Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Wednesday, December 31st

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-12-31 23:00:24 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 and Happy New Year’s Eve!

We have a full day of NBA games, but for the purposes of this article, we are focusing on the 5-game main slate that starts at 7:00 PM ET. If you are playing the Showdown slate or the early slate, we have you covered in our NBA DFS optimizer, LineupHQ. I’m biased, but I think we have the best NBA projections in the industry.

This is my annual be safe on New Year’s Eve message. Whether you are going out, going to hang out with family and friends, or staying home, make sure to stay safe tonight. If you are drinking, make a plan beforehand. You can easily calculate your BAC by using one of the many calculator apps. If you are even close to the legal limit, don’t risk it. Call an Uber or someone you know to pick you up. If you have to drive anywhere, make sure to be hyper-aware of everyone on the road.

With that out of the way, let’s start the new year off with a DFS win, shall we?

Editor’s Note: Looking for more places to play? Check out our Underdog promo code and PrizePicks promo code, two of the best DFS apps available today.

NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Wednesday, December 31st

Slate Overview

• 5-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – New Orleans Pelicans at Chicago Bulls
  - 7:00 pm ET – New York Knicks at San Antonio Spurs
  - 7:30 pm ET – Denver Nuggets at Toronto Raptors
  - 8:00 pm ET – Portland Trail Blazers at Oklahoma City Thunder
  - 8:00 pm ET – Washington Wizards at Milwaukee Bucks
• 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

New Orleans Pelicans (at CHI)

We kick off the main slate with one of the best games on the slate. The Pelicans square off against the Bulls, who are 2nd in pace and 27th in points allowed per game. There are few better matchups for fantasy production. The Pelicans are 1-point favorites and have a team total that is 8 points higher than their season average. Dejounte Murray, Herb Jones, and Jose Alvarado are all out.

Jeremiah Fears has struggled with consistency, so the best time to target him in DFS is at low ownership. That should be the case tonight, even though this is an elite matchup and Alvarado is out. He’s worth a look in tournaments. I’m not a Jordan Poole truther by any means, but he has had 2 ceiling games recently. Trey Murphy has topped 30 fantasy points in 7 of his last 8 games, but his ceiling seems to be capped with Zion Williamson back in the lineup.

As for Zion, he has played 28 and 29 minutes in the last 2 games and put up 48 fantasy points the other night against the Knicks. He projects as one of the top RGValues on the slate. Saddiq Bey is having a career year with New Orleans and put up 48 fantasy points in his last outing. He’s a strong tournament option in this matchup. The playing time for Derik Queen is inconsistent, but he has 45+ fantasy point upside when he gets 30+ minutes.

Chicago Bulls (vs. NOP)

The Bulls have a tremendous matchup at home against the Pelicans, who are 24th or worse in rebounding rate, points allowed per game, and defensive rating. With both teams being in the top 10 in pace, this could easily be the highest-scoring game on the slate. Chicago’s team total is 4 points higher than their season average. Josh Giddey, Coby White, and Zach Collins are all out.

Let’s see who benefits the most with Giddey and White off the floor:

Isn’t it great when things turn out the way you expect them to? With the top two guards off the floor for Chicago, the other guards see the biggest boosts. Ayo Dosunmu has seen a 4% usage boost and a 0.24 FP/min. boost. Kevin Huerter has seen a 3% usage boost and a 0.21 FP/min. boost. We can also expect a sizable uptick in minutes for Tre Jones, and we can give usage boosts to Nikola Vucevic and Matas Buzelis. We also have Jalen Smith (1.20 DK / 1.18 FD) projected for 27 minutes. All six of these players are strong options. I’ll likely have at least 4 players from the Bulls in my main tournament lineup.

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