Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Thursday, December 11th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-12-12 00:27:19 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. 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 Thursday!

Last night’s slate was underwhelming, to say the least. Despite it being the NBA Cup, we had two massive blowouts. Rather than breaking down the two lopsided games from last night, let’s turn our attention to tonight’s slate. We have 4 games on the schedule. I love this slate because we have two great game environments, plenty of value, and very few injuries that we are still monitoring.

We are inching closer and closer to the weekend and to Christmas. If you need any gift ideas, let me know. I’ll ask my better half, because she somehow has gift ideas for everyone. I wouldn’t say I’m a great gift giver, but half the battle is putting in the effort. If you try to find a good gift that’s specific to the person you are buying the gift for, you are in good shape. Like DFS, sometimes you have to trust your gut rather than buying the first thing you see after Googling “gift ideas for ___”.

Let’s dive into tonight’s slate.

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Thursday, December 11th

Slate Overview

• 4-game main slate
  - 8:00 pm ET – Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Houston Rockets
  - 8:00 pm ET – Portland Trail Blazers at New Orleans Pelicans
  - 10:00 pm ET – Denver Nuggets at Sacramento Kings
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

News Updates

This section will be updated as injury news is released throughout the day.

Team Previews

Boston Celtics (at MIL)

We start tonight’s slate with the Celtics, who draw a nice matchup against the Bucks. Milwaukee plays at a slow pace but is ranked 20th or worse in rebounding rate, points allowed per game, and defensive rating. The Celtics have a team total that is identical to their season average. Other than Jayson Tatum, all of Boston’s key players should be available tonight.

Payton Pritchard has been steady this season, but he has only scored more than 40 fantasy points in 3 games. The ceiling is there; we just don’t see it very often. It’s a translucent ceiling. Derrick White has flashed more upside, topping 42 fantasy points in 3 of his last 6 games. He’s had a usage rate of at least 25% in 4 straight games. The slate is small enough that I don’t mind looking to Anfernee Simons in tournaments. He’s cheap and has topped 25 fantasy points in 5 of his last 10 games.

I’m not sure what Jaylen Brown has to do to see a salary bump. He has scored over 50 fantasy points in 7 straight games and is still priced under $10,000 on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The best part is that he continues to be under-owned on a nightly basis. Jordan Walsh has quietly played well recently and is still only $4,700 on DraftKings. We only have Neemias Queta projected for 27 minutes, but he’ll randomly see a game where he plays minutes in the 30s. At the very least, he’s worth a look in tournaments.

Milwaukee Bucks (vs. BOS)

The Bucks have one of the worst matchups on the board, as the Celtics are 30th in pace and 3rd in points allowed per game this season. They come into the game as 9-point underdogs and have a team total that is 7 points lower than their season average. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Taurean Prince are both out, while AJ Green is questionable.

Let’s see who benefits the most with Giannis off the floor:

Ryan Rollins doesn’t offer a super high floor, but he has scored at least 40 fantasy points in 5 of his last 10 games. On DraftKings, I much prefer Kevin Porter Jr. at a slight discount. Over the last 4 games, KPJ has averaged 48 fantasy points with a usage rate of 27%. Green is an important injury to monitor, as he has quietly topped 27 fantasy points in 5 of his last 7 games. If active, he’s a nice value play on FanDuel ($4,400).

Earlier in the season, Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Portis felt like must plays when Giannis was out, but that’s no longer the case. They don’t project well at their respective price points, and we have both projected to play less than 26 minutes. Jericho Sims and Myles Turner are expected to start in the frontcourt, but they’ll end up ceding minutes to Kuzma and Portis. I much prefer Rollins, KPJ, and Green.

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