Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Monday, February 2nd

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2026-02-02 21:53:45 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 NBA DFS slates on DraftKings and FanDuel? 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!

I know we are here to talk about hoops, but it’s always a good week when it’s the WM Phoenix Open week. Even if you aren’t a golf fan, this is the week for you. If you aren’t familiar with this event on the PGA TOUR, it’s essentially the Happy Gilmore version of a professional golf tournament, where fans come out in bunches (likely 400,000+ people) and don’t hesitate to party it up. There’s also a great field and a cool golf course. I’ve worked very hard to revamp my golf model over the last 2 weeks, so make sure to check it out this week. I’ll explain all of the new additions in this week’s model breakdown video.

As for tonight, we only have 3 games on the main slate. There’s one early game for those who want to get the sweat started early, but we are going to focus our attention on the other 3 games. With such a small slate, we are combining Grinders Live and Crunch Time tonight. I’ll be on with Dean and Chop to break down the slate, starting at 6:00 PM ET.

Let’s dive into the games.

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Monday, February 2nd

Slate Overview

• 3-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – Houston Rockets at Indiana Pacers
  - 7:30 pm ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 10:00 pm ET – Philadelphia 76ers 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

Houston Rockets (at IND)

We kick off tonight’s small slate with the Rockets, who have a favorable draw on the road against the Pacers. Indiana is ranked 9th in pace, 26th in rebounding rate, and 25th in points allowed per game. Houston’s team total is 4 points lower than their season average. Kevin Durant and Steven Adams are both out.

Let’s see who benefits the most with Durant and Adams off the floor:

Even though he hasn’t seen much of a boost with Durant off the floor, I’m intrigued by Amen Thompson tonight. It’s a nice matchup, and he has topped 43 fantasy points in 4 of his last 7 games. He should be able to fill up the stat sheet at a reasonable price point and ownership projection. We have Reed Sheppard projected to play 30 minutes on a slate that lacks value. He has averaged 1.02 DK / 1.03 FD points per minute this season, so he’s an easy click for both cash games and tournaments.

Alperen Sengun is one of the best spends on the slate. He should see a nice FP/min. boost with Durant off the floor and is facing one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA. Josh Okogie is a contrarian way to get exposure to Houston, as he should push for minutes in the mid-20s. Jabari Smith and Tari Eason should both see 30+ minutes of action in a nice matchup. They should both see a small boost in usage. Don’t be shy with your Houston exposure.

Indiana Pacers (vs. HOU)

The Pacers have a brutal matchup at home against the Rockets, who are 11th in pace and 28th in points allowed per game. The Pacers enter tonight’s game with a team total of 107 points, which is the lowest on the board and 4 points lower than their season average. Obi Toppin is still out.

We have the equivalent of a bad offense facing an ace in baseball. The Pacers are a bad offense facing an elite defense. They are also as healthy as they have been in weeks. The slate is small enough that we have to at least consider the Pacers, but none of their players project well. I will note that Andrew Nembhard is playing his best basketball of the season, topping 40 fantasy points in 3 of his last 4 games. He’s the only player on the roster who is on my radar. Pascal Siakam and Aaron Nesmith have struggled with Bennedict Mathurin back to playing a full allotment of minutes.

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