Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Sunday, February 8th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2026-02-08 18:19:57 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 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.

Hello! There’s a rather large football game going on today, so the NBA is doing the weird thing where they cram a few games into an early pre-NFL window. Are we allowed to say the name of the football game? Who’s to say? I didn’t get express written consent from Roger Goodell to put that into Core Plays LIVE, so I suppose I should tread lightly like Hank from Breaking Bad.

Anyway, the sites can’t even get their acts together on a tiny slate. FanDuel decided it would be a good idea to include the Knicks-Celtics game that tips at 12:30 PM ET, so their slate starts a bit earlier than DraftKings’ 3-gamer that gets underway at 2 ET. Got it? This will be on the test.

Anyway, on to the hoops.

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Sunday, February 8th

Slate Overview

• Slate size – DraftKings: 3 games; FanDuel: 4 games
  - 12:30 pm ET – New York Knicks at Boston Celtics
  - 2:00 pm ET – Miami Heat at Washington Wizards
  - 3:00 pm ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Minnesota Timberwolves
  - 3:00 pm ET – Indiana Pacers at Toronto Raptors
• 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

New York Knicks (at BOS)

The Knicks didn’t do anything ahead of the trade deadline, though they are dealing with a few injuries to key cogs. New York is a 5.5-point underdog this afternoon in Boston in what is easily the biggest game involving a team from Massachusetts today. Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart are questionable, while Miles McBride remains out. New York’s 104.5 total is the lowest of the day.

We can’t really know how to approach the Knicks without some injury updates. If Towns is out, Mitchell Robinson likely draws another start with Ariel Hukporti serving as the backup. Mohamed Diawara started the last game in Anunoby’s place. I would expect Jordan Clarkson to get the nod if Hart sits, though Landry Shamet is another possibility. This team also has Jose Alvarado now. I don’t mind going back to the well with Robinson at $5,000 if he is starting. Clarkson and Shamet would be next on my list at $3,900, while I don’t have as much interest in Diawara if he gets a start.

Taking KAT off the floor should elevate the usage for Jalen Brunson (+3.3%), Mikal Bridges (+2.8%), and Anunoby (+2.7%). This matchup against Boston is very tough across the board, so I’d still hesitate to call Brunson a priority at $9,100. Bridges ($6,700) is probably my favorite option here overall regardless of the injury news. Hart is north of $7,000, which is fairly full. It’s a messy situation, but I’ll update the news section above whenever we get some clarity.

Boston Celtics (vs. NYK)

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