NBA DFS Picks, Projections, Lineups, Injuries & More Today: Saturday Playbook
Published: Apr 05, 2025
Happy Saturday, April 5th! We have a 4-game NBA DFS main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel.
Three teams are on the second leg of a back-to-back, as the Pistons travel back home from Toronto and the Mavericks and Clippers square off for the second consecutive night. That game is three and a half hours after lock, so we may be waiting on some injury news there.Â
Let's discuss some of the top plays and best pivots for the final Saturday of the regular season.Â
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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, April 5th
Be sure to like and subscribe to the Fantasy Alarm YouTube channel!
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Pre/Post-Lock Update
This section will be used for anything that changes from the morning until right up to roster lock.Â
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:Â https://discord.gg/2yATJxXe8G
UPDATE 5:45 PM ET
- Tobias Harris - OUT
- Jalen Duren - Questionable (downgrade)Â
UPDATE 6:30 PM ET
- Tyler Herro - OUT
- Bam Adebayo joins Davion Mitchell as a Core play
- Jeff Dowtin and Alex Reese will be INACTIVE
- Jalen Duren - OUT
- Isaiah Stewart is the top value play on the slate
UPDATE 6:45 PM ET
- Ja Morant downgraded to QUESTIONABLE with the dreaded midday illnessÂ
UPDATE 6:55 PM ET
- Ja Morant - OUT
NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 4/5
- Vince Williams - OUT
- Tobias Harris - OUT
- Terrence Shannon - OUT
- Kyle Lowry - OUT
- Damian Lillard - OUT
- Tyler Herro - OUT
- Andrew Wiggins - OUT
- Haywood Highsmith - Available
- Daniel Gafford - Q
- Jaden Hardy - D
- Kawhi Leonard - Q
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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.
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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
- Ja Morant, Bam Adebayo, Ivica Zubac, Jaren Jackson, Rudy Gobert, Spencer Dinwiddie, Ausar Thompson, Santi Aldama, Adem Bona
Value
Stacks
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