Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Saturday, December 13th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2025-12-13 20:12:38 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, international pop icon Taylor Smith takes the reins. 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 Saturday! The NBA Cup semifinals have arrived. The final four have descended upon Las Vegas for today’s festivities, and the winners will square off in the championship round this Tuesday. The Knicks will take on the Magic in the first matchup, while the second one should be a doozy. Victor Wembanyama will return from injury to lead the Spurs against the mighty 24-1 Thunder in the nightcap.

Things should be fairly light on the news front today, but you never know. On to the previews.

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Saturday, December 13th

Slate Overview

• 2-game main slate
  - 5:30 pm ET – New York Knicks at Orlando Magic
  - 9:00 pm ET – San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder
• 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

New York Knicks (at ORL)

The Knicks didn’t have much of a sweat in the quarterfinal round, as they went up to Toronto and secured a fairly comfortable win over a shorthanded version of the Raptors. This matchup is tougher on paper, as Orlando is tied for 5th in the league in defensive rating, though the Magic are running at a quicker pace. The Knicks have been terrific offensively, however, as they’re 2nd to only the Nuggets in offensive efficiency. Miles McBride, Landry Shamet, and Pacome Dadiet are missing from New York’s lineup tonight, and they’re still healthy 5.5-point favorites over the Magic.

We can expect playoff-like rotations at this stage of the tournament. Mike Brown ran what was essentially a 7-man rotation against Toronto with Tyler Kolek logging just 7 minutes as the 8th man. Orlando is a very tough rim defense, and lead guards have given them trouble. The spot sets up better for Jalen Brunson (1.23 FP/minute) than it does for Karl-Anthony Towns (1.28). I don’t think you need a max-1 rule for the Knicks’ stars on such a small slate, though I’d side with Brunson if just choosing one of them.

The minutes limit for OG Anunoby seems to be a thing of the past, as he got up to 35 in Toronto the other night. His usage is tempered with KAT and Brunson both healthy, but I like how cheap he is on both sites compared to Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart. All three of the wings are likely to see minutes in the mid-30s at a minimum, and they project similarly. Orlando doesn’t give up many catch-and-shoot 3s, so it’s a subpar matchup for Bridges and Hart in particular.

Jordan Clarkson has a path to more minutes without McBride, and he logged 26 against the Raptors. He hasn’t been great this season (0.77 FP/minute), but he’s affordable, and we know he’ll look to score when he’s out there. Mitchell Robinson (1.08 FP/minute) won’t look to score at all, but he’s cheap around the industry with a path to around 20 minutes. As always, Robinson is easier to stomach on DraftKings, where you can roster multiple centers.

Orlando Magic (vs. NYK)

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