Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Tuesday, March 17th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2026-03-17 18:25:00 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 Monday and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Hopefully, you watched Crunch Time last night and got yourself some exposure to De’Anthony Melton. He ended up being a difference-maker in my main lineup. Shoutout to Beer for helping me dissect the Warriors’ situation against the Wizards.

We have a lot to look forward to this week. It’s St. Patrick’s Day today, March Madness starts on Thursday, and the Valspar Championship starts on Thursday. We also have the World Baseball Classic, which is always a great watch. And next week, we have the start of the MLB regular season. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for baseball to start.

We have 8 games in the association, but only the first 6 games are included on the main slates for DraftKings and FanDuel.

Let’s dive into the slate.

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Tuesday, March 17th

Slate Overview

• 6-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Orlando Magic
  - 7:00 pm ET – Miami Heat at Charlotte Hornets
  - 7:00 pm ET – Detroit Pistons at Washington Wizards
  - 7:30 pm ET – Indiana Pacers at New York Knicks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Milwaukee Bucks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Phoenix Suns at Minnesota Timberwolves
  - 10:00 pm ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Denver Nuggets (not on main slate)
  - 10:00 pm ET – San Antonio Spurs at Sacramento Kings (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

Oklahoma City Thunder (at ORL)

We kick off tonight’s slate with the Thunder, who travel to Orlando to face a Magic squad that ranks 17th in pace and 11th in points allowed per game. Oklahoma City’s team total sits at 116 points, which is 2.5 points lower than their season average. The Magic playing on the second half of a back-to-back improves the matchup, but this is as healthy as the Thunder have been in the last few weeks. Jalen Williams and Branden Carlson are out, but everyone else should be available.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still offers a high ceiling, but he’s been held under 50 fantasy points in 4 of the last 6 games. I have a little interest in large-field tournaments, but he’s far from my favorite spend on tonight’s slate. On a per-dollar basis, I actually prefer Ajay Mitchell, who has topped 25 fantasy points in 6 of his last 8 games. Oklahoma City’s frontcourt isn’t very appealing, as they are healthy and have a tough matchup on paper. Ultimately, this isn’t a spot where we need to force Thunder players into our lineups.

Orlando Magic (vs. OKC)

The Magic host the Thunder in one of the least appealing game environments on the slate. Oklahoma City ranks 15th in pace and 2nd in points allowed per game, which is why Orlando’s team total is 10 points lower than their season average. This is a back-to-back situation for the Magic, so we are still waiting on their injury report. However, they’ll at least be without Franz Wagner, Jonathan Isaac, and Anthony Black.

I was expecting more from the Magic last night against the Hawks. I suppose the one positive of the blowout is that the starters didn’t have to log their usual minutes. I won’t be prioritizing Orlando on tonight’s slate, but there are a few intriguing large-field tournament targets. The Thunder struggle to defend the 3-point, which makes Jalen Suggs an interesting target. He has taken at least 8 3-pointers in 3 of the last 5 games. Desmond Bane has seen the biggest usage and FP/min boosts of anyone on the Magic when Black and Wagner are off the floor. Paolo Banchero has been quiet recently, but he’ll have quarters where he puts up a ton of fantasy points. He just needs to string a few of those together.

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