NBA DFS Core Plays LIVE: Monday, January 8th
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!
The NFL regular season is officially over, which means more eyes will be on the NBA for the rest of the season. My Jaguars fumbled their chance at winning the division and now have to watch the playoffs from home. My brother-in-law was kind enough to send me a link to an article about the Jaguars when they were 8-3 on the season. They had a 99% chance of making the playoffs at that point. The good news is that while I still root for my teams, I don’t have nearly the same passion for them as I did before I found DFS.
We kick off the NBA week with 6 games on the schedule. I thought this would be a good day for the sites to leave the final game off of the main slates, as it starts a full two-and-a-half hours later than the rest. However, all six games are included on the main slate for both FanDuel and DraftKings. The Suns and Clippers are the two teams playing in the second half of a back-to-back, and we don’t have any teams that are playing in the front end of a back-to-back.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Monday, January 8th
Slate Overview
- 6-game slate
- 7:00 PM ET – Chicago Bulls at Charlotte Hornets
- 7:00 PM ET – Boston Celtics at Indiana Pacers
- 7:00 PM ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Washington Wizards
- 7:30 PM ET – Houston Rockets at Miami Heat
- 8:00 PM ET – Utah Jazz at Milwaukee Bucks
- 10:30 PM ET – Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Clippers
- Teams on the front end of a back-to-back: None
- Teams on the back end of a back-to-back: Suns, Clippers
- 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
Chicago Bulls (at CHA): The Bulls have all of their key players back from injury and have won 6 of their last 10 games. They continue to inch closer to the top 10 spots in the Eastern Conference standings. Tonight, they travel to Charlotte to take on the Hornets, who are 25th or worse in rebounding rate, defensive rating, and points allowed per game. The Bulls have a team total that is 2.4 points above their season average. On the injury front, Patrick Williams and Alex Caruso are both listed as questionable.
While I like the spot for Chicago as a whole, they aren’t my favorite team to target for DFS. Nikola Vucevic will likely still be on a minute restriction (played 25 minutes off the bench in his first game back), Zach LaVine is unlikely to play his usual allotment of minutes, and Coby White has seen a dip in form over the last couple of weeks. DeMar DeRozan is my favorite option here and is the only player on the team with a positive RGValue in the projections.
Charlotte Hornets (vs. CHI): The Hornets have lost 9 of their last 10 games and are only 8-25 on the season. Tonight, they host the Bulls, who are the slowest-paced team in the NBA. Despite playing at home, their team total is lower than their season average. There are plenty of injuries to talk about, as LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, PJ Washington, and Mark Williams have all been ruled out.
Here is an example of the DFS tables that are provided to our Premium Subscribers
Want to read more? Sign up for Premium!
