Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Tuesday, April 14th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2026-04-14 17:27:15 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 Tuesday!

I, for one, am ecstatic that the regular season is over. I’ve been writing NBA DFS content for over 15 years, and this season felt like the biggest grind of them all. The NBA obviously has a tanking problem, and it has really impacted both DFS and betting. Luckily, we don’t have to worry about teams trying to lose and resting players anymore. Hallelujah!

If you aren’t familiar with the NBA Play-In Tournament, let’s quickly cover how it works. The 7th seed in each conference will host the 8th seed from said conference. The winner of that game clinches the 7th seed in the playoffs. The loser of that game will host the winner of the game between the 9th and 10th seeds. The winner of the game between the 7th-8th loser and the 9th-10th winner will grab the 8th and final spot in the playoffs.

Essentially, it’s double-elimination for the 7th and 8th seeds and single elimination for the 9th and 10th seeds. While there are a lot of things wrong with the NBA at the moment, I do like the format of the Play-In Tournament, as it really rewards the teams with the better records in the regular season.

We have 2 games on the schedule. Let’s dive into the team previews.

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Tuesday, April 14th

Slate Overview

• 2-game main slate
  - 7:30 pm ET – Miami Heat at Charlotte Hornets
  - 10:00 pm ET – Portland Trail Blazers 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

Miami Heat (at CHA)

The Heat have a very talented roster, but that didn’t translate to a ton of wins during the regular season. They finished with a record of 43-39, which was the 10th best in the East. They’ll now have to win 2 games on the road to sneak into the playoffs. That’s not great, as they are only 17-24 on the road this season. They have a difficult matchup against the Hornets, who are 26th in pace, 2nd in rebounding rate, and 7th in points allowed per game. Miami’s team total is 9 points lower than their season average. Nikola Jovic and Dru Smith are out, while Pelle Larsson is listed as questionable.

Davion Mitchell is awfully cheap for a starting point guard, but he’s more of an off-ball guard, and he rarely plays more than 28 minutes. He’s cheap enough to keep in the player pool, but he’s far from a priority. Norman Powell has been limited since returning from injury, but this could be the last game of the season. I could see him playing 28-30 minutes at a discounted price point. He offers more upside than Mitchell. We currently have Larsson projected for 32 minutes. His absence would certainly open the door for Mitchell and Powell to play 30 minutes. If Larsson is active, he’s a solid lineup filler after topping 30 fantasy points in 4 of the last 6 games.

Andrew Wiggins is cheap, has a clear path to 30 minutes, and has plenty of playoff experience. He’s a solid lineup filler on tonight’s small slate. Jaime Jaquez has a higher ceiling than Wiggins, but he also has a lower floor. I prefer Wiggins in cash and Jaquez in tournaments. Bam Adebayo is the only player on the roster with a positive RGValue. He should push for 38-40 minutes, and he scored over 50 fantasy points in each of the last 3 games. Kel’el Ware can pop for a big game every once in a while, but we only have him projected for 17 minutes. He’s best suited as a large-field tournament target.

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