Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Saturday, April 18th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2026-04-18 15:34:51 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. On weekends, Taylor Smith takes the reins. 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 Saturday! After some exciting Play-In shenanigans, the NBA playoffs officially get underway today. The first couple of days of the playoff schedule are my favorite. It’s a little like the Christmas Day slate, with games staggered throughout the day, only with the extra edge of postseason stakes.

Things get started early with the first game tipping off at 1 PM ET. I should also note that I will be on an extra-early edition of GrindersLive with TJ and Will to break it all down, starting at noon ET. I recommend tuning in! If not, well, that’s your business.

Off we go.

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Saturday, April 18

Slate Overview

• 4-game main slate
  - 1:00 PM ET – Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 3:30 PM ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets
  - 6:00 PM ET – Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks
  - 8:30 PM ET – Houston Rockets 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

Toronto Raptors (at CLE)

The Raptors are back in the playoffs after a 3-season absence. They’ll get a tough 1st-round draw against the Cavaliers. Toronto swept the 3-game regular-season series, but all of those games took place before December. Immanuel Quickley is questionable for Game 1 with a nagging hamstring injury.

Cleveland’s frontcourt is significantly better defensively than its backcourt. The matchup on paper looks rosier for Quickley and RJ Barrett than it does for Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl, and Brandon Ingram. Quickley looks wildly cheap on DraftKings at $5,700, but a potential minutes limit is baked into that price tag. If he’s out, the Raps will likely start either Jamal Shead or Ja’Kobe Walter in his place. Both players are affordable, and I’ll side with whoever starts.

Quickley sitting would also clear extra usage for Barnes (+1.5%), Ingram (+1%), and (weirdly) Poeltl (+3.5%). I think Ingram offers the most compelling combination of value and ceiling, especially at just $7,100 on DK. I’d consider Barnes and Barrett to be secondary options. Poeltl comes at an attractive price point, but his minutes are volatile with Collin Murray-Boyles and Sandro Mamukelashvili lurking off the bench. Both backups produced at better than 1.00 DK FP/minute clips during the regular season. They’re both in the $4,000 range with paths to around 20 minutes. I’m not sure we need to risk it, though I don’t mind CMB for larger-field GPPs.

Cleveland Cavaliers (vs. TOR)

Want to read more? Sign up for NBA Premium!

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