DFS Alerts

Trae Young (foot) ruled out Thursday

Trae Young will once again be out for the Hawks and will miss Game 5 Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Hawks were able to pull out the Game 4 victory on Tuesday without Young and will likely stick to a similar rotation tonight. Lou Williams entered the starting lineup for Young and played well (21 point, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds) while both Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kevin Huerter played larger on ball roles as well. Cam Reddish rejoined the rotation and played well in the 23 minutes that he saw and will likely play a similar amount tonight. With Young ruled out Bogdanovic (listed probable), Williams, and Collins should lead the Hawks as they look to take a 3-2 series lead tonight.

Clint Capela (eye) will play Thursday

Clint Capela will play Thursday in Game 5 of the Hawks series with the Milwaukee Bucks after being listed as questionable on last night’s injury report after being poked in the eye late last game. There has been no word if he will be limited tonight but if he is it is possible that Onyeka Okongwu could see some extended run. Trae Young is listed as questionable (after missing last game) and Bogdan Bogdanovic is probable so we are still waiting to see how healthy the Hawks will be but they will at least have their big man tonight. The Hawks offense should run through Young (if available), Bogdanovic, and Capela as the Hawks look to take a 3-2 lead in the series.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) listed out Thursday

As expected after being listed as doubtful on last night’s injury report Giannis will not be available to play Thursday in Game 5 against the Hawks due to a left knee injury. Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton will become the main offensive options for the Bucks without Giannis and it is likely Pat Connaughton will enter the starting lineup. All Milwaukee starters should play an increased role along with Bobby Portis and Bryn Forbes seeing increased minutes off the bench. When looking at CourtIQ with Giannis off the court the biggest FPM boost benefactors are Holiday (.19), Middleton (.17), Forbes (.09), and Lopez (.04). It is also worth noting that Holiday and Middleton see sizeable usage rate increases as well with Giannis off (5.9%, 6.9% respectively). The Bucks will rely on Holiday and Middleton to step up if they want to take a 3-2 series lead tonight.

Lineup Update: Suns will start Paul, Booker, Bridges, Crowder, Ayton on Wednesday

With Ivica Zubac still out the Clippers will run with the same starting 5 that they did on Monday night when they were able to pick up the win. We should expect Coach Lue to run similar a similar rotation as the Clippers look to force a Game 7 on Friday.

Cam Johnson (illness) ruled out Wednesday

Cam Johnson has been ruled out Wednesday due to illness after not being listed on the injury report at any point prior to this. Johnson has been averaging 24 minutes this series off the bench and was expected to continue in this role again tonight. Mikail Bridges and Jae Crowder might both be forced to play significant minutes while Torrey Craig and Abdel Nader will most likely try to combine to fill Johnson’s role off the bench. These players should all see a slight bump in expected value from the extended run they are likely to see and should be considered better plays. The Phoenix offense should continue to be run through Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and Deandre Ayton as the Suns look to close out the Clippers tonight and punch their ticket to the Finals.

Ivica Zubac (knee) ruled out Wednesday

Ivica Zubac will not be available Wednesday for Game 6 against the Phoenix Suns. Zubac was also ruled out for last game which the Clippers ended up winning so it is likely that Coach Ty Lue sticks with a similar rotation tonight. Lue elected to start with a smaller lineup shifting Marcus Morris to the 5 and inserting Terance Mann. Morris saw a staggering 39 minutes and played tremendous while Mann played 26 minutes. It is also worth noting that Batum saw 30 minutes off the bench and Demarcus Cousins made the most of his 11 minutes and was a great value play though his price has since risen. Morris, Mann, Batum and Cousins will likely see similar minutes tonight as the Clippers look to avoid elimination once again and force a Game 7 on Friday. The Clippers will be led by Paul George and Reggie Jackson and will likely need at least one more member to step up (possibly Morris again) if they hope to extend their season.

