DFS Alerts
Eric Gordon (knee) out Thursday
Gordon has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Thursday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to a sore right knee, while Russell Westbrook will return from a one-game absence for rest purposes on the front end of their current back-to-back set. Even if Gordon was cleared to play, he would have headed back to the bench to resume a reserve role following a relatively serviceable fantasy performance in 30 minutes of action in Wednesday’s win. Head coach Mike D’Antoni essentially utilized a seven-man rotation in that contest, and if he opts to do that again with Gordon is unavailable, both Danuel House Jr. and Ben McLemore would become interesting value options on tonight’s four-game main slate. McLemore is the least expensive of the two and has been more productive with Gordon off the court, as he is averaging 0.72 DraftKings and 0.68 FanDuel points per minute.
As reported by: Cayleigh Griffin via Twitter
Danilo Gallinari (calf) will play Thursday
Gallinari has officially been upgraded from questionable and will play in Thursday’s matchup against the Houston Rockets after missing one game due to a left knee contusion, while Nerlens Noel will remain sidelined with a sprained left ankle. In Gallinari’s absence, Darius Bazley received another start at power forward, but he continues to be dismal for fantasy purposes and only logged 15 minutes in Tuesday’s overtime loss after ceding second-half minutes to Deonte Burton and Dennis Schroder for all of the fourth quarter and overtime. There haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction for Gallinari, and he’s expected to be a full-go, so he’ll be in consideration for tournament formats since he has a 24.2% usage rate and is averaging 1.01 DraftKings and 0.96 FanDuel points per minute on the season thus far.
As reported by: Brady Trantham via Twitter Hassan Whiteside (illness) available to play Thursday
Even after missing shootaround, Whiteside has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Thursday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves despite dealing with an illness. Whiteside has been on a fantastic run of late, and he’s managed to log at least 32 minutes in each of the Trail Blazers’ previous six games, which has forced his price tag across the daily fantasy industry to reach all-time highs. Even at these elevated salaries, Whiteside has been phenomenal for fantasy purposes for most of the season, so if he isn’t hampered by his aforementioned illness in tonight contests, he’ll be an intriguing tournament option since he has a 20.4% usage rate, a 24.3% rebound rate, and is averaging 1.36 DraftKings and 1.41 FanDuel points on the year thus far.
As reported by: Jamie Goldberg via Twitter Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) out Thursday
Despite head coach Ryan Saunders calling Towns a game-time decision, he has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Thursday’s matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers due to a sprained left knee that has now forced him to miss 12 games. In his absence, Gorgui Dieng will continue starting at the center position, but he hasn’t eclipsed the 30-minutes mark in five of the Timberwolves’ previous six contests.
As reported by: Danny Cunningham via Twitter Danilo Gallinari (calf) upgraded to questionable Thursday
Despite originally being listed out on the Thunder’s injury report, Gallinari has been upgraded to questionable for Thursday’s matchup against the Houston Rockets due to a right calf contusion that has already forced him to miss one game, while Nerlens Noel will remain sidelined with a sprained left ankle. In Gallinari’s absence, Darius Bazley received another start at power forward, but he continues to be dismal for fantasy purposes and only logged 15 minutes in Tuesday’s overtime loss after ceding second-half minutes to Deonte Burton and Dennis Schroder for all of the fourth quarter and overtime. There haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction for Gallinari if he’s cleared to play, but if he’s a full-go, he’ll be in consideration for tournament formats since he has a 24.2% usage rate and is averaging 1.01 DraftKings and 0.96 FanDuel points per minute on the season thus far.
As reported by: Maddie Lee via Twitter Low Owned Value Play
We don’t have a ton of great tournament value options on this slate, but Mykhailiuk is really standing out to me. The Cavs allow the third most three-pointers to opposing wing players per game this season. He played 34 minutes against the Cavs on Tuesday and took ten three-point shots. With the current injuries to the Pistons, Mykhailiuk should continue to see increased minutes. He totally relies on shooting, but I really like this spot for him.
