, there are no shortage of injuries to monitor, so expect a lot of updates throughout the course of the day.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Monday, December 18th
Slate Overview
- 11-game slate
- 7:00 PM ET – Houston Rockets at Cleveland Cavaliers
- 7:00 PM ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Indiana Pacers
- 7:00 PM ET – Chicago Bulls at Philadelphia 76ers
- 7:30 PM ET – Detroit Pistons at Atlanta Hawks
- 7:30 PM ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Miami Heat
- 7:30 PM ET – Charlotte Hornets at Toronto Raptors
- 8:00 PM ET – Memphis Grizzlies at Oklahoma City Thunder
- 9:00 PM ET – Dallas Mavericks at Denver Nuggets
- 9:00 PM ET – Brooklyn Nets at Utah Jazz
- 10:00 PM ET – Washington Wizards at Sacramento Kings
- 10:30 PM ET – New York Knicks at Los Angeles Lakers
- Teams on the front end of a back-to-back: Grizzlies
- Teams on the back end of a back-to-back: Rockets, Wizards
- NBA DFS Injury Report: The Situation Room
- 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
Houston Rockets (at CLE): We kick off the slate with the Rockets, who are 13-10 on the season. It’s been a tale of two stories for them, as they are 11-1 at home and 2-9 on the road. They have a tough draw tonight in Cleveland, as the Cavaliers are ranked 21st in pace and 9th in defensive rating. This game projects to be played at the slowest pace of any on the slate and both teams have top 10 defenses. The Rockets should be at full strength for this one, making them an easy team to cross off our list of potential targets.
Cleveland Cavaliers (vs. HOU): The Cavaliers have struggled to stay healthy all season and will be without Evan Mobley and Darius Garland for tonight’s game. They are playing at home but have a tough matchup against the Rockets, who are ranked 28th in pace and 2nd in defensive rating. Surprisingly, Cleveland’s team total is only 1 point below their season average. Here are some of the FP/min increases of the key players on Cleveland with Mobley and Garland off the floor:
- Donovan Mitchell: +0.04 DK / +0.05 FD
- Caris LeVert: +0.15 DK / +0.18 FD
- Jarrett Allen: +0.06 DK / +0.03 FD
- Max Strus: +0.06 DK / +0.03 FD
From a projections standpoint, Mitchell is the only player on the team with a positive RGValue.
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