NBA DFS Core Plays LIVE: Thursday, January 18th
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.
How ‘bout Wednesday’s slate, huh? Just 2 of the 8 games on the main slates were ultimately decided by 10 points, one of which was the MIN/DET clash that had one of the widest spreads on the slate. Predicting blowouts can be tricky. Two of the 5 games on tonight’s slate feature double-digit spreads, but it’s tougher to fade potential blowouts on such a short slate.
Anyway, Noto is off on NFL duty today, so you’ve got me to guide you through tonight’s 5-game NBA DFS slate.
NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Thursday, January 18th
Slate Overview
- 5-game slate
- 7:30 PM ET – Washington Wizards at New York Knicks
- 7:30 PM ET – Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors
- 9:00 PM ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Utah Jazz
- 10:00 PM ET – Memphis Grizzlies at Minnesota Timberwolves
- 10:00 PM ET – Indiana Pacers at Sacramento Kings
- Teams on the front end of a back-to-back: Pacers
- Teams on the back end of a back-to-back: Knicks, Raptors, Wolves
- NBA DFS Injury Report: The Situation Room
- Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays
News Updates
Here’s where I’ll update for news throughout the day.
Team Previews
Washington Wizards (at NYK): We’ll tip things off with the Wizards, who will head to New York for a date with the Knicks. Washington is a 12-point road underdog in this one, even with the Knicks playing their 2nd game in as many nights. Marvin Bagley and Isaiah Livers will be available to make their team debuts tonight, so we’ll see how they factor into what was already a pretty crowded rotation. We’ve tentatively slotted Bagley with 25 minutes in projections, which is enough to make him grade out awfully well as a value at $4,000 on DraftKings and $5,000 on FanDuel. You can fire darts with more expensive options like Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole, and Deni Avdija, but Bagley is the only Wizard on either site with a positive RGValue in projections.
New York Knicks (vs. WAS): The Knicks toppled the Rockets last night, and tonight they draw an even better on-paper matchup with Washington in town. New York’s 123.25 total is among the highest on the slate, which makes sense against Washington’s 29th-ranked defense. Jalen Brunson (1.25 FP/minute) and Julius Randle (1.28) have thrived since the OG Anunoby trade, and, as usual, both look too cheap around the industry. I don’t think playing them together in GPP builds is the worst thing on such a small slate, given the fruitful matchup, either. Isaiah Hartenstein (1.11 FP/minute) is playing well enough in heavy minutes to project decently at $7,700 on FD, but he’s a lot more appealing for $1,000 less on DK. Anunoby (0.74 FP/minute) has struggled a bit offensively with his new team, while Josh Hart ($4,900) is another solid value worth considering on DK.
Chicago Bulls (at TOR): The Bulls may do some roster shuffling before the trade deadline, but for now, they’re largely healthy heading into a clash with the Raptors in Toronto. Patrick Williams and Ayo Dosunmu are both listed questionable. Toronto’s defense has struggled since the Anunoby trade, so it’s a fine spot for Chicago. The usage is pretty even between DeMar DeRozan (25.3%), Zach LaVine (24.7%), and Nikola Vucevic (23.9%), but they all look a tick too cheap on DraftKings. Vucevic seems to be in the best matchup with Toronto still missing Jakob Poeltl, especially considering this isn’t the strongest slate for centers overall. Alex Caruso would gain some steam as a value if Williams, Dosunmu, or both miss this game.
Here is an example of the DFS tables that are provided to our Premium Subscribers
Want to read more? Sign up for Premium!
