NBA DFS Core Plays LIVE: Thursday, December 21st
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? 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 are now 4 days from Christmas. I know this because I can count and because my little one reminds me every time I walk into the room.
For tonight, there are 8 games on the schedule. However, not all of them are featured on the main slates over on FanDuel and DraftKings. The Wizards-Blazers game is not on the FanDuel main slate, and the last 2 games aren’t on the DraftKings main slate. I’m not exactly sure why this is the case, but I am hearing rumors that the sites are trying to entice those on the East Coast by leaving off the late games. This also allows the sites to make bigger showdown contests for the last game on the schedule.
I’m not against this move on large slates, but I sure hope they don’t start turning 5-game slates into 3-game slates just because of the time difference. I have always been on Team No Late Swap. Casual players don’t like to get burned by late scratches, but they even out for everyone over the course of the season. Having late swap actually benefits the pro players, as they are constantly analyzing the slate and where their lineups sit in each contest. As someone with a lot of family obligations, I miss the days of set it and forget it.
I will still cover all 16 of the teams in the preview section, but keep in mind that FanDuel has 7 games on their main slate, and DraftKings has 6 games on their main slate.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Thursday, December 21st
Slate Overview
- 8-game slate
- 7:00 PM ET – Utah Jazz at Detroit Pistons
- 7:30 PM ET – New Orleans Pelicans at Cleveland Cavaliers
- 8:00 PM ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Oklahoma City Thunder
- 8:00 PM ET – San Antonio Spurs at Chicago Bulls
- 8:00 PM ET – Indiana Pacers at Memphis Grizzlies
- 8:00 PM ET – Orlando Magic at Milwaukee Bucks
- 9:00 PM ET – Los Angeles Lakers at Minnesota Timberwolves
- 10:00 PM ET – Washington Wizards at Portland Trail Blazers
- Teams on the front end of a back-to-back: Wizards
- Teams on the back end of a back-to-back: Jazz, Cavaliers, Pacers, Magic, Wolves, Lakers, Bulls, Clippers
- NBA DFS Injury Report: The Situation Room
- 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
Utah Jazz (at DET): We kick off the 8-game slate with the Jazz, who were unable to beat the Cavaliers in Cleveland last night. They have a quick turnaround and now face the Pistons, who are ranked 7th in pace and 26th in defensive rating. Both teams in this game have team totals that are well above their average points per game this season. Jordan Clarkson, Keyonte George, and Omer Yurtseven are all still out. The Jazz don’t stand out in the projections, but I do have my eye on a couple of players in particular. Collin Sexton has topped 45 fantasy points in 4 of his last 5 games, and Lauri Markkanen is back to playing a full allotment of minutes.
Detroit Pistons (vs. UTA): The Pistons are sporting a 24-game losing streak. While impressive, I think it comes to an end this evening. The Jazz are short-handed and have really struggled on the road this season. The Pistons are only 2-point underdogs and have an implied total that is 9.3 points higher than their season average. Jalen Duren is still out, which benefits Marvin Bagley and Isaiah Stewart. My favorite targets here are Cade Cunningham and Bojan Bogdanovic. Cunningham is coming off 68 fantasy points, and Bogdanovic has good form and a revenge card in his back pocket.
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