Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Wednesday, November 5th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2025-11-06 02:13:28 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!

Last night’s slate was a fun one. There weren’t a ton of games on the schedule, but there were plenty of choices at each position. It was a slate where you had to eat some of the chalk and pivot away from some of the other chalk. I could have used a little more from Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Nikola Vucevic, but I was able to sneak away with a min-cash in my main tournament lineup.

We have 11 games on the schedule tonight. All 11 are included on the FanDuel main slate, while only the first 8 are included on the DraftKings main slate. Looking ahead to tomorrow, there is only 1 game on the schedule. We won’t have a Core Plays article for the Showdown slate, but I’ll be back on Friday to break down that massive slate. As is the case every Wednesday, I’ll be on Crunch Time tonight at 6:15 PM ET if you want some last-minute advice on this slate.

Let’s dive into the games.

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Wednesday, November 5th

Slate Overview

• Main slates: FanDuel – 11 games, DraftKings – 8 games
  - 7:00 pm ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Cleveland Cavaliers
  - 7:00 pm ET – Brooklyn Nets at Indiana Pacers
  - 7:00 pm ET – Utah Jazz at Detroit Pistons
  - 7:30 pm ET – Washington Wizards at Boston Celtics
  - 7:30 pm ET – Minnesota Timberwolves at New York Knicks
  - 8:00 pm ET – Houston Rockets at Memphis Grizzlies
  - 8:30 pm ET – New Orleans Pelicans at Dallas Mavericks
  - 9:00 pm ET – Miami Heat at Denver Nuggets
  - 10:00 pm ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Portland Trail Blazers
  - 10:00 pm ET – Golden State Warriors at Sacramento Kings
  - 10:00 pm ET – San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Lakers
• 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

Philadelphia 76ers (at CLE)

We start tonight’s slate breakdown with the Sixers, who are playing on the second half of a back-to-back. They have a difficult matchup on the road against the Cavaliers, who are 7th in points allowed per game and 6th in defensive rating. The Sixers have a team total that is 14 points lower than their season average. They haven’t submitted their initial injury report yet, but they will likely be without Joel Embiid and Paul George.

Tyrese Maxey is really the only player of note from the Sixers tonight. He has averaged 59 fantasy points per game with a usage rate of 28% this season. He should continue to dominate the usage tonight. They will need a big game from him to keep this game from getting out of hand. He’s worth a look in large-field tournaments.

Cleveland Cavaliers (vs. PHI)

The Cavaliers draw a mediocre matchup against the Sixers, although their outlook is improved with Embiid likely out in the second half of the back-to-back. Cleveland has a team total of 123 points, which is 8 points higher than their season average. Max Strus is out, while Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and Sam Merrill are all questionable.

If Garland can make his season debut and Allen can suit up, the Cavaliers will be an easy team to fade on this large slate. They have a high team total, but this game has blowout potential, and there are a lot of mouths to feed in this offense. If Garland is out, Donovan Mitchell is worth a look in large-field tournaments. If Allen is out, Evan Mobley is worth a look in tournaments. For the most part, I don’t expect to have much exposure to this game.

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