NBA DFS Core Plays LIVE: Sunday, December 17th
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.
Happy Sunday! We’ve got a usual full NFL slate on tap, while the NBA is taking things relatively easy. There are just 5 games on the schedule for today, though just 3 of them appear on the main slate starting at 7 PM ET. There’s still money to be made though, and I’ll be here throughout the day keeping you apprised of the latest developments and happenings heading into lock.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Sunday, December 17th
Slate Overview
- 3-game slate
- 7:00 PM ET – Houston Rockets at Milwaukee Bucks
- 8:00 PM ET – Washington Wizards at Phoenix Suns
- 9:00 PM ET – Golden State Warriors at Portland Trail Blazers
- Teams on the front end of a back-to-back: Rockets
- Teams on the back end of a back-to-back: Warriors, Blazers, Bucks
- NBA DFS Injury Report: The Situation Room
- Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays
News Updates
Here’s where I’ll be providing news updates.
Team Previews
Houston Rockets (at MIL): The Rockets are listed as 6.5-point underdogs in Milwaukee, though their 112 implied team total is a couple of points north of their season average. Milwaukee’s defense (20th) has been dreadful this season, but the same can be said of Houston’s offense (25th). Fred VanVleet and Alperen Sengun are almost always on my radar for all formats, while we’ve seen increased minutes for Tari Eason of late. There really isn’t much that stands out here in projections, but I do like the matchup enough to get to some of the Rockets on such a short slate. The shooting for Jabari Smith comes and goes, but he has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in 5 straight games.
Milwaukee Bucks (vs. HOU): The Rockets’ are one of the most-improved teams in the league this season, thanks in large part to a defense ranked second in efficiency. The Bucks’ 118.5 implied team total is actually about 5 points under their season average, yet it’s still the second-highest mark on tonight’s main slate. This is the second half of a back-to-back for Milwaukee after last night’s thrashing of the Pistons, a game both Khris Middleton and Malik Beasley missed. Middleton is due back tonight, but Beasley is questionable with an illness. You can always make an argument to spend up for Giannis Antetokounmpo, while Middleton’s minutes have been creeping up of late. Damian Lillard is also a significantly better value on FanDuel ($8,700) than he is on DraftKings ($9,800).
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