Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Saturday, March 21st

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2026-03-21 22:02:34 Premium Content Part of the product NBA DFS

A daily fantasy sports OG, Notorious has been rotaming 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 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.

Happy Saturday! It has been around 100 degrees where I live for the past few days, so it sure feels like baseball season already. It’s still March though, so hopefully your brackets aren’t busted yet. We both know it’s only a matter of time. Maybe my TCU Horned Frogs will shock the world and take down the Dukies today.

Anyway, college basketball isn’t the only thing on the schedule. We’ve also got 10 pro games on the board, 7 of which will appear on the main slates on DraftKings and FanDuel. As usual, I’ll be here throughout the day providing the necessary updates leading into Crunch Time, which gets underway around 6 PM ET.

Let’s go!

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Saturday, March 21st

Slate Overview

• 7-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – Memphis Grizzlies at Charlotte Hornets
  - 7:00 pm ET – Los Angeles Lakers at Orlando Magic
  - 7:00 pm ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at New Orleans Pelicans
  - 8:00 pm ET – Miami Heat at Houston Rockets
  - 8:00 pm ET – Indiana Pacers at San Antonio Spurs
  - 8:00 pm ET – Golden State Warriors at Atlanta Hawks
  - 8:30 pm ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Dallas Mavericks
• 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

Memphis Grizzlies (at CHA)

We will, unfortunately, start with the Grizzlies, one of everyone’s least favorite teams to see on the schedule. Memphis has long since stopped trying to win basketball games, and their injury report is a nightmare on a daily basis. Tonight, they’re huge 17.5-point underdogs in Charlotte with one of the lowest implied team totals on the slate (108.5). Ty Jerome is likely out on the 2nd half of the back-to-back. Cedric Coward, Jahmai Mashack, GG Jackson, and Gen X’s Taj Gibson are questionable. Ja Morant, Zach Edey, Brandon Clarke, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Santi Aldama, and Scotty Pippen Jr. remain out.

With the questionable Grizzlies projected to play, we’ve got 11 players available for minutes. Given the spread and the likelihood they all play somewhere between 20 and 25 minutes, I don’t have much interest in anyone. Taylor Hendricks (1.04 FP/minute) projects decently in the $5,000 range, while Walter Clayton Jr., Javon Small, and GG Jackson are potentially playable in tournaments. It’s just a headache trying to figure out who’s going to play enough to matter. They’ll project better if the list of available players gets whittled down to 8 or 9, and I’ll update accordingly once we get clarity on the injury situation.

Charlotte Hornets (vs. MEM)

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