Welcome to the DFS Playbook for Thursday, December 4th, 2025! We've got a fun, manageable five-game slate tonight that packs plenty of DFS upside, with a nice blend of star-studded matchups, fast-paced environments, and injury-created value openings on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The headliner pits Stephen Curry and the Warriors against Tyrese Maxey and the shorthanded 76ers in Philadelphia, while LeBron James and Austin Reaves bring the Lakers to Toronto for a potential shootout against Scottie Barnes and the Raptors. The Celtics-Wizards tilt offers blowout risk but massive usage for Boston's core, and the remaining games round out a slate loaded with high totals and exploitable defenses. Injuries remain the big wildcard, but the opportunities for big scores are sky-high. Let's lock in those winning lineups!

 

 

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, December 4th

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Pre/Post-Lock Update Section

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

Updated - 4:00pm ET

Updated - 3:00pm ET

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 12/4

Injuries 12/4  - 11:00 AM ET

BOS:
Jaylen Brown - Doubtful
Jayson Tatum - Out

WAS:
Bilal Coulibaly - Out
Alex Sarr - Out
Corey Kispert - Out
Tre Johnson - Out

GSW:
Jimmy Butler - Questionable
Al Horford - Questionable
Trayce Jackson-Davis - Questionable
Jonathan Kuminga - Questionable
Quinten Post - Questionable
De'Anthony Melton - Available
Stephen Curry - Out

PHI:
Joel Embiid - Doubtful
Paul George - Questionable
Quentin Grimes - Questionable
Kelly Oubre - Out
Trendon Watford - Out

LAL:
Luka Doncic - Out
Marcus Smart - Out

TOR:
RJ Barrett - Out
Jakob Poeltl - Out
Ochai Agbaji - Out

UTA:
Jusuf Nurkic - Questionable
Kevin Love - Out
Georges Niang - Out
Walker Kessler - Out

BKN:
Yet to submit

MIN:
None

NOP:
Karlo Matkovic - Questionable
Herbert Jones - Out
Zion Williamson - Out
Jordan Poole - Out
Dejounte Murray - Out
Yves Missi - Out

h/t UD

 

 

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.

Note: Players in BOLD designate “core building blocks RED designates Injury Watch

Updated 4:00 pm ET

High

Medium

Value

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Stacks

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