Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Wednesday, January 28th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2026-01-28 21:53:34 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 Wednesday!

The core plays from last night’s slate (Ryan Rollins, Joel Embiid, Kyshawn George) all crushed, so I hope many of you had a good night of DFS.

We have 9 games on the schedule tonight, and they are all included on the main slates for FanDuel and DraftKings. As is the case most Wednesdays, I will be on Crunch Time tonight at 6:15 PM ET, breaking down the slate and answering any questions that you have. It’s the best place to get our reactions to all of the last-minute injury news.

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Wednesday, January 28th

Slate Overview

• 9-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – Los Angeles Lakers at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 7:00 pm ET – Chicago Bulls at Indiana Pacers
  - 7:30 pm ET – Atlanta Hawks at Boston Celtics
  - 7:30 pm ET – Orlando Magic at Miami Heat
  - 7:30 pm ET – New York Knicks at Toronto Raptors
  - 8:00 pm ET – Charlotte Hornets at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 8:30 pm ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at Dallas Mavericks
  - 9:00 pm ET – Golden State Warriors at Utah Jazz
  - 9:30 pm ET – San Antonio Spurs at Houston Rockets
• 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

Los Angeles Lakers (at CLE)

We kick off tonight’s 9-game slate with the Lakers. They have a decent matchup against the Cavaliers, who are 8th in pace and 20th in points allowed per game. The Lakers are a small underdog and have a team total close to their season average. Austin Reaves is still out.

Luka Doncic is always viable on slates with a lot of cheap value, and we should have no shortage of that with 9 games on the schedule. I wouldn’t label him a priority, but he has topped 70 fantasy points in 3 of his last 9 games. LeBron James returns to Cleveland to face the team that drafted him and that he won an NBA Championship with. He’s also from Akron, so he has some added motivation to play well tonight. If you believe in narratives, there are few better than this one. Jake LaRavia and Rui Hachimura are cheap and should see around 30 minutes, but they would have more appeal on a small slate.

Cleveland Cavaliers (vs. LAL)

The Cavaliers have an exploitable matchup against the Lakers, who are 27th in 3-point percentage allowed and 24th in defensive rating. Cleveland’s team total is 1 point higher than their season average. Evan Mobley and Darius Garland have both been ruled out.

Let’s see who has benefited the most with those two off of the floor this season:

Donovan Mitchell has seen a 5% usage boost and a healthy FP/minute boost with Garland and Mobley off of the floor this season. He should be the focal point of Cleveland’s offense and is viable in all formats. For tournaments, I love the LeBron and Mitchell mini stack from this game. Jarrett Allen also sees large usage and FP/minute boosts with those two off of the floor. The minutes are always a tad frustrating, but he’s a high-floor option against the Lakers. I also have interest in Jaylon Tyson, who has flashed upside of 50+ fantasy points this season. He should fly under the radar on tonight’s big slate.

Chicago Bulls (at IND)

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