Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Wednesday, November 19th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-11-19 23:16:44 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 halfway to the weekend and only 8 days from Thanksgiving. As is the case every Wednesday, I will be on Crunch Time tonight, which starts at 6:15 PM ET. I’ll be on with Kevin Roth and Kyle Murray. It’s the best place to get our final thoughts on the slate and to ask any questions that you have for DFS.

We have 9 games on the schedule tonight. FanDuel has all 9 included on their main slate, while DraftKings only has the first 7 included.

Let’s dive into the games!

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Wednesday, November 19th

Slate Overview

• Slate size: FanDuel — 9 games, DraftKings — 7 games
  - 7:00 PM ET – Charlotte Hornets at Indiana Pacers
  - 7:00 PM ET – Toronto Raptors at Philadelphia 76ers
  - 7:00 PM ET – Houston Rockets at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 7:30 PM ET – Golden State Warriors at Miami Heat
  - 8:00 PM ET – Sacramento Kings at Oklahoma City Thunder
  - 8:00 PM ET – Washington Wizards at Minnesota Timberwolves
  - 8:00 PM ET – Denver Nuggets at New Orleans Pelicans
  - 9:30 PM ET – New York Knicks at Dallas Mavericks
  - 10:00 PM ET – Chicago Bulls at Portland Trail Blazers
• 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

Charlotte Hornets (at IND)

We kick off Wednesday’s slate with the Hornets, who draw one of the best matchups on the board. The Pacers are 10th in pace and bottom 5 in both defensive rating and points allowed per game. The Hornets have a team total that is 3 points higher than their season average. Brandon Miller, Josh Green, Grant Williams, and Tidjane Salaun are all out, while Tre Mann is listed as doubtful.

LaMelo Ball is never a player that I use in cash games. He has a much lower floor than other superstars (he’s been held under 40 fantasy points in 8 of his last 13 games). With that said, he’s firmly in play for tournaments in a pace-up matchup against the Pacers. Sion James is starting, but he’s been held under 15 fantasy points in 5 of his last 6 games. With Ball back in the lineup, Miles Bridges and Collin Sexton feel overpriced. The two players who project the best on a per-dollar basis on DraftKings are Ryan Kalkbrenner ($4,500) and Moussa Diabate ($4,400). They should both see minutes in the mid-20s in a nice matchup.

Indiana Pacers (vs. CHA)

The Pacers have an exploitable matchup at home against the Hornets, who are 30th in 3-point percentage allowed, 21st in points allowed per game, and 23rd in defensive rating. The Pacers are small underdogs and have a team total that is 9 points higher than their season average. Tyrese Haliburton, Quenton Jackson, Aaron Nesmith, and Obi Toppin have all been ruled out.

Bennedict Mathurin played 25 minutes and scored 33 fantasy points in his first game back from injury. The per-minute production (1.24 DK / 1.15 FD) has been solid, so he could be a solid option if he plays 30+ minutes. Andrew Nembhard has had elite usage while Mathurin has been out, but it was 24% in the first game with Mathurin back in the lineup. I don’t mind Nembhard in large-field tournaments, but he does feel a tad overpriced for his projected role.

The rest of the Pacers project poorly. It’s been hard to trust any of their centers, even with Toppin out. Jarace Walker could see a few extra minutes with Nesmith out, but he projects as a bad value. The only other player of note here is Pascal Siakam, who has averaged 44 fantasy points per game with a usage rate of 29%. His price is back to playable levels on both sites.

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