Eric Gordon (knee) listed questionable Thursday
Gordon has been included on the initial Rockets injury report and is questionable for Thursday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to a sore right knee, while Russell Westbrook will return from a one-game absence for rest purposes on the front end of their current back-to-back set. Even if Gordon is cleared to play, he’ll head back to the bench to resume a reserve role following a relatively serviceable fantasy performance in 30 minutes of action in Wednesday’s win. Head coach Mike D’Antoni essentially utilized a seven-man rotation in that contest, and if he opts to do that again if Gordon is unavailable, both Danuel House Jr. and Ben McLemore would become interesting value options on tonight’s four-game main slate. McLemore is the least expensive of the two and has been more productive with Gordon off the court, as he is averaging 0.72 DraftKings and 0.68 FanDuel points per minute.
As reported by: NBA Official Injury Report Matisse Thybulle (knee) listed available Thursday
As expected, Thybulle has been upgraded from probable on the latest Sixers injury report and will be available to play in Thursday’s matchup against the Boston Celtics after missing three weeks due to a sprained right knee and bone bruise, while Joel Embiid was already ruled out with the left ring finger injury he sustained in Monday’s win. The last time Embiid was unavailable, Kyle O’Quinn ended up receiving the start next to Al Horford in the frontcourt and logged just under 26 minutes in a blowout loss, but Mike Scott or Furkan Korkmaz appear to be the likelier candidates to start tonight given the need to match up defensively with the Celtics switchable wings and forwards. As one would expect, Horford and Tobias Harris have benefitted the most with Embiid off the court, as they each own at least a +2.0% increase in usage rate and are averaging at least +0.19 more fantasy points per minute over their normal season-long statistics.
As reported by: NBA Official Injury Report Mitchell Robinson (toe) and Kevin Knox (ankle) listed available Wednesday
As expected, Robinson and Know will be available to play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Utah Jazz despite dealing with their respective ailments, while Marcus Morris will join Dennis Smith Jr. and Julius Randle on the Knicks’ inactive list due to a sore neck that has now forced him to miss two games. With Morris sidelined for Tuesday’s blowout loss, Reggie Bullock ended up receiving his first start of the season at small forward, and he was rather mediocre from a fantasy perspective in 27 minutes of action. Knox also saw 19 minutes off the bench in this contest, but that total is likely slightly inflated with him being on the court for the final six minutes of the fourth quarter in garbage time. Even if Knox draws the start at power forward in place of Julius Randle this evening, Bobby Portis figures to be the main beneficiary of additional playing time, and he has a 21.5% usage rate while averaging 1.00 DraftKings and 0.97 FanDuel points per minute with Morris and Randle off the court this season.
As reported by: NBA Official Injury Report Other tagged players: Kevin Knox Marcus Morris (neck) and Dennis Smith Jr. (oblique) officially out Wednesday
As expected, Morris will join Smith Jr. and Julius Randle on the Knicks’ inactive list for Wednesday’s matchup against the Utah Jazz due to a sore neck that has now forced him to miss two games, while Mitchell Robinson and Kevin Knox remain probable with their respective ailments. With Morris sidelined for Tuesday’s blowout loss, Reggie Bullock ended up receiving his first start of the season at small forward, and he was rather mediocre from a fantasy perspective in 27 minutes of action. Knox also saw 19 minutes off the bench in this contest, but that total is likely slightly inflated with him being on the court for the final six minutes of the fourth quarter in garbage time. Even if Knox draws the start at power forward in place of Julius Randle this evening, Bobby Portis figures to be the main beneficiary of additional playing time, and he has a 21.5% usage rate while averaging 1.00 DraftKings and 0.97 FanDuel points per minute with Morris and Randle off the court this season.
