NBA DFS Core Plays LIVE: Thursday, February 8th
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.
Happy Thursday, everyone!
The WM Phoenix Open just started, and the Super Bowl is in three days. We need to enjoy this overlap of sports while we can because there’s not much to sweat over the next few weeks, especially with the NBA All-Star Game approaching. I received quite a few show recommendations yesterday from the amazing readers of this article, so I have a full list that I am going to work through over the next few weeks.
As for tonight, there are 9 games on the schedule. Once again, this has been a near-perfect week for scheduling. We are in the Goldilocks zone of NBA slates. Both FanDuel and DraftKings have decided to break up the schedule into two different slates — a 7-game main slate and a 2-game main slate. We have four teams playing in the second half of a back-to-back (Cavaliers, Warriors, Spurs, Pistons) and three teams playing in the front end of a back-to-back (Bucks, Nuggets, Lakers).
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Thursday, February 8th
Slate Overview
- 9-game slate
- 7:00 PM ET – Golden State Warriors at Indiana Pacers
- 7:00 PM ET – San Antonio Spurs at Orlando Magic
- 7:30 PM ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Brooklyn Nets
- 7:30 PM ET – Dallas Mavericks at New York Knicks
- 8:00 PM ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Milwaukee Bucks
- 8:00 PM ET – Chicago Bulls at Memphis Grizzlies
- 9:00 PM ET – Utah Jazz at Phoenix Suns
- 10:00 PM ET – Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Lakers
- 10:00 PM ET – Detroit Pistons at Portland Trail Blazers
- Teams on the front end of a back-to-back: Bucks, Nuggets, Lakers
- Teams in the second half of a back-to-back: Cavaliers, Warriors, Spurs, Pistons
- 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
Golden State Warriors (at IND): We kick off the slate with the Warriors, who picked up an easy win over the Sixers last night. They are still 2 games below .500 on the season, but at least they have won 4 of their last 5 games. They draw a favorable matchup tonight against the Pacers, who are 2nd in pace and 26th in defensive rating. The Warriors have a team total that is 3.6 points above their season average. With this being a back-to-back, we could see a player or two sit this game out, but they currently don’t have anyone on their injury report. Draymond Green projects as a solid mid-range option, but I have more interest in Stephen Curry and Jonathan Kuminga. Over the last 4 games, they have averaged 44 and 40 fantasy points, respectively. I should also note that we saw a rare breakout performance from Andrew Wiggins last night (21 points, 10 rebounds), so we might want to keep an eye on him moving forward.
Indiana Pacers (vs. GSW): The Pacers have just traded Buddy Hield to the Sixers, so he will not be with the team tonight. Additionally, Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, and Jalen Smith are all listed as questionable. There could be some nice value on the Pacers, depending on how these injuries play out. As far as the matchup, the Warriors are 12th in pace and 20th in defensive rating on the season. The Pacers have a team total that is 4.2 points higher than their season average. This is a good spot for the Pacers as a whole, but there’s not much that currently stands out in the projections. Let’s take a wait-and-see approach until we get a final injury update.
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