Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Wednesday, December 3rd

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-12-03 20:58:04 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 Wednesday!

We are officially at the halfway point of the workweek, which is always a good feeling. I had a good NBA slate last night, as the double-Wizards center strategy worked to perfection. I also faded CJ McCollum and went with a low-owned Anthony Edwards in my main lineup. The only snowflake in my lineup came from Paul George. My thought process was that he would see around 25 minutes if the game turned into a blowout and around 28 minutes if the game was competitive. Unfortunately, the Sixers were up by so much that he only got the first of his usual three rotations in the second half.

Rather than doing the Elf on the Shelf, we decided to do homemade Advent calendars. Every day this month, the boys will either get some candy, a small present, or an experience ($10 at the grocery store claw machine, a trip to the bounce house place, etc.). And every day comes with a note. It’s only been three days, but it’s been so fun watching them get so excited every morning. And… they even love the notes. This is where my 10+ years of writing the Core Plays and the Grind Down came in handy. They are mostly funny notes, but I mixed in a few sweet ones as well.

As for tonight, we have 9 games on the schedule. It’s a Christmas miracle, as both sites have decided to put all 9 games on their main slates.

NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Wednesday, December 3rd

Slate Overview

• 9-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – Denver Nuggets at Indiana Pacers
  - 7:00 pm ET – San Antonio Spurs at Orlando Magic
  - 7:00 pm ET – Portland Trail Blazers at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 7:30 pm ET – Los Angeles Clippers at Atlanta Hawks
  - 7:30 pm ET – Charlotte Hornets at New York Knicks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Brooklyn Nets at Chicago Bulls
  - 8:00 pm ET – Sacramento Kings at Houston Rockets
  - 8:00 pm ET – Detroit Pistons at Milwaukee Bucks
  - 8:30 pm ET – Miami Heat at Dallas Mavericks
• 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

Denver Nuggets (at IND)

We kick off tonight’s large slate with the Nuggets, who have one of the highest team totals on the board. They draw a favorable matchup against the Pacers, who are 11th in pace and 23rd in points allowed per game. Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon have been ruled out, while Jamal Murray is listed as questionable.

Murray has averaged 42 fantasy points per game this season with a usage rate of 26%, so his absence would open up a lot of production in this offense. I’m not sure we’d see one player in particular come in and take on those minutes. It will likely be several players who would see an uptick in minutes and usage. As it stands with Murray in the projections, Nikola Jokic is the only player on the roster with a positive RGValue. He has an excellent matchup and has topped 80 fantasy points in 3 of his last 10 games. Peyton Watson and Cam Johnson are both viable lineup fillers in tournaments.

Indiana Pacers (vs. DEN)

The Pacers have been one of the worst teams in basketball this season. They host the Nuggets, who have been a mediocre matchup for fantasy production. The Pacers are 7.5-point underdogs but have a team total that is 4 points higher than their season average. Tyrese Haliburton, Aaron Nesmith, and Obi Toppin are all out.

This is not a team that I want to target in cash games and small-field tournaments. There’s not a single player on the roster with a positive RGValue in LineupHQ. However, there are a few interesting large-field tournament targets. The first is T.J. McConnell, who only played 5 minutes in the last game. He’s not on the injury report, so he should see his usual allotment of minutes. He has topped 28 fantasy points in 4 of his last 5 games. Bennedict Mathurin should lead the team in usage. And finally, Pascal Siakam sees a matchup boost with Aaron Gordon out and has topped 45 fantasy points in 4 of his last 6 games.

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