Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Sunday, March 1st

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2026-03-01 21:56:09 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! We’re looking at twice as many games on tonight’s main slate than we had last night, so things are already looking up. Plus, we don’t have to deal with tanking shenanigans from shambolic franchises like the Jazz or Wizards. The only true tanker on tonight’s slate is the Kings. The Pelicans – while terrible – have no reason to lose, because the Hawks own the right to their upcoming first-round pick.

Anyway, this looks like a fun one. Also, be sure to tune in to Crunch Time at 5 PM ET, as I’ll be on with Tim and Chief in the hour leading up to lock, providing #takes and news updates.

On to the hoops.

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Sunday, March 1st

Slate Overview

• 6-game main slate
  - 6:00 pm ET – Detroit Pistons at Orlando Magic
  - 6:00 pm ET – Portland Trail Blazers at Atlanta Hawks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics
  - 8:00 pm ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Dallas Mavericks
  - 9:00 pm ET – New Orleans Pelicans at Los Angeles Clippers
  - 9:30 pm ET – Sacramento Kings at Los Angeles Lakers
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

News Updates

Here is where I’ll provide news updates.

Team Previews

Detroit Pistons (at ORL)

This is one of two games tipping at 6 PM ET before a two-hour gap until the next window of games starts. Weird! Anyway, this one has slugfest potential. We do have a tight spread, however, as the Pistons are just 4.5-point road favorites in Orlando. Isaiah Stewart is still sidelined by his suspension, but Detroit is otherwise healthy for this one.

The Magic have struggled to defend high-usage guards in recent years. Cade Cunningham is too big for Orlando’s wing defenders, and he’s been in a terrific run of form recently. Luka Doncic draws the better on-paper matchup against the lowly Kings, but I really like the idea of getting to the cheaper Cade as a lower-owned pivot in GPPs. It’s a much worse spot for Jalen Duren, as the Magic have been one of the league’s best paint defenses over the last couple of seasons. It’s worth noting Duren (1.33 FP/minute) has been absolutely smashing since he returned from suspension, but we’re getting no discount here at $8,600 on FD and $8,200 on DK.

And… that’s about it. I’m not thrilled with the matchups for Tobias Harris or Ausar Thompson, and the Pistons otherwise run a pretty deep rotation.

Orlando Magic (vs. DET)

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