NBA DFS Core Plays LIVE: Sunday, March 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, Taylor Smith will take the reins and guide you through the NBA DFS streets. 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.
Seven games populate the NBA’s schedule on this St. Patrick’s Day, but we’re here to talk about the 4-game main slate that gets underway at 6 PM ET. Just like yesterday, we’ve got quite a few wonky point spreads, and 3 of the 4 games on the slate feature spreads of 10 points or more. I generally don’t play for blowouts in DFS, and that’ll be the case again tonight. I’d rather not twist myself into knots trying to predict whether certain stars will see a full allotment of minutes. Plus, on a slate like this with so few games, there’s really no way to avoid targeting the games with some blowout potential.
Without further ado, let’s dive right in.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Sunday, March 17th
Slate Overview
- 4-game slate
- 6:00 PM ET – Boston Celtics at Washington Wizards
- 6:00 PM ET – Toronto Raptors at Orlando Magic
- 7:00 PM ET – Brooklyn Nets at San Antonio Spurs
- 9:30 PM ET – Atlanta Hawks at Los Angeles Clippers
- Teams on the front end of a back-to-back: Celtics, Hawks
- Teams on the back end of a back-to-back: Nets, Wizards
- NBA DFS Injury Report: The Situation Room
- Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays
News Updates
Here’s where I’ll provide news updates throughout the afternoon.
Team Previews
Boston Celtics (at WAS): The Celtics are only 11-point favorites in DC tonight thanks to a few injuries. Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White have already been ruled out, while Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are both listed questionable. Boston is leading the Eastern Conference by approximately 87 games, so they’re able to manage some loads at this point. We’re projecting Sam Hauser and Al Horford to join the starting unit in place of White and KP. With those 2 off the floor, Tatum (+5.6%), Brown (+3.7%), and Hauser (+3.7%) all see nice usage boosts. Tatum and Brown are obviously 2 of the best plays on the entire slate if they suit up, while Hauser ($4,700 DK, $4,500 FD) and Payton Pritchard ($4,600 DK, $4,100 FD) are going to be popular value targets. Horford is in a plus matchup and looks great on both sites, while Jrue Holiday could slip through the cracks relative to his teammates from an ownership standpoint if Tatum and Brown are good to go. Thanks to the injuries and the stellar matchup against the Wizards, the Celts are very clearly the top team to target this evening. It’s St. Patrick’s Day, so of course they are.
Washington Wizards (vs. BOS): The Wizards went into Chicago and got pasted by the Bulls last night, and they’re likely in for another pasting tonight at home against the Celts. Tyus Jones and Deni Avdija are questionable after missing last night’s game, while Richaun Holmes returned after missing a couple of games with a toe injury. Jordan Poole and Corey Kispert joined the starting unit in place of Jones and Avdija, and we’d likely see that again tonight if they sit. Poole (+7.9%) and Kyle Kuzma (+3.2%) get bumps in usage with Jones and Avdija off the floor, and both would be reasonable targets again tonight even against a tough Boston defense. Holmes is a passable value target at center even after struggling yesterday, while the minutes for Kispert and Bilal Coulibaly should be fairly safe regardless. Jared Butler and Justin Champagnie both topped 20 minutes off the bench last night, though Champagnie in particular benefited from the blowout.
Here is an example of the DFS tables that are provided to our Premium Subscribers
Want to read more? Sign up for Premium!