Lineup update: Bucks will start Holiday, Middleton, Giannis, Tucker, and Lopez Tuesday

Lineup update: Hawks will start Williams, Huerter, Bogdanovic, Collins, and Capela Tuesday

Lou Will does indeed get the start for the injured Trae Young. Williams will likely be the primary ballhandler for the team; he should come close to leading the team in both usage and assist rate, and will be a phenomenal play for the team. Solomon Hill was the other option for the team to start, but he’ll likely play the same role off the bench. Lou is likely the chalkiest play on the slate and rightfully so.

Trae Young (foot) ruled out Tuesday; Bogdan Bogdanovic (knee) available to play

Young was downgraded from questionable to out, and will miss game 4 against the Milwaukee Bucks, while Bogdanovic was upgraded from probable and will play. This is obviously a huge blow to the Hawks, who have been the cinderella of the playoffs and have been driven by Trae. The biggest winner should be Lou Williams, who will likely get the start and will have to play heavy minutes as the primary ball handler. We’ve projected him for 27 minutes due to the volatility and McMillan’s hesitancy to play him big minutes in the past. Solomon Hill and Cam Reddish should also see more minutes, with a chance of Tony Snell or Kris Dunn cracking the rotation as well. From a usage perspective, Cam Reddish sees the biggest bump, but his sample size is quite limited. John Collins and Danilo Gallinari both see usage bumps of 3.6% and 3.8% respectively, with Trae Young off the floor per CourtIQ. Bogdanovic and Huerter will have to be on the floor even more, but if Lou Williams does indeed get the start, he’ll certainly be the biggest winner.

Trae Young (foot) a game-time decision Tuesday

After suffering a bone bruise to his foot, Trae will be a game-time decision against the Bucks, according to Coach McMillan. Trae did go through shootaround earlier in the day, but there was no change in designation at that time. The engine of the Hawks offense, Young’s absence would obviously open up massive value across the team. Lou Williams would likely get the start, as the Hawks are already shorthanded with Bogdanovic nursing his knee soreness. Lou would have to play heavy minutes as a guard, while Cam Reddish and Solomon Hill would have to get more run as well. From a usage perspective, Cam Reddish sees the biggest bump, while Lou and Danilo Gallinari also see bumps.

Lineup Update: Suns will start Paul, Booker, Bridges, Crowder, Ayton on Monday

After Mann was announced as the starter for Zubac this was the expected starting lineup for the Clippers. They will be running a small ball lineup with Morris and Batum seeing most of the small ball five minutes and Cousins available off the bench to play more of a traditional center role though he has only played 17 minutes so far this series and less than 1 minute the last two games combined.

Lineup Note: Terance Mann will start for injured Ivica Zubac on Monday

This all but confirms the speculation that the Clippers will elect to go with a small lineup to start Game 5 tonight against the Phoenix Suns. Mann should be in line to see heavy minutes as he has seen in the past two games where he has averaged 32.5 minutes as the Clippers look to use spacing and perimeter shots to force a game 6. Mann, Marcus Morris, and Nicolas Batum all stand to benefit from Zubac being ruled out and should all be considered better plays while Cousins will rejoin the rotation seeing some run off the bench and should be considered a good value option.

Ivica Zubac (knee) ruled out Monday

Ivica Zubac has been ruled out Monday after being listed as questionable then reported to be playing earlier in the day. Without Zubac, the Clippers lack a traditional center that has seen consistent minutes this series or much of the playoffs for that matter. Ty Lue will likely be forced to go with a smaller lineup starting either Marcus Morris or Nicolas Batum as the small ball five who should both see more playing time tonight. Coach Lue when asked about Demarcus Cousins said that we will definitely see him tonight, which makes him a good value option though it is difficult to project how many minutes he will actually see. It will most likely be game flow dependent as Lue likes to run with whoever has the hot hand. The Clippers offense should be run through Paul George and Reggie Jackson as Los Angeles looks to stave off elimination tonight and force a Game 6 Wednesday.