DFS Alerts
Serge Ibaka (illness) listed out Monday; Kyle Lowry (neck) will play
Ibaka has been listed out on the latest Raptors’ injury report and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves due to an illness, while Lowry will play after missing one game with neck whiplash. In his absence, Terence Davis received the starting nod at point guard, and he was phenomenal for fantasy purposes in 30 minutes of action, but with no reports of a potential minute restriction for Lowry, he’ll almost certainly head back to the bench to resume a reserve role. The Raptors also continue to be without the services of Marc Gasol, so Chris Boucher becomes the leading candidate to enter the starting lineup at the center position and has consistently been seeing minutes in mid-to-high teens in recent games. Unsurprisingly, Boucher thrives with Ibaka and Gasol off the court, and he has a 21.0% usage rate, 18.8% rebound rate, and is averaging 1.26 DraftKings and 1.30 FanDuel points per minute in a 361.4 minutes sample size.
As reported by: NBA Official Injury Report Other tagged players: Kyle Lowry
Giannis Antetkounmpo (personal) listed out Monday
Antetokounmpo has been listed on the latest Bucks’ injury report and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings due to personal reasons, while George Hill remains sidelined with a strained left hamstring and is still without a firm timetable for a return. There hasn’t been any confirmation on who will replace Antetokounmpo in the starting lineup, but the four previous times Antetokounmpo has been sidelined this season, Ersan Ilyasova has started at power forward but may have an even lower minute floor than normal if the newly-signed Marvin Williams is available to make his Bucks debut. Other than Ilyasova’s expected increase in playing time, Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton have been the clear beneficiaries with Antetokounmpo off the court this season, as they each own a minimum of a +7.7% increase in usage rate and are averaging at least +0.24 more fantasy points per minute over their normal season-long numbers.
As reported by: NBA Official Injury Report Svi Mykhailiuk (hip) and Derrick Rose (adductor) out Monday; Markieff Morris (illness) available
Despite briefly being upgraded to questionable, Mykhailiuk has been ruled out and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the Charlotte Hornets due to a strained left hip that has now forced him to miss five games, while Rose remains sidelined and Brandon Knight will make his Pistons debut despite dealing with a sore left knee. In Mykhailiuk’s absence, Bruce Brown has started at the shooting guard position and logged at least 33 minutes in each of the previous four contests, so now that Mykhailiuk is unavailable, he and Reggie Jackson should remain in similar roles for at least one additional game even though Knight provides some much-needed depth at the guard positions this evening.
As reported by: Rod Beard via Twitter Other tagged players: Derrick Rose, Markieff Morris High Smash Rate, Low Ownership
Full disclosure: I had a difficult time finding someone I loved as a contrarian play so I defaulted to the player with the highest smash rate that is currently projected to be less than 20% owned. However, Murray does make for an attractive low-owned tournament option as someone who has been seeing heavy high-usage minutes since his return from injury. Murray dropped 36 points in the Nuggets last game and posted a healthy 30.2% usage rate and should be able to sustain his high usage with both Will Barton and Michael Porter Jr. still sidelined.
Gary Harris (adductor) listed probable Monday
Harris has been added to the latest Nuggets’ injury report and is probable for Monday’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs due to right adductor tightness, while Will Barton, Michael Porter Jr., and Mason Plumlee were already ruled out with their respective ailments. There haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction for Harris, so he should be fine to handle his usual minute workload if he’s cleared to play in tonight’s contest, and he was able to log over 36 minutes as a member of the starting unit in Saturday’s win. Newly-acquired Jordan McRae was a DNP-CD in that contest, but it’d be difficult to imagine him not overtaking P.J. Dozier in the rotation and possibly even siphoning some second unit minutes from Monte Morris and Torrey Craig once Barton returns from his current injury absence. McRae will likely be a high-usage player off the bench for Denver since he has a 25.0% usage rate and is averaging 1.06 DraftKings and 1.04 FanDuel points per minute in 655.0 minutes this season.
As reported by: NBA Official Injury Report Hassan Whiteside (leg) will play Sunday; Anfernee Simons (concussion) officially out
As expected, Whiteside has officially been upgraded from probable and will play in Sunday’s matchup against the Miami Heat after missing one game due to a left leg contusion, while Simons has been ruled out with a concussion he sustained at the end of the first quarter in Friday’s loss. Trevor Ariza was also ejected following a second technical foul, so Gary Trent Jr. was forced into heavy minutes and ended up totaling 38 minutes off the bench in that contest. As for Whiteside, there haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction, so he should be fine to handle his usual minute workload, which will demote Caleb Swanigan back to a reserve role with the second unit.
As reported by: Sean Highkin via Twitter Other tagged players: Anfernee Simons Damyean Dotson (illness) listed available Sunday
As expected, Dotson has officially been upgraded from probable and will be available for Sunday’s matchup against the Atlanta Hawks despite dealing with an illness, while Maurice Harkless and Allonzo Trier were already ruled out, and the latter has missed several games with an illness as well. Harkless was active and available to play in Saturday’s win, but interim head coach Mike Miller opted to hold him out of the game given his lack of knowledge of the playbook and lack of practice time with the team. The Knicks’ plans for Harkless in the rotation is still a bit unclear since he was essentially just a throw in to make salaries match in Marcus Morris trade to the Clippers earlier in the week, but it’d be completely unsurprising if he started and played big minutes and it’d be just as unsurprising if he was a non-factor and a candidate for a DNP-CD on a nightly basis.
As reported by: NBA Official Injury Report Zach LaVine (neck) and Daniel Gafford (ankle) available to play Sunday
LaVine and Gafford have officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Sunday’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers despite dealing with their respective ailments, while Denzel Valentine was already ruled out with left hamstring soreness that has kept him sidelined for several games. There haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction for LaVine, so he should be fine to handle his usual allotment of minutes barring some kind of in-game setback in tonight’s contest.
