NBA DFS Core Plays LIVE: Saturday, December 16th
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, jack-of-all-trades 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 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.
Saturday makes for a pretty good day to sit back, relax, watch some sports, and win some money on said sports. You’ve got no shortage of options at your disposal today. There’s a 5-game college football slate, a 12-game NHL slate, full card of UFC action, and even a 3-game NFL docket on the schedule. We’re here, however, to discuss the 9-game NBA DFS slate that gets underway at 7 PM ET.
We’ve got plenty of moving parts on the injury front, as always, with big names like Anthony Edwards, De’Aaron Fox, and Paul George carrying questionable tags into the day. As usual, I’ll be here throughout the afternoon and into the evening to provide my up-to-the-minute thoughts on how to approach tonight’s hoops action.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Saturday, December 16th
Slate Overview
- 9-game slate
- 7:00 PM ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Charlotte Hornets
- 7:30 PM ET – Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers
- 8:00 PM ET – Chicago Bulls at Miami Heat
- 8:00 PM ET – Indiana Pacers at Minnesota Timberwolves
- 8:30 PM ET – Brooklyn Nets at Golden State Warriors
- 9:00 PM ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Denver Nuggets
- 9:00 PM ET – Dallas Mavericks at Portland Trail Blazers
- 10:00 PM ET – Utah Jazz at Sacramento Kings
- 10:30 PM ET – New York Knicks at Los Angeles Clippers
- Teams on the front end of a back-to-back: Warriors, Blazers
- Teams on the back end of a back-to-back: Pistons, Sixers, Hornets, Hawks, Pacers, Knicks
- NBA DFS Injury Report: The Situation Room
- Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays
News Updates
12:50 PM ET: Talen Horton-Tucker was downgraded to questionable for Utah with an illness. If he’s out, Collin Sexton and Kris Dunn will have to play massive minutes for the Jazz.
Team Previews
Philadelphia 76ers (at CHA): The Sixers destroyed the Pistons again last night, and tonight they’ll face another underwhelming foe in the Hornets. Does anyone have an easier schedule than Philadelphia so far? Doesn’t seem like it. We’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for the classic Joel Embiid back-to-back questionable tag to potentially pop up later in the day, but this team is otherwise healthy. Embiid looks like a terrific way to spend salary if he suits up against an undermanned and mediocre Charlotte frontcourt, while I like the salary on Tyrese Maxey ($8,500) over on FanDuel. Otherwise, this team will be a stay-away for me, barring some unexpected injury news.
Charlotte Hornets (vs. PHI): The Hornets are 10-point underdogs as they too play for the second time in as many nights. Charlotte lost a close one at home yesterday to the Pels. They’ll again be without LaMelo Ball and (likely) Mark Williams, while we have PJ Washington listed questionable after he missed last night’s game. Terry Rozier is a fine lower-owned tournament play as he continues to fill it up with Ball out of the mix, but we’ve seen the salaries rise on Nick Richards around the industry. Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges are two more tournament fliers to consider, but it’s hard to prioritize anybody here in a difficult matchup.
Atlanta Hawks (at CLE): The Hawks went up to Canada and split two games with the Raptors during the week, and tonight they’ll be stateside to take on whatever is left of the Cavaliers in Cleveland. Atlanta is a 2.5-point underdog in this one, which is quite the indictment given Cleveland’s injury issues. The Hawks are still without Jalen Johnson, while De’Andre Hunter is iffy after missing the past few games with a sore knee. Quin Snyder mixed things up last night, opting to start Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu next to one another in the frontcourt. Both bigs wound up topping 33 minutes, which is an interesting development considering how they’d previously rarely see the floor together. Both centers would be squarely in play as individual options again tonight if Hunter is out, though Okongwu likely heads back to Benchville if Hunter suits up. Trae Young is worth a shot as a high-upside spend, though the matchup against the Cavs is far from ideal.
Here is an example of the DFS tables that are provided to our Premium Subscribers
Want to read more? Sign up for Premium!
