On Sunday, November 17th, while everyone else is focusing on the football slate, we're locking into the NBA DFS main slates on DraftKings and FanDuel. The two sites' main slates are slightly different as the FanDuel main slate included Miami/Indiana at 5 pm ET while DraftKings starts at 6 pm ET. So one game extra on FanDuel.

There is slate-shifting news we're awaiting as the likes of Nikola Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns are both questionable and both guys missed their team's respective games last time out. We'll see if they suit up, but if they don't, we still have Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Trae Young, and Cade Cunningham lacing them up.

 

 

Before actually diving into the meat and potatoes, welcome to the NBA DFS season. If this is your first time reading our column on NBA DFS picks, I just want to welcome you and give you a few tips and tricks on what you should be looking for each night.

  • News outlets: reliable sources that give us injury news & starting lineups
  • Pace of play: who's playing fast vs. who's playing slow. Which teams get a pace-up spot (more possessions) vs. pace-down (fewer possessions)
  • Usage rates: is a percentage of how many plays that player is being used in
  • NBA DFS Projections
  • Lineup Generator
  • NBA Ownership
     
 

 

Pre-Lock Update

This section will be used for anything that changes from the morning until right up to roster lock. Injury updates, players we’re higher on than we were in the morning and so much more.

2:00 pm ET

5:45 pm ET

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 11/17

NBA DFS Slate & Game Overviews


In the section below, I list the most notable things we need to look at in Las Vegas, including notable O/U and spreads. 

I'll also note any pace advantages or disadvantages around the league and point out top-rated or bottom-ranking defenses.

Houston Rockets vs. Chicago Bulls

  • Total: 234
  • Spread: HOU -4.5
  • Bulls are 1st in pace, Rockets are 18th in pace
  • Bulls are 23rd in DRtg

 Atlanta Hawks vs. Portland Trail Blazers

  • Total: 231
  • Spread: ATL -3.5
  • Hawks are 3rd in pace, Trail Blazers are 9th in pace
  • Hawks are 25th in DRtg, Trail Blazers are 20th in DRtg

 Detroit Pistons vs. Washington Wizards

  • Total: 229.5
  • Spread: DET -5.5
  • Wizards are 2nd in pace, Pistons are 24th in pace
  • Wizards are 30th in DRtg

 Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

  • Total: 229.5
  • Spread: OKC -5
  • Thunder are 6th in pace, Mavericks are 11th in pace

Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers

  • Total: 229
  • Spread: IND -2.5
  • Pacers are 12th in pace, Heat are 25th in pace
  • Pacers are 22nd in DRtg

Denver Nuggets vs. Memphis Grizzlies

  • Total: 227.5
  • Spread: MEM -2
  • Nuggets are 8th in pace, Grizzlies are 4th in pace
 


NBA DFS Core Player Pool & Lineup Picks

Here are the core players I’m looking at for my NBA DFS picks tonight. You can see the full analysis of tonight’s NBA DFS projections and player pool below or skip ahead to building the best lineups possible by locking these into the aforementioned lineup generator now.

High

Mid

Value

Stacks

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