Welcome to our NBA DFS Playbook for Wednesday, November 5th, 2025! Tonight's main slate locks at 7:00 PM ET with an action-packed eight-game schedule on DraftKings, featuring intriguing matchups like the Nets at Pacers, 76ers at Cavaliers, and Heat at Nuggets, while FanDuel expands to all 11 games including late-night tilts in Sacramento, Portland, and Los Angeles. 

value plays abound and lineup construction will hinge on monitoring questionable tags for players like Anthony Edwards (hamstring) and Karl-Anthony Towns (illness). We'll break down top picks, projections, optimal lineups, and the latest updates to help you navigate this slate and cash in big on DraftKings and FanDuel.
 

 

 

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

NBA DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, November 5th

Be sure to like and subscribe to the Fantasy Alarm YouTube channel!

 

 

Pre/Post-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.

All status updates after contest roster lock will be made in the Fantasy Alarm Discord: https://discord.gg/2yATJxXe8G

 

UPDATE - 4:20pm ET

  • Domantas Sabonis & Zach LaVine are OUT
  • Brandin Porziemski & Draymond Green are Questionable
  • Austin Reaves is OUT
  • Jaxso Hayes is IN
  • Anthony Edwards is “Trending Towards Playing”

UPDATE - 6:30pm ET

  • Sam Merrill, Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland are ACTIVE / De'Andre Hunter is OUT
  • Jordan Poole is OUT
  • Anthony Edwards IS ACTIVE
  • RayJ Dennis IS ACTIVE
  • Jimmy Butler is OUT
  • Alex Caruso, Lu Dort and Chet Holmgren ARE OUT
  • Jabari Smith Jr. IS ACTIVE  / Steven Adams is OUT

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 11/5 

(As of 11am ET, see latest updates above)

Injuries 11/5

BKN:
Drake Powell - Out
Haywood Highsmith - Out

IND:
RayJ Dennis - Probable
Johnny Furphy - Out
Quenton Jackson - Out
Andrew Nembhard - Out
Bennedict Mathurin - Out
Tyrese Haliburton - Out
TJ McConnell - Out
Obi Toppin - Out
Kam Jones - Out

PHI:
Joel Embiid - Out
Jared McCain - Out

CLE:
Darius Garland - Questionable
DeAndre Hunter - Questionable
Jarrett Allen - Questionable
Sam Merrill - Questionable
Max Strus - Out

UTA:
Walker Kessler - Out
Georges Niang - Out

DET:
Tobias Harris - Out
Marcus Sasser - Out
Jaden Ivey - Out

MIN:
Anthony Edwards - Questionable

NYK:
Karl-Anthony Towns - Questionable

WAS:
Khris Middleton - Out

BOS:
Jayson Tatum - Out

HOU:
Jabari Smith. - Questionable
Steven Adams - Questionable
Fred VanVleet - Out
Dorian Finney-Smith - Out

MEM:
Ty Jerome - Out
Scotty Pippen Jr. - Out
Brandon Clarke - Out
Zach Edey - Out

NOP:
Yves Missi - Out
Zion Williamson- Out
Jordan Poole - Questionable

DAL:
Anthony Davis - Out
Dereck Lively - Out
Kyrie Irving - Out
Dante Exum - Out

MIA:
Kasparas Jakucionis - Questionable
Tyler Herro - Out

DEN:
Jamal Murray - Probable

GSW:
Jimmy Butler - Questionable
Stephen Curry - Out

SAC:
Domantas Sabonis - Questionable
Zach LaVine - Questionable
Keegan Murray - Out

OKC:
Yet to submit

POR:
Shaedon Sharpe - Probable
Damian Lillard - Out
Scoot Henderson - Out
Matisse Thybulle - Out
Blake Wesley - Out

SAS:
Jeremy Sochan - Questionable
Kelly Olynyk - Questionable
Lindy Waters - Questionable
De'Aaron Fox - Out
Dylan Harper - Out
Luke Kornet - Out

LAL:
Austin Reaves - Questionable
Jaxson Hayes - Probable
LeBron James - Out
Gabe Vincent - Out
Maxi Kleber - Out

h/t Underdog

 

 

NBA DFS Slate & Game Overviews

In the section below, I’m listing the most notable things we need to look at in Las Vegas, including notable O/U and spreads. Not every game is listed, but every game listed has the pace and defensive numbers listed.

 

 

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

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Stacks

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