Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Saturday, April 25th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2026-04-25 15:46:22 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 over. 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.

Hello, and happy weekend. You’ve earned it. We’re back with another full weekend of NBA playoff action, which means 4 games scattered throughout the day. The ORL/DET and OKC/PHX series will shift to new venues for a couple of Games 3 today, while we’ll have Games 4 in the NYK/ATL and DEN/MIN battles. The Knicks and Nuggets – who entered those series as favorites – are staring down unexpected 2-1 deficits heading into the day.

As always, I’ll have you covered in the NBA DFS streets. I’ll also be on an extra-early edition of GrindersLive with TJ and Tim at 12 PM ET to break it all down. Let’s go!

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Saturday, April 25

Slate Overview

• 4-game main slate
  - 1:00 pm ET – Detroit Pistons at Orlando Magic
  - 3:30 pm ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Phoenix Suns
  - 6:00 pm ET – New York Knicks at Atlanta Hawks
  - 8:30 pm ET – Denver Nuggets at Minnesota Timberwolves
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

News Updates

Here’s where I’ll provide news updates.

Team Previews

Detroit Pistons (at ORL)

The top-seeded Pistons were stunned in Game 1 by the Magic before bouncing back to even the series with a blowout victory in Game 2. The scene will shift to Orlando this afternoon for a crucial Game 3. Detroit is a slight 2.5-point road favorite in this one, and they have no injuries to report. The Pistons’ 108 implied team total is still toward the low end for this slate, even as favorites.

Cade Cunningham has looked outstanding in this series, and he hasn’t been limited at all after missing several weeks with a collapsed lung just before the playoffs began. The Magic don’t really have any wing defenders big enough to handle him, and they’ve been a favorable matchup for high-usage lead guards all season. Cunningham isn’t popping into many optimals early in the day, so there’s a chance we can get him at fairly low ownership. I’m highly interested in Cade for GPPs.

Tobias Harris is playing heavy minutes now that it’s playoff time, while Ausar Thompson hasn’t really gotten the same boost. Harris’ salaries are on the rise, but you can argue he’s still underpriced in the $6,000 range on both sites for the role. Thompson is a passable pivot, but he’s more of a filler option. Duncan Robinson hasn’t shot it particularly well through 2 games. That’s kind of his whole deal, but he’s affordably priced in the $4,000 range on both sites and has a path to upper-20s minutes. Robinson is the cheapest Piston who’ll crack my player pool today. Orlando is one of the league’s toughest interior defenses, so Jalen Duren hasn’t gotten it going just yet. I don’t mind Duren in GPPs if the lean game logs lead to limited ownership, especially at a slight discount on FanDuel ($7,400).

Orlando Magic (vs. DET)

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