Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Thursday, November 13th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-11-13 23:24:33 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 an NBA DFS slate? 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!

Wednesday’s slate was a fun one, as it was a mad dash to build lineups. It was a great example of why this isn’t a sport where you can make a lineup a few hours before lock and forget about it. After Giannis Antetokounmpo, Cade Cunningham, and Jalen Duren were all ruled out, we had more value than we knew what to do with. If you didn’t roster Daniss Jenkins and Paul Reed from the Pistons, you were likely drawing dead in your contests.

Luckily, we shouldn’t have many late scratches tonight, as there are only 3 games on the schedule. I’m still writing notes in the NBA suggestion box to make every slate between 5 and 9 games, but my advice has fallen on deaf ears so far. Just a heads up, Taylor Smith is covering for me tomorrow, as I am finally getting a vasectomy. I know, I should have planned it a little better (around March Madness or the Masters), but this isn’t something that could wait another 5 months.

As always, thanks for joining me. Let’s dive into tonight’s slate.

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Thursday, November 13th

Slate Overview

• 3-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 9:00 pm ET – Atlanta Hawks at Utah Jazz
  - 9:00 pm ET – Indiana Pacers at Phoenix Suns
• 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

Toronto Raptors (at CLE)

The slate kicks off with the Raptors, who have a slightly favorable matchup against the Cavaliers, who are 7th in pace, 24th in 3-point percentage allowed, and 18th in points allowed per game. Toronto has a team total that is 4 points lower than their season average. Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Murray-Boyles, and Ochai Agbaji are all questionable.

The Raptors are going to be low-owned on tonight’s slate. There’s only one player on their roster projected for more than 20%, so this is certainly a way to be unique in tournaments. Immanuel Quickley has scored progressively more fantasy points in each of the last 5 games, highlighted by his 47-fantasy point outing on Tuesday night. He’s still priced under $7,000 on both DraftKings and FanDuel. I prefer him over RJ Barrett, who relies more on scoring for his fantasy production.

Brandon Ingram has been very consistent this season, topping 37 fantasy points in 5 of his last 6 games. His usage rate, FP/min. rate, and salary are all enticing tonight. Scottie Barnes has averaged 1.32 DK / 1.34 FD points per minute. He can fill up the stat sheet and is worth a look in all formats. Depending on the availability of Mamukelashvili and Murray-Boyles, Jakob Poeltl could be a nice mid-range option at center. He played a season-high 29 minutes against the Nets the other night.

Cleveland Cavaliers (vs. TOR)

The Cavaliers are playing on the second half of a back-to-back, but Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Darius Garland all sat out in last night’s game. They have a favorable matchup at home against the Raptors, who are close to the league average in pace, defensive rating, and points allowed per game. Cleveland has the highest team total on the board. We don’t have their initial injury report yet, but Mitchell and Mobley, while Lonzo Ball is a candidate to get the night off.

Mitchell has averaged just under 50 fantasy points per game this season and has topped 55 fantasy points in 3 of his last 5 games. He’s rarely the chalk in DFS, and there’s a decent chance Garland will be out again tonight. If that’s the case, Sam Merrill will draw another start at point guard. He’s volatile because he relies on the 3-point line, but he’s worth a look in tournaments. De’Andre Hunter underwhelmed last night, but he has topped 34 fantasy points in 5 of his last 6 games.

Mobley has turned into a consistent fantasy producer this season. He has scored at least 38 fantasy points in 9 straight games. He’s essentially hitting 4.5x his salary on a nightly basis. He’s one of the safest spends on the board tonight. Jarrett Allen doesn’t have a high-minute floor and logged 27 minutes last night. I’d rather save salary and play Larry Nance off the bench, who is projected for 20 minutes at a cheap price point.

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