Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Sunday, January 25th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2026-01-25 23:17:00 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.

Happy Sunday! Seems like lots of the continent is on Freeze Watch, so hopefully you’re not too chilly wherever you are. If you’re stuck inside, you might as well fire up some DFS contests. We’re looking at 5 games on the NBA DFS slates for tonight with the festivities tipping off at the usual 7 PM ET. Some notable players are carrying questionable tags into the day, so I’m sure there will be plenty of moving and shaking with the injury reports leading into lock.

Let’s go!

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NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Sunday, January 25th

Slate Overview

• 5-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – New Orleans Pelicans at San Antonio Spurs
  - 7:00 pm ET – Dallas Mavericks at Milwaukee Bucks
  - 7:00 pm ET – Toronto Raptors at Oklahoma City Thunder
  - 8:00 pm ET – Miami Heat at Phoenix Suns
  - 9:00 pm ET – Brooklyn Nets at Los Angeles Clippers
• 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 Orleans Pelicans (at SAS)

The Pelicans picked up a rare win over the shorthanded Grizzlies in their last game, and tonight, they’re facing a daunting test in the Alamo City. New Orleans has Jose Alvarado listed as questionable for this one, so Dejounte Murray may be the only player still out. NOLA is still a healthy 11.5-point underdog on the road.

The Spurs’ defense is the real deal with Victor Wembanyama patrolling the paint. Trey Murphy (1.08 FP/minute) has been on quite a tear lately, and the minutes are always there in competitive games. He’s the most alluring option on the Pels’ side, even at his salary north of $8,000 on both sites. Zion Williamson lives around the rim… and so does Wemby. Zion is still capable of putting up numbers in any matchup, but this just doesn’t look like an ideal spot for what he does well. The minutes for Derik Queen continue to be all over the place, and he hasn’t even cracked 30 in a few weeks. He’s getting cheaper, and now he’s in the mid-$6,000s, but he’s really just a GPP dart throw.

The Pelicans brought Jeremiah Fears off the bench in the last game with Herbert Jones back in the starting unit. Both played 23-24 minutes in that one. Jones has a low floor, but $4,200 is a pretty cheap price tag on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Saddiq Bey really got it going in the last one, scoring 36 points on 13-for-20 shooting from the field. It feels like a bit of a chase, but he is back under $6,000 these days.

San Antonio Spurs (vs. NOP)

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