Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Monday, May 11th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2026-05-11 13:51:48 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 hope everyone had a great weekend and a great Mother’s Day. While I love showing my appreciation for the mothers in my life, there’s always a sense of relief when the day is over. I get the same feeling after birthdays, Valentine’s Day, and even Christmas. Perhaps I put too much pressure on myself in trying to make everything perfect.

In the association, we had a couple of competitive games and a couple of blowouts over the weekend. The Cavaliers continued their unbeaten streak at home with a win over the Pistons in Game 3. The Thunder put together another dominant performance to take a 3-0 lead over the Lakers. The Knicks got out their brooms and swept the Sixers in dominating fashion in Game 4. And last but not least, Anthony Edwards put together an incredible 4th quarter performance to even up the series against the Spurs. The big question in that series is whether Victor Wembenyama will face a suspension after doing his best Ron Artest impression with an elbow to the neck of Naz Reid.

I hate to say it, but this looks like it could be the last 2-game slate of the season. If the Thunder win, we’ll only have single-game slates for the rest of the playoffs. Sites will still have 2-game slates that last 2 days, but it’s hard to produce content for those slates. Before we get into the team breakdowns, I just want to say how much I appreciate you reading this article throughout the course of the season and the playoffs.

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Monday, May 11th

Slate Overview

• 2-game main slate
  - 8:00 pm ET – Detroit Pistons at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 10:30 pm ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Lakers
• 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

Detroit Pistons (at CLE)

We kick off tonight’s slate with the Pistons, who currently boast a 2-1 lead in their series against the Cavaliers. They haven’t played particularly well in the playoffs, yet they are only 2 wins away from the Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavaliers are a decent matchup on paper, ranking 13th in pace and 15th in points allowed per game. The Pistons are listed as 3.5-point underdogs and have a team total that is 13 points lower than their season average. Kevin Huerter and Caris LeVert are both questionable.

Cade Cunningham has averaged 41 minutes per game in this series and has had a usage rate of 30%. He took 27 shot attempts in Game 3 and finished with a triple-double. As has been the case all postseason, he’s one of the top spends on the slate. Daniss Jenkins was quiet in Game 3, but he has topped 28 fantasy points in 3 of the last 4 games. I will note that all 3 of those big outings were at home. He has averaged less than 10 fantasy points in the 4 road playoff games. Duncan Robinson has been terrific in this series, averaging 33 minutes and 33 fantasy points per game. He feels a tad underpriced on both DraftKings ($4,900) and FanDuel ($5,000).

Ausar Thompson has struggled with foul trouble in this series, but he continues to play well on a per-minute basis. If he can stay out of foul trouble, he could push for 35+ minutes at low projected ownership. Tobias Harris has scored at least 35 fantasy points in 5 of the last 6 games and offers a high floor for both cash games and tournaments. Jalen Duren got off to a nice start in this series by scoring 37 fantasy points in Game 1, but he’s been held to 21 and 20 fantasy points in the last 2 games. The worst part is that he hasn’t been in foul trouble. He’s still viable in large-field tournaments, but he’s a tough player to trust at the moment.

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