Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Monday, October 27th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-10-27 19:33:30 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 an NBA DFS slate? 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. We had some Halloween plans with the family and celebrated my son’s 10th birthday (K-pop Demon Hunter style). While out shopping, I couldn’t believe that stores had already made the transition from Halloween decorations to Christmas decorations. Like the start of the NBA regular season, this seems to happen earlier and earlier every year. I didn’t get a chance to work on my Airwalk, but I found a new instructional video that could be the difference maker. Don’t worry, I will keep you updated.

We have a massive slate on tap on Monday night. It was a slight shock to the system to open up the schedule and see 11 NBA games. Quite a few teams are playing in the second half of back-to-backs, so it should be a busy day for injury news. We also have Monday Night Football and Game 3 of the World Series, so it should be a great night of sports.

Grab your caffeine of choice (you are going to need it), and let’s dive into the games.

Editor’s Note: Looking for more places to play? Check out our Underdog promo code and PrizePicks promo code, two of the best DFS apps available today.

NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Monday, October 27th

Slate Overview

• Main Slate — FanDuel: 11 games, DraftKings: 9 games
  - 7:00 pm ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons
  - 7:00 pm ET – Orlando Magic at Philadelphia 76ers
  - 8:00 pm ET – Atlanta Hawks at Chicago Bulls
  - 8:00 pm ET – Brooklyn Nets at Houston Rockets
  - 8:00 pm ET – Boston Celtics at New Orleans Pelicans
  - 8:00 pm ET – Toronto Raptors at San Antonio Spurs
  - 8:30 pm ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Dallas Mavericks
  - 9:00 pm ET – Phoenix Suns at Utah Jazz
  - 9:30 pm ET – Denver Nuggets at Minnesota Timberwolves
  - 10:00 pm ET – Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors
  - 10:30 pm ET – Portland Trail Blazers 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

Cleveland Cavaliers (at DET)

The Cavaliers draw a fairly difficult matchup against the Pistons, who are 6th in points allowed per game so far this season. Cleveland’s team total is significantly lower than their season average (-3.5 points). Darius Garland and Max Strus are still out, but we’ll have to wait and see if anyone is added to the injury report, as this is a back-to-back situation.

Evan Mobley (1.25 DK / 1.29 FD) is off to a nice start this season and can fill up the stat sheet. The Pistons are a solid rebounding team, but Mobley is a playable option on both FanDuel and DraftKings at his current price. Donovan Mitchell is always capable of a high-ceiling performance, but we have no shortage of superstars to choose from tonight. When it comes to the values on Cleveland, there are too many players splitting minutes for my liking.

Detroit Pistons (vs. CLE)

The Pistons are small favorites at home against the Cavaliers, who have been a much better matchup for fantasy production this season than they were last season. Detroit’s team total is nearly identical to their season average. Jaden Ivey is still out, while Marcus Sasser and Caris LeVert are not expected to suit up. With this being a back-to-back, we’ll see if anyone is added to the injury report.

Cade Cunningham (1.19 DK / 1.10 FD) currently boasts a 30% usage rate and has averaged 44 fantasy points per game despite not shooting the ball well this season. This is a slate where we can target him at low ownership, which makes him one of my favorite tournament plays on the slate. He averaged 52 fantasy points per game with Ivey out last season. Ausar Thompson has always been a good per-minute producer and is now playing 30+ minutes per game. At the very least, he’s worth a look in large-field tournaments.

Want to read more? Sign up for NBA Premium!

Here is an example of the DFS tables that are provided to our Premium Subscribers