Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Thursday, February 12th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2026-02-12 20:13:04 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 NBA DFS slates on DraftKings and FanDuel? 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 was a solid slate of NBA DFS. I always seem to have my best nights when I am on Crunch Time. Whether it’s bouncing ideas off my co-hosts, taking a final look at the entire player pool, or conversing with the chat about different plays, it seems to be working. I love the community aspect of the shows, so I highly recommend tuning in each night and getting involved in the chat. It’s a great way to prepare for the slate and be part of the RG community.

In the early days of DFS, I used to hate the All-Star Break. However, I now view it as a much-needed break from the grind of the long NBA DFS season. It can be taxing to sift through injury news, matchups, and different roster combinations every single day. The break allows us to go out and touch some grass. But before we do that, we have one more NBA slate to break down. There are only 3 games on the schedule, so I’ll do a little deeper dive on each team.

Thanks for reading these articles every day. Enjoy the break!

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Thursday, February 12th

Slate Overview

• 3-game main slate
  - 7:30 pm ET – Milwaukee Bucks at Oklahoma City Thunder
  - 9:00 pm ET – Portland Trail Blazers at Utah Jazz
  - 10:00 pm ET – Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers
• 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

Milwaukee Bucks (at OKC)

We kick off tonight’s 3-game slate with the Bucks, who have the lowest team total on the slate by a whopping 12 points. They travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder, who are 1st in both points allowed per game and defensive rating. The one part of the floor where you can beat the Thunder is the 3-point line, and the Bucks get 39% of their scoring from there, which is the 4th-highest mark in the league. This is a back-to-back, so we’ll have to wait on their injury report. We do know that they will be without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Taurean Prince.

Ryan Rollins missed last night’s game, so we’ll have to keep an eye on his availability. If he’s out, Kevin Porter Jr. becomes a strong play once again. He has scored at least 44 fantasy points in each of the last 4 games. Cam Thomas had his first big outing in a long time, scoring 45 fantasy points off the bench last night. If you are playing into the 3-point narrative, AJ Green loves to sit at the 3-point line and should push for 30 minutes. Jericho Sims isn’t a 3-point specialist, but he has scored over 30 fantasy points in 2 of the last 3 games. It’s a tough matchup for Bobby Portis, Kyle Kuzma, and Myles Turner, and they are all projected to play less than 30 minutes.

Oklahoma City Thunder (vs. MIL)

The Thunder have a pace-down matchup against the Bucks, who are bottom 10 in rebounding rate, 3-point percentage allowed, and defensive rating. Oklahoma City’s team total is 6 points lower than their season average, but that has more to do with their injuries than their matchup. This is a back-to-back, so we don’t have their injury report yet. However, we know Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell are out, while Jalen Williams is dealing with a hamstring injury. I’d be surprised if he played through the injury, especially with the All-Star Break coming up.

With those 3 players out of the projections, Aaron Wiggins projects as the top RGValue on the Thunder. He has averaged 0.89 FP/min. this season and has always played well when given a bigger role in the offense. His game log is hit-or-miss, but he’s one of my favorite plays on the slate. Isaiah Joe only played 18 minutes last night, but he still put up 26 fantasy points. He has now exceeded 25 fantasy points in 4 of his last 5 games.

It’s been a while since we’ve been able to count on Alex Caruso, but I think he makes a strong value play after only logging 7 minutes last night. Perhaps the Thunder were saving him for tonight. Lu Dort is also viable at a similar price point, although Caruso offers more upside. Cason Wallace is an interesting way to get different, as he’s projected for low ownership at an elevated price point. He has topped 30 fantasy points in 4 of his last 6 games. This is a good rebounding matchup for the frontcourt, so I don’t mind mixing in Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren into your tournament lineups.

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