Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Sunday, November 9th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2025-11-09 19:33:27 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! I am currently watching America’s greatest export – the Atlanta Falcons – play on the international stage. This is what the forefathers had in mind, watching in horror as the Falcons inexplicably spam Tyler Allgeier runs in goal-line scenarios in front of 80,000 Germans wearing jerseys of every team except those actually playing in the game. Almost brings a tear to my eye.

Anyway, this is a basketball article. The sites are doing things differently yet again today. DraftKings is only including 4 games on their main slate, tipping things off at 6 PM ET. FanDuel has the same 4 plus a couple more starting at 8:30 and 9:30 ET, respectively. The injury news likely won’t be as chaotic as it was yesterday with only a couple of teams on the second halves of back-to-backs, but you never know with this sport.

Let’s dive in!

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Sunday, November 9th

Slate Overview

• 4-game main slate (DK); 6-game main slate (FD)
  - 6:00 pm ET – Brooklyn Nets at New York Knicks
  - 6:00 pm ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 6:00 pm ET – Boston Celtics at Orlando Magic
  - 7:30 pm ET – Detroit Pistons at Philadelphia 76ers
  - 8:30 pm ET – Indiana Pacers at Golden State Warriors
  - 9:00 pm ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Sacramento Kings
• 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 NYK)

We’ll kick things off with The Battle for New York, which may not be much of a battle in the end. The Nets are listed as 15.5-point underdogs as they head to Midtown for a showdown with the Knicks. Brooklyn also has the lowest total of the day at a mere 106.5 points. Cameron Thomas and Haywood Highsmith are still out.

Thomas is a certified chucker, so his absence opens up a boatload of usage. Michael Porter Jr. (32.6% without Thomas) should take most of it. The Knicks can throw some capable defenders his way, but there’s upside here if you think the Nets can stay competitive. I am skeptical. Nic Claxton rates out the best among Brooklyn players in our projections, but the Knicks have been among the league’s stingiest paint defenses for the past several seasons. I’m not thrilled about it, but this is an extremely weak slate for centers, especially on DK.

Egor Demin drew a surprise start on Friday, sending Tyrese Martin to the bench. Demin has struggled early on, but he was a good per-minute producer in college, and he’s produced a respectable 0.92 FP/minute this season with Thomas off the floor. Demin is playable if he starts again at cheap price points. Terance Mann is a decent try again in tournaments at what should be much lower ownership than he saw on Friday, while Noah Clowney has fared well since jumping into the starting unit. Clowney is a solid value in the mid-$4,000s.

New York Knicks (vs. BKN)

In addition to home-court advantage, the Knicks also haven’t played since destroying the Timberwolves on Wednesday, so they should be quite fresh for this one. New York’s injury report is also clean. The Knicks’ 122 total here against the NBA’s worst defense is, unsurprisingly, the highest on the slate.

Jalen Brunson (32.2%) is your usage leader early on, followed by Karl-Anthony Towns (25.6%). I see nothing unlikable about the matchup for both All-Stars, and they should be among the most popular plays on the slate as a result. They can both get there in the same game, though I’d consider a max-1 in some GPP builds if they’re both super chalky. OG Anunoby (1.07 FP/minute) and Mikal Bridges (1.02) have also both been terrific to start the year. OG has the higher ceiling, but they’re generally very similar plays.

The minutes for Josh Hart haven’t quite been there in his new sixth-man role, but he’s also discounted at $5,500 on FD and $5,300 on DK. I think Hart is an interesting way to get exposure to the Knicks without eating all of the same chalk as everyone else.

Oklahoma City Thunder (at MEM)

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