Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Saturday, January 17th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2026-01-17 23:25:32 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 DwFS 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! There is football today, but there is also basketball today. The sites are doing things differently, as usual. DraftKings’ main slate is a 7-gamer tipping at 7:30 PM ET, while FD’s is an 8-gamer that includes the late-night LAL/POR clash. I think we can all be thankful that neither slate includes the early rematch between the Jazz and Mavs given the state of the injury reports and the fact that the Jazz are already pulling their annual Tanking Shenanigans.

I’m sure there will still be no shortage of chaos. Fortunately, I’ll be on Crunch Time with TJ and Will to break it all down right up until lock. In the meantime, let’s take a bird’s-eye view of this slate, shall we?

Editor’s Note: Looking for more places to play? Check out our Underdog promo code and PrizePicks promo code, two of the best DFS apps available today.

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Saturday, January 17th

Slate Overview

• Slate size – FanDuel: 8 games, DraftKings: 7 games
  - 7:30 pm ET – Boston Celtics at Atlanta Hawks
  - 7:30 pm ET – Phoenix Suns at New York Knicks
  - 7:30 pm ET – Indiana Pacers at Detroit Pistons
  - 8:00 pm ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at San Antonio Spurs
  - 8:00 pm ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Miami Heat
  - 8:30 pm ET – Charlotte Hornets at Golden State Warriors
  - 9:00 pm ET – Washington Wizards at Denver Nuggets
  - 10:00 pm ET – Los Angeles Lakers at Portland Trail Blazers
• 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

Boston Celtics (at ATL)

The Celtics will take the floor in Atlanta as 5.5-point favorites over the Hawks. Boston’s been largely healthy this season with the exception of Jayson Tatum, but they’re also expected to be without Payton Pritchard (officially doubtful) for this one. Josh Minott remains out with an ankle injury.

We’re currently projecting Baylor Scheierman to get into the starting unit in Pritchard’s spot, with Derrick White sliding over to the 1. We’ve got Anfernee Simons coming off the bench, but he’s still projected for around 30 minutes. White (1.19 FP/minute) and Simons (1.00) have both been productive with Pritchard on the bench. We aren’t getting much of a discount with White, but there’s still a slate-breaking ceiling in there somewhere. Simons figures to be pretty heavy chalk even in a sixth-man role. I don’t have many qualms with it given the cheap salaries in the $5,000 range. Scheierman – while cheap – is just a woeful per-minute producer (0.66), making him a risky play even if he gets a start.

Jaylen Brown hasn’t seen much of a usage boost without Pritchard, but that’s because his usage is sky high to begin with. Brown is finally up to $10,000 on DK, but it’s hard to say he hasn’t earned it. Atlanta has been rather poor defensively all season despite having some capable wing defenders, and Brown is always a comfy way to fill that pesky SF slot. Sam Hauser looks like a good bet for 30-plus minutes in a starting role. He’s not a great bet to do a ton while he’s out there (0.67 FP/minute), but you can find worse values in the $4,000 range. I’m generally fine playing Neemias Queta, though he has been losing minutes to Luka Garza lately. I’d probably reserve Queta for larger-field GPPs.

Atlanta Hawks (vs. BOS)

The Hawks haven’t exactly taken flight since their big Trae Young trade, as they come into tonight’s home clash with the Celtics as losers of back-to-back games. They’re underdogs again, and they’re dealing with some injuries. Kristaps Porzingis and Zaccharie Risacher will miss this one, while Dyson Daniels is questionable with an ankle issue.

Onyeka Okongwu (1.11 FP/minute) will retain his starting center spot without KP, while we’re projecting Vit Krejci to stick with the starters in Risacher’s place. If Daniels is out, I assume we’ll see CJ McCollum make his first start for his new team. I never mind targeting Okongwu in tournaments, but he’s hardly a priority with the way Boston continues to protect the paint. I have minimal interest in any of Atlanta’s guards if Daniels suits up. If he doesn’t, I think both McCollum and Nickeil Alexander-Walker look a little more interesting, even in a difficult matchup.

The headliner, as usual, is Jalen Johnson. He’s up to 1.5 DK FP/minute this season with Young, Porzingis, and Daniels off the floor, and he comes into this one after a couple of underwhelming efforts on the road. It doesn’t look like the field will be too excited to play him in this spot, but I have plenty of interest if the ownership is going to be lower than usual.

Phoenix Suns (at NYK)

Want to read more? Sign up for NBA Premium!

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