Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Sunday, November 16th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2025-11-16 20:54:11 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 wheel. 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 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! As usual, the sites are approaching their NBA slates differently tonight. DraftKings’ main docket is a simple 5-gamer starting at 7 PM ET. Pretty standard stuff. Over at FanDuel HQ, their bigwigs reportedly sent an urgent email to all of their top NBA DFS minds and demanded they start this slate an hour earlier to get the Nets-Wizards game onto the main slate. FD knows what the people want – I’ll give them that. In order to accommodate this game between a couple of teams with a combined 2-22 record, FD’s slate starts an hour earlier at 6 PM ET.

As always, I’ll be here throughout the day leading up to lock and providing updates as they come in. Onward!

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Sunday, November 16th

Slate Overview

• 6-game main slate (FD); 5-game main slate (DK)
  - 6:00 pm ET – Brooklyn Nets at Washington Wizards
  - 7:00 pm ET – Golden State Warriors at New Orleans Pelicans
  - 7:00 pm ET – Orlando Magic at Houston Rockets
  - 7:30 pm ET – Portland Trail Blazers at Dallas Mavericks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Atlanta Hawks at Phoenix Suns
  - 8:00 pm ET – Chicago Bulls at Utah Jazz
• 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

Brooklyn Nets (at WAS)

Here we go! The NBA League Pass must-watch game of the day. The Nets are 2.5-point underdogs tonight in DC. I suppose a game between the teams ranked 29th and 30th in defensive efficiency has some shootout potential, but these teams are also 25th and 28th in offense. Something’s gotta give! Brooklyn is still without Cam Thomas and Haywood Highsmith.

We normally have blowout concerns when it comes to the Nets, but that really isn’t the case today. The usage flows through Michael Porter Jr. (31.7%) with Thomas out, and he has a path to minutes in the mid-30s in what should be a competitive game. Great play in all formats. Centers have been smashing the Wizards for years, and Washington is yet again one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA. Nic Claxton ($6,400) grades out as an early core play candidate in this elite spot. Egor Demin (0.93 FP/minute) has shown some promise since his promotion into a starting role, while Noah Clowney (0.82) is still a decent point-per-dollar value at just $4,400. Day’Ron Sharpe can smash this matchup in limited minutes off the bench, but it’s tough to stomach a backup center with your lone C spot on FanDuel. Just play Claxton instead.

Washington Wizards (vs. BKN)

I think the Wizards’ roster is better than the Nets’, though these teams are both 1-11. Washington is favored today, however, which is something we won’t say often all season. Bilal Coulibaly seems to be on the verge of another return. He’s officially questionable, though he seems more likely than not to play.

Alex Sarr (27% usage, 1.4 FP/minute) is always the headliner for the Wizards, and he’s been incredibly efficient despite only playing around 30 minutes a night. While Claxton is the better point-per-dollar value at center, I don’t see much not to like about Sarr at $8,100 with PF eligibility. CJ McCollum has bounced back a bit after a slow start, though Coulibaly’s potential return likely doesn’t help his stock. Ditto for Kyshawn George, who’s flashed a very wide range of outcomes. I suppose you can hunt a ceiling there, but I’d just rather play Sarr if I’m prioritizing anyone on the Washington side. Coulibaly ($4,500) is cheap enough to project well for the dollar, though he could be limited from a minutes standpoint after dealing with a calf injury.

Golden State Warriors (at NOP)

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