As reported by: Steve Popper via Twitter Other tagged players: Dennis Smith Jr., Bobby Portis Paul Millsap (knee) out Wednesday
Despite originally being listed as probable, Millsap won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Dallas Mavericks due to a left knee contusion, while Will Barton was already ruled out as he’s way from the team dealing with a personal matter. In their absences, head coach Michael Malone already confirmed that Torrey Craig and Jerami Grant will receive the starting nods at the forward positions, which will keep Michael Porter Jr., essentially, in a sixth-man role as the primary backup at both forward spots. As one would guess, Nikola Jokic has been one of the main beneficiaries with Millsap and Barton off the court, as he and Gary Harris own a minimum of a +2.1% increase in usage rate and are averaging at least +0.15 more fantasy points per minute over their normal season-long statistics.
As reported by: the Denver Nuggets via Twitter Domantas Sabonis (knee) will start Wednesday
Sabonis has officially been upgraded from questionable and will start in Wednesday’s matchup against the Miami Heat despite dealing with a sore left knee, while Malcolm Brogdon was already ruled out and will miss a fourth straight game with a sore lower back. With Edmond Sumner available in each of the Pacers’ previous two games, the backcourt rotation has become much more crowded, which has really hindered the minute floors of Aaron Holiday and T.J. McConnell on a game-to-game basis. However, Sumner won’t see enough playing time to become a viable daily fantasy option himself, but his presence in the rotation is enough to remove McConnell from consideration since head coach Nate McMillan won’t be forced to play as many lineups with McConnell and Holiday together in the backcourt.
As reported by: the Indiana Pacers via Twitter Kenrich Williams (back) out Wednesday
Williams has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls due to lower back spasms, while Jrue Holiday will miss a second straight game with a strained left elbow. Williams has assumed a diminished role in the rotation of late, and he was limited to just nine minutes of action even with Holiday sidelined for Monday’s loss. Now that he’s unavailable, Nicolo Melli could see the floor for the first time in four games, but it seems nearly as likely that head coach Alvin Gentry would distribute that minimal amount of vacated playing time throughout the existing members of the regular rotation. Surprisingly, no one Pelicans player sees a substantial increase in usage or production with Holiday off the court, but other than Josh Hart, it’s been Brandon Ingram that has benefitted the most, as he has a 31.0% usage rate, a 25.8% assist rate, and is averaging 1.34 DraftKings and 1.27 FanDuel points per minute in a 346.7 minutes sample size.
As reported by: Andrew Lopez via Twitter Jimmy Butler (back) and Justise Winslow (back) available to play Wednesday
As expected, Butler will be available to play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers after missing one game due to a sore lower back, while Winslow will make his return from a lengthy 15-game absence because of a lower-back bone bruise. There haven’t been any reports of a potential minute restriction for Butler, so he’ll presumably be fine to assume his usual minute allotment, but head coach Erik Spoelstra did confirm with reporters that Winslow will be subject to a minute restriction in his first game back, though he did not disclose the exact number the Heat’s training staff had in mind. Butler isn’t exactly priced at a discount on daily fantasy sites, but he is always in consideration for tournament formats since he has a 25.9% usage rate, a 29.8% assist rate, and is averaging 1.22 DraftKings and 1.23 FanDuel points per minute on the season this far.
As reported by: the Miami Heat via Twitter Other tagged players: Justise Winslow Bradley Beal (leg) out Wednesday
Beal has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic due to a sore right lower leg that has now forced him to miss six of the last seven games, while Garrison Mathews was also previously ruled out and is currently without a timetable for a return, Jordan McRae received the starting nod at small forward once again and had a stellar bounce-back fantasy performance in 38 minutes of action in Monday’s win, while Gary Payton II benefitted from Mathews injury and went on to record 25 minutes for just the second time in the past five games. Payton had gradually been ceding playing time to a McRae and Troy Brown Jr., and McRae now has a 29.9% usage rate and is averaging 1.23 DraftKings and 1.20 FanDuel points per minute with Beal and the other injured Wizards off the court this season.
As reported by: Candace Buckner via Twitter