Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Saturday, November 22nd

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2025-11-22 22:33:24 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. Taylor Smith takes over on weekends. 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! It is also November 22nd, the anniversary of a notable day in American history. It also reminds me of a Stephen King book in which a guy uses a pantry in a local diner as a time-travel portal to go back in time to try and prevent the JFK assassination.

The idea was that by going back in time and stopping Oswald, he would subsequently prevent the Vietnam War and try to positively alter the course of American history. One issue is that every time he travels back in time, he starts in 1958, so he’s got 5 years’ worth of time to kill before the big day. I assume he spent most of his downtime playing NBA DFS. Wilt Chamberlain was probably a $15,000 player on DK in 1960. Hard to jam that in, but how can you forgo his raw points upside?

Anyway, back to the present. We’re looking at different slates on DraftKings and FanDuel yet again. DK is rolling with a 4-gamer starting at 7 PM ET, while FD decided to include the late-night SAC/DEN game. Let’s dive on in.

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Saturday, November 22nd

Slate Overview

• Slate size – FanDuel: 5 games, DraftKings: 4 games
  - 7:00 pm ET – Atlanta Hawks at New Orleans Pelicans
  - 8:00 pm ET – Washington Wizards at Chicago Bulls
  - 8:00 pm ET – Detroit Pistons at Milwaukee Bucks
  - 8:30 pm ET – Memphis Grizzlies at Dallas Mavericks
  - 10:00 pm ET – Sacramento Kings at Denver Nuggets
• 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

Atlanta Hawks (at NOP)

The Hawks are still without Trae Young as they head to NOLA for a date with a Pelicans team playing for the second time in as many nights. Atlanta is otherwise healthy, and they’re hefty 8.5-point favorites here as a result. This is an elite matchup against a New Orleans team ranked a dismal 28th in defensive efficiency on the season. Onyeka Okongwu is questionable for the visitors. The Hawks’ players probably don’t care, but winning this game is probably important to the Atlanta front office considering they own the Pelicans’ unprotected first-round pick next year.

Without Trae, this offense flows heavily through Jalen Johnson. He’s averaging a robust 1.47 DK FP/minute, and the Pels have been among the worst teams in the league at defending the rim. Johnson won’t come cheap, but he’s a fantastic way to spend salary. Nickeil Alexander-Walker (26.7%) and Kristaps Porzingis (25.8%) both have slightly higher usage rates than Johnson without Young. NAW has flashed a decent ceiling in recent games, while Porzingis’ upside is generally capped by his minutes limit. Both are fine secondary options.

Dyson Daniels (0.95 FP/minute) has a wide range of outcomes, thanks in part to his inconsistent usage. His salaries have come down a bit, and maybe he’ll be a bit vengeful here against his former club. Okongwu sitting would potentially clear some extra minutes for Mouhamed Gueye, who’d become a playable punt in that scenario.

New Orleans Pelicans (vs. ATL)

The Pelicans lost a tight one in Dallas last night in the Emirates NBA Cup, and they’re sizable home underdogs tonight with the high-flyin’ Hawks in town. We’re expecting Zion Williamson to rest on the second night of the back-to-back, while Karlo Matkovic, Dejounte Murray, and Jordan Poole remain out. We’ll see if anyone else pops up on the New Orleans injury report once it’s released a little later.

The story for the Pelicans so far is Derik Queen, who looks like one of the most promising rookies in the league. Queen’s been starting ever since James Borrego took over for Willie Green a week ago. Queen was the player the Pels got when they recklessly traded that pick to the Hawks on draft day. Queen is averaging 1.19 FP/minute on the season with Zion and Poole off the floor. FanDuel is finally raising his salary ($6,300), but DraftKings for some reason still has him listed at just $5,300. It’s very hard to avoid just jamming him in on DK, though there’s a conversation to be had on FD.

Jeremiah Fears is getting overshadowed by his fellow rookie, but he’s also been impressive (1.04 FP/minute) in his own right. Fears has been steady, but his real ceiling outings were games in which he recorded 7 and 4 steals. He’s cheap, but he’s more of a high-floor, low-upside option. Trey Murphy (25.6%) can soak up plenty of usage assuming Williamson sits, and $7,000 on DK looks like an underpay. There isn’t otherwise much to see here barring some unexpected injury news.

Washington Wizards (at CHI)

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