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

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2026-03-12 19:01:29 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!

At least to anyone who didn’t roster Collin Morikawa at THE PLAYERS Championship. I had him as my one-and-done pick and had him in 3 of my 11 DFS lineups. Brutal.

It’s been an unprecedented string of withdrawals due to back injuries over the last two events. A total of 5 golfers have withdrawn with back issues in two events. I know there’s nothing the sites can do to fix the problem, but I would love some type of solution moving forward.

I ended up having a nice NBA slate last night. It could have been a lot better had Paolo Banchero shown up in the 4th quarter, but a win is a win. We turn our attention to tonight’s slate, which has 8 games on both DraftKings and FanDuel.

Let’s shake off the PGA tilt and dive into these NBA team previews.

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

Slate Overview

• 8-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – Phoenix Suns at Indiana Pacers
  - 7:00 pm ET – Washington Wizards at Orlando Magic
  - 7:00 pm ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Detroit Pistons
  - 7:30 pm ET – Milwaukee Bucks at Miami Heat
  - 7:30 pm ET – Brooklyn Nets at Atlanta Hawks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Dallas Mavericks at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 9:00 pm ET – Denver Nuggets at San Antonio Spurs
  - 9:30 pm ET – Boston Celtics at Oklahoma City Thunder
  - 10:30 pm ET – Chicago Bulls at Los Angeles Lakers (not on main slate)
• 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

Phoenix Suns (at IND)

We kick off tonight’s 8-gamer with the Suns, who draw a fantastic matchup on the road against the Pacers. Indiana is 7th in pace and 25th in points allowed per game. The Pacers also struggle on the glass, ranking 29th in defensive rebounding percentage. Phoenix’s team total is 117 points, which is 5 points higher than their season average. Mark Williams and Dillon Brooks are out, while Jordan Goodwin and Grayson Allen are questionable.

With Allen and Goodwin currently in the projections, there’s not a single player on the roster with a positive RGValue. If one or both end up being out, we can feel a little better about rostering Devin Booker, Jalen Green, and Collin Gillespie. This is certainly an exploitable matchup, so it’s not a bad idea to be overweight on the Suns in large-field tournaments. For cash games and single-entry tournaments, it’s hard to make a strong case for anyone on the Suns.

Indiana Pacers (vs. PHO)

The Pacers have a tough matchup at home against the Suns, who play at a slow pace (25th) and rank 6th in points allowed per game. Indiana’s team total is 108 points, which is 3 points lower than their season average. On top of all that, the Pacers aren’t exactly trying to win games at the moment. Johnny Furphy and Pascal Siakam are expected out, while T.J. McConnell, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Ivica Zubac, Taelon Peter, and Ethan Thompson are all questionable.

Much like the Suns, we have to take a wait-and-see approach with the Pacers. With Nesmith, McConnell, and Nembhard currently in the projections, there’s not a single player on the roster with a positive RGValue. The injuries could open up more minutes in the rotation and usage in the offense, but this is far from an ideal matchup. And of course, this is the point of the season where we have to worry about team motivations. I don’t expect to have any exposure to Indiana.

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