Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Saturday, April 20th
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. On weekends, Taylor Smith takes over. 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.
At long last the NBA playoffs have arrived. The Play-In Tournament concluded last night, and the real postseason gets underway today with a solid 4-game slate. This is one of the most fun slates of the year, and we’re in for a doozy with 3 outstanding matchups. The Cavs are also playing the Magic.
DraftKings and FanDuel have some appealing contests posted for the first playoff slate of the 2023-24 campaign. With wall-to-wall hoops on the schedule, I can think of few better ways to spend Saturday than by bidding adieu to various family members and plopping down on the couch. I don’t think April 20th is typically associated with any other holidays, so maybe we can call it American Couch Day or something.
Without further delay, let’s dive right in.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Saturday, April 20th
Slate Overview
- 4-game slate
- 1:00 PM ET – Orlando Magic at Cleveland Cavaliers
- 3:30 PM ET – Phoenix Suns at Minnesota Timberwolves
- 6:00 PM ET – Philadelphia 76ers at New York Knicks
- 8:30 PM ET – Los Angeles Lakers at Denver Nuggets
- 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
Orlando Magic (at CLE): The Magic are 4.5-point underdogs heading into Game 1 of their series against the Cavs. These are a couple of slow-paced, defense-first outfits, so we have a predictably low total in this one (207.5). Orlando isn’t dealing with any injuries, and this team played a fairly deep rotation during the regular season. We can always expect more condensed minutes in the playoffs, however. A theme of this slate – on DraftKings, at least – is the loose pricing. Paolo Banchero ($8,300), Franz Wagner ($6,300), and Wendell Carter ($4,900) all look too cheap over there, but everyone on this slate is underpriced relative to where they were during the regular season. One trend to note is that Jonathan Isaac played 26 and 27 minutes in the Magic’s final 2 games of the season, including a start over Carter in the last game. At his cheap salaries, I’ll have interest in Isaac as a stellar per-minute producer (1.09 DK) even if he doesn’t start. The Magic may need some extra size in a matchup against Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.
Cleveland Cavaliers (vs. ORL): The Cavs limped into the playoffs after dealing with injuries all year. Craig Porter, Dean Wade, and Ty Jerome are out today, but the regulars will be available. Donovan Mitchell played 38 minutes in his most recent game before sitting the season finale, so we’re expecting no limitations for him today. The matchup stinks, but 40 (or so) minutes for Mitchell has me interested given his impressive 1.35 FP/minute rate from the regular season. Darius Garland is typically a secondary GPP play with Mitchell in the lineup, and he’s far from a priority for me here. Orlando was a top-10 defense this season in terms of paint points allowed, so it’s a subpar spot for Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley too. I’m not sure we have to mess around with values like Max Strus, Isaac Okoro, or Georges Niang on this slate, but Strus does flash an occasional ceiling. That’ll keep him in the GPP player pool at the very least.
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