NBA DFS Core Plays LIVE: Sunday, October 29th
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. So, who better to walk you through the madness of an NBA DFS slate? On weekends, jack-of-all-trades Taylor Smith takes the reins. 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.
We had a wild, high-scoring slate on Saturday night, so we’ll see what Sunday brings. The NFL takes center stage of course, but we’ve still got a solid 5-game NBA DFS slate on tap if you’re interested in such things. The Sixers will be the only team playing the second night of a back-to-back. They’ll play their home opener tonight against Portland after downing the Raptors in Toronto last night. James Harden is still expected to be away from the team, though there’s a chance he makes a sudden return. For now, we have him listed as doubtful.
Yesterday was our first truly wild day for injury news of the new season with numerous players getting ruled out pre-lock. We’re expecting things to be a bit tamer today, but you never know with the NBA.
There’s still some money to be made out there even if the prize pools are a bit smaller than they would be on a non-NFL Sunday. Below, you’ll find the plays I’m prioritizing tonight, though they’re always subject to change throughout the day pending injury updates.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Sunday, October 29th
Slate Overview
- 5-game slate
- 7:00 PM ET – Atlanta Hawks at Milwaukee Bucks
- 7:00 PM ET – Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets
- 7:30 PM ET – Portland Trail Blazers at Philadelphia 76ers
- 9:00 PM ET – Los Angeles Lakers at Sacramento Kings
- 9:00 PM ET – San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Clippers
- Teams on the front end of a back-to-back: Atlanta, Milwaukee, LA Lakers, Golden State
- Teams on the back end of a back-to-back: Philadelphia
- NBA DFS Injury Report: The Situation Room
- Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays
News Updates
Check back here throughout the day for injury/news updates leading up to lock at 7:00 PM ET.
Team Previews
Atlanta Hawks (at MIL): The Hawks are off to an 0-2 start, and they’ll face an uphill battle to get that first win tonight against the mighty Bucks in Milwaukee. Trae Young (31.9%) continues to get all of the usage for this team alongside a gaudy assist rate north of 40%. He’s only shooting about 23% from the field to this point, so he’s due to improve moving forward. As of now, the Hawks have two of the better frontcourt values on the slate on DraftKings in Onyeka Okongwu ($3,500) and Jalen Johnson ($4,900).
Milwaukee Bucks (vs. ATL): The Bucks have only played once through the season’s first 5 days, and tonight they’ll be without the resting Khris Middleton. Giannis Antetokounmpo (47.7%) and Damian Lillard (33.1%) both posted gaudy usage rates in around 20 minutes of non-Middleton action in the opener, though that’s obviously a tiny sample. The Hawks are playing at a fast pace with no defense of which to speak thus far, so it’s hardly a surprise to see the Bucks with the highest implied team total on the slate (123). If you’ve got salary to spend, I can think of many worse ways to spend it than by paying up for Giannis and/or Dame tonight.
Golden State Warriors (at HOU): Stephen Curry looks like the biggest decision point tonight, as he’s questionable with a sore foot. Draymond Green, meanwhile, will make his season debut after missing the first 2 games with a sprained ankle. Steph missing this game would obviously open up loads of value and usage for Golden State. Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins would see sizable bumps, while Chris Paul still looks good regardless at his sub-$8,000 salaries on DraftKings and FanDuel. The matchup is also prime, as the Rockets still appear to be a defensive bottom feeder even with Ime Udoka now running the show.
Houston Rockets (vs. GSW): Udoka, Fred VanVleet, and Dillon Brooks have been tasked with changing the culture in Houston, though these kinds of things don’t happen overnight. This team is still very much a work in progress, but the new guys are already playing huge roles. VanVleet played 40 regulation minutes in the last game, so it’s easy to like him here in what is expected to be a fast-paced game environment. Alperen Sengun (1.31 FP/min) remains terrific, though we’ve seen slow starts for Jalen Green (0.70 FP/min) and Jabari Smith (0.67). One positive DFS note with regard to this team is that Udoka seems to be running a pretty tight rotation, so we know where the production should come from on a nightly basis.
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