As reported by: K.C. Johnson via Twitter Other tagged players: Daniel Gafford Eric Gordon (leg) out Sunday
Gordon has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Sunday’s matchup against the Utah Jazz due to a lower left leg contusion he sustained early in the second quarter of Friday’s loss. Danuel House Jr. ended up subbing into the game for Gordon following his injury, and both he and Robert Covington will remain in the starting lineup for at least one more contest, even though Russell Westbrook is set to return from a one-game absence for rest purposes.
As reported by: Cayleigh Griffin via Twitter Trae Young (ankle) and De'Andre Hunter (ankle) will start Sunday; Bruno Fernando (calf) and Treveon Graham (knee) available to play
Young and Hunter have officially been upgraded from questionable and will start in Sunday’s matchup against the New York Knicks, while Fernando and Graham have also been cleared and will be available to play off the bench despite dealing with their respective ailments. In Young’s absence, Jeff Teague ended up receiving the starting nod at point guard, but he was rather disappointing for fantasy purposes in just under 26 minutes of action and was eventually benched for the entirety of the fourth quarter in favor of Brandon Goodwin, who put together a stellar performance in 28 minutes off the bench. Assuming Young is subject to a minute restriction, he’ll be a tremendous tournament option on tonight’s six-game main slate, as he owns a 34.9% usage rate, a 41.8% assist rate, and is averaging 1.44 DraftKings and 1.35 FanDuel points per minute on the season thus far.
As reported by: Sarah K. Spencer via Twitter Other tagged players: De'Andre Hunter, Bruno Fernando, Treveon Graham Center’s Price Dropping
I love the price tag on Embiid, and I’m viewing him as a strong play with his price dropping on certain sites. There’s going to be some negative recency bias against him when looking at his last game log, but he was on fire before leaving early with an injury. For someone with his ceiling, I’ll take my chance on Embiid in all formats.
Al Horford (Achilles) will play Sunday
Horford has officially been upgraded from questionable and will play in Sunday’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls despite dealing with left Achilles soreness, while Joel Embiid was already cleared early this morning following his original questionable designation with a sore neck that forced him to miss the second half of Friday’s win. There haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction for Horford, so he should be fine to handle his usual allotment of playing time barring some kind of in-game setback. The Sixers also announced that newly-acquired Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III will be available to make their debuts with the team in tonight’s contest, which will throw a massive wrench into the second unit rotations and may even relegate players like Shake Milton and Mike Scott from the rotation entirely. These reinforcements should also make it much easier for head coach Brett Brown to continue easing Josh Richardson back into action after he logged just 15 minutes in his return from a six-game absence last time out.
As reported by: Kyle Neubeck via Twitter Jaylen Brown (ankle), Daniel Theis (ankle), Kemba Walker (knee), and Gordon Hayward (foot) available to play Sunday
Brown and Theis have officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Sunday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder after missing the previous game due to their respective ailments, while Walker and Hayward are available, as expected, following their original probable designations on the Celtics’ injury report. Walker was able to play just under 30 minutes of action in Friday’s win, so he shouldn’t be subject to any firm minute restrictions in today’s contest. However, the return of Brown, Hayward, and Theis to the starting lineup will likely send Marcus Smart, Grant Williams, and Enes Kanter back to the bench to resume reserve roles, though Smart won’t see too much of a reduction in playing time, even if Brown and Hayward are able to play close to their usual allotment of minutes this afternoon. This is the first time the Celtics starting lineup will be at full strength in quite some time, which makes them difficult players to target in daily fantasy formats, possibly even on a single-game slate.
As reported by: Marc D'Amico via Twitter Other tagged players: Daniel Theis, Kemba Walker, Gordon Hayward Kawhi Leonard (knee) and Patrick Beverley (groin) officially out Sunday
As expected, Leonard won’t play in Sunday’s second leg of a back-to-back set against the Cleveland Cavaliers due to injury management for his troublesome left knee, while Beverley will miss a second consecutive game with a sore right groin. The Clippers have already confirmed that Marcus Morris will be available to make his debut with the team in tonight’s contest, and he’ll likely be the leading candidate to join the starting lineup at one of the forward positions with Leonard unavailable. In Beverley’s absence, Patrick Patterson and Landry Shamet ended up joining the starting lineup in Saturday’s blowout loss, but Patterson only logged seven minutes of action before being replaced by Terance Mann in the first unit to begin the second half. Unsurprisingly, Paul George has thrived with Leonard and Beverley off the court, and he owns a 35.1% usage rate, a 28.7% assist rate, and is averaging 1.65 DraftKings and 1.56 FanDuel points per minute in a 233.1 minutes sample size.
As reported by: Jovan Buha via Twitter Other tagged players: Patrick Beverley Maurice Harkless (illness) officially out Sunday; Damyean Dotson (illness) probable
As expected, Harkless has officially been downgraded from doubtful and won’t play in Sunday’s matchup against the Atlanta Hawks due to an illness, while there has yet to be an update on the status on Allonzo Trier, who has missed several games with an illness as well. Harkless was active and available to play in Saturday’s win, but interim head coach Mike Miller opted to hold him out of the game given his lack of knowledge of the playbook and lack of practice time with the team. The Knicks’ plans for Harkless in the rotation is still a bit unclear since he was essentially just a throw in to make salaries match in Marcus Morris trade to the Clippers earlier in the week, but it’d be completely unsurprising if he started and played big minutes and it’d be just as unsurprising if he was a non-factor and a candidate for an DNP-CD on a nightly basis.
As reported by: Steve Popper via Twitter Other tagged players: Damyean Dotson