NBA DFS Core Plays LIVE: Monday, January 15th
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.
Happy Monday everyone!
It is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and like we see every year, we have a full day of basketball games to enjoy. Here is how the sites have laid out their slates:
DraftKings
- 2-game early slate
- 3-game afternoon slate
- 5-game main slate
FanDuel
- 4-game early slate
- 2-game afternoon slate
- 5-game main slate
DraftKings included the first game of the day (Rockets-Sixers) on their early slate, while FanDuel left that game off of their early slate. We’ve seen some questionable decisions by FanDuel (most notably changing their NFL slate this weekend) recently, and they made another one on Monday. For whatever reason, they included the Spurs-Hawks game on both their early and afternoon slates.
As always, we will cover all of the games in the team previews. For the rankings tables and injury updates, we will focus on the 5-game main slate that starts at 7:00 PM ET.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Monday, January 15th
Slate Overview
- 11-game slate
- 1:00 PM ET – Houston Rockets at Philadelphia 76ers
- 2:30 PM ET – New Orleans Pelicans at Dallas Mavericks
- 3:00 PM ET – Orlando Magic at New York Knicks
- 3:00 PM ET – Detroit Pistons at Washington Wizards
- 3:30 PM ET – San Antonio Spurs at Atlanta Hawks
- 6:00 PM ET – Golden State Warriors at Memphis Grizzlies
- 7:00 PM ET – Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers
- 7:30 PM ET – Boston Celtics at Toronto Raptors
- 7:30 PM ET – Miami Heat at Brooklyn Nets
- 9:00 PM ET – Indiana Pacers at Utah Jazz
- 10:30 PM ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Lakers
- Teams on the front end of a back-to-back: Sixers, Thunder
- Teams on the back end of a back-to-back: Pacers, Heat
- 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 PHI): This game tips off at 1:00 PM ET, so if you have joined the early slate on DraftKings, make sure to get your lineup finalized nice and early. The Rockets have lost 6 of their last 10 games and are only 4-13 on the road this season. They could be in trouble today against the Sixers, who are 12th in pace and 2nd in defensive rating. The Rockets have a team total that is 2.5 points below their season average. Tari Eason is still out, but Dillon Brooks is back in the lineup. Alperen Sengun and Fred VanVleet both have positive RGValues despite the difficult matchup. Jabari Smith and Jalen Green are viable tournament options.
Philadelphia 76ers (vs. HOU): The Sixers have only won 5 of their last 10 games but boast one of the best home records (14-6) in basketball. Today they host the Rockets, who are 23rd in pace and 7th in defensive rating. We’ll see if Joel Embiid can suit up for this game (full practice on Sunday), but the Sixers team total is 1.8 points below their season average. De’Anthony Melton and Robert Covington have both been ruled out for this game. Embiid is a strong play if active, while Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris would be the main beneficiaries if he’s out again.
New Orleans Pelicans (at DAL): The Pelicans have won 7 of their last 10 games and have a 12-8 record at home and on the road. They travel to Dallas to take on the Mavericks, who are 9th in pace and 18th in defensive rating. The Pelicans have a team total that is 3.1 points above their season average. They should be at full strength for this one, which makes predicting fantasy production a bit more difficult. Zion Williamson is set to garner the most ownership of any Pelicans player on the early slate, while Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum are intriguing pivots in tournaments.
Dallas Mavericks (vs. NOP): The Mavericks have lost 5 of their last 10 games but are still 6 games above .500 on the season. They draw a difficult matchup against the Pelicans, who are 17th in pace and 6th in defensive rating. Their team total is a full 3 points below their season average. Dante Exum has been ruled out, Luka Doncic and Derrick Jones are listed as doubtful, and Dereck Lively is listed as questionable. Here’s the CourtIQ query with Doncic and Exum off the floor this season:
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