DFS Alerts

Blake Griffin (rest) listed out Monday

Griffin has been included on the most recent version of the Pistons’ injury report and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers due to rest purposes on the second leg of their current back-to-back set, while Reggie Jackson is no longer listed on the injury report and appears to be ready to go after logging 24 minutes in Sunday’s win. The Pistons roster looks a bit different now than the previous two times Griffin was sidelined when Jon Leuer and Luke Kennard each receive one spot start, so either Glenn Robinson III or Thon Maker appears to be the likeliest candidates depending on how big or small head coach Dwane Casey opts to go. given the current rotation structure.

Thinned Out Rotation

The Raptors rotation is expected to be pretty thin on Monday night as Serge Ibaka is still on suspension, Kawhi Leonard is out due to “load management”, Kyle Lowry is questionable, and Fred VanVleet is playing on the second leg of a back-to-back with yesterday’s game being his first game back from injury. With that in mind, it makes sense to take a stab at some of the cheap secondary Toronto players in GPPs in hopes of hitting on a player that logs ~ 30 minutes of court time due to the thinned out rotation. Norman Powell is my favorite of the bunch as he’s been the strongest per minute producer and has shown the highest upside – he topped 40 fantasy points just two games ago against the Lakers.

The Finnisher

It’s been a tough 2-week stretch for Markkanen who was routinely dropping 50+ fantasy point performances in February but the Finnish big man will have a chance to get back on track in a favorable matchup against the Suns on Monday night. Phoenix has struggled all season defending opposing big men as they allow both the highest offensive rebounding rate in the league (29.7%) and the highest frequency of shot attempts at the rim (41.5%). This is the second leg of a road back-to-back for the Bulls but Markkanen didn’t see any fourth quarter minutes yesterday due to a blowout so his legs should be fresh enough to take advantage of a posh matchup.

DeMarcus Cousins (foot) and Andre Iguodala (tooth) out Monday; Kevin Durant (ankle) will play

Cousins has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs due to a sore right foot, while Iguodala is a new addition to the Warriors’ injury report and has been ruled out because of a tooth procedure. Kevin Durant will return from a two-game absence and there’s yet to be any report of a potential minute restriction, so he’ll presumably be a full-go and reclaim his typical starting small forward spot from Iguodala this evening. As far as Cousins’ unavailability, Kevon Looney will more than likely receive the starting nod at center, and head coach Steve Kerr already confirmed with reporters at shootaround that he plans to play newly-signed Andrew Bogut at least some minutes in tonight’s contest. Ever since Cousins made his Warriors debut, Stephen Curry has been a clear beneficiary with him off the court, as he owns a 35.7% usage rate (+6.3%) and is averaging 1.43 DraftKings and 1.34 FanDuel points per minute.

Kelly Oubre (thumb) questionable Monday; Richaun Holmes (quad) ruled out

Oubre is a new addition to the Suns’ injury report and is questionable for Monday’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls due to a sprained left thumb, while Holmes will sit for a third straight contest with a strained right quad. Additionally, Tyler Johnson remains listed as questionable with a sore right knee, and in his two-game absence, De’Anthony Melton and Troy Daniels have alternated starts alongside Devin Booker in the backcourt, though Melton may have the upper hand to start once again if Johnson is ruled out closer to tipoff since he logged 29 minutes in Saturday’s win, while Daniels was limited to just eight off the bench. Josh Jackson would also be in line for a bump in playing time if Oubre is unavailable after seeing 33 minutes on the Suns previous game, but Deandre Ayton may actually be the best tournament target of them all, as he draws an elite matchup and owns a 25.3% usage rate (+4.5%) while averaging 1.11 DraftKings and 1.09 FanDuel points per minute with Oubre and T.J. Warren off the court this season.

Petty Narratives

I don’t always play narratives but when I do I make sure they are as petty as possible. Kyrie has had this game circled for a while as the last time these two teams played Jamal Murray hung 48 points on Irving and the Celtics. Irving especially took exception to Murray trying to score another bucket to get to 50 points instead of just letting the game end. After the game, Irving found the ball and chucked it into the stands. It also doesn’t hurt that the Celtics have a lot to play for (4-seed) and that Kyrie has been absolutely cooking lately, topping 30 actual points and 62-fantasy points in each of Boston’s last two games.

NBA Injury Rundown - Monday, 3/18

Utah Jazz – Thabo Sefolosha (Q), Dante Exum (O)

Cleveland Cavaliers – Kevin Love (Q), Larry Nance Jr. (O), Tristan Thompson (O), Matthew Dellavedova (O), John Henson (O)

New York Knicks – Dennis Smith Jr. (TBD), Noah Vonleh (TBD), Frank Ntilikina (O)

Toronto Raptors – Kyle Lowry (Q), Kawhi Leonard (O), Serge Ibaka (O)

Boston Celtics – Al Horford (P), Robert Williams III (Q), Gordon Hayward (D)

Miami Heat – Justise Winslow (TBD)

Oklahoma City Thunder – Russell Westbrook (O), Andre Roberson (O)

Golden State Warriors – Kevin Durant (Q), DeMarcus Cousins (Q), Damian Jones (O)

Dallas Mavericks – Luka Doncic (P), Kristaps Porzingis (O), J.J. Barea (O)

Phoenix Suns – Tyler Johnson (Q), Richaun Holmes (Q), T.J. Warren (O)

Portland Trail Blazers – C.J. McCollum (O)

James Harden (neck) will play Sunday

Harden has officially been upgraded from questionable and will play in Sunday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves despite dealing with a strained cervical. There’s yet to be any report of a potential minute restriction for Harden, so he’ll almost certainly reclaim his spot in the starting unit now that he’s been cleared to suit up, which will ensure that Danuel House Jr. will head to the bench to resume a reserve role following a serviceable fantasy performance in 35 minutes of action as a starter in Friday’s win. Additionally, Chris Paul will return from a one-game hiatus for rest purposes, and he’s been consistently logging minutes in the mid-30s in competitive contests of late, though he’s really taken a backseat for Harden this season and is averaging just 1.15 DraftKings and 1.14 FanDuel points per minute with a 22.5% usage rate on year.

Derrick Rose (elbow) out Sunday

Rose has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Sunday’s matchup against the Houston Rockets due to a sore right elbow that has now forced him to miss three consecutive games, while Jeff Teague, Luol Deng, and Robert Covington were all previously ruled out with their respective ailments. With Teague and Rose unavailable, Tyus Jones will remain in the starting lineup at point guard and becomes one of the top value options on tonight’s four-game slate given his projected minute workload, despite averaging just 27.7 minutes in his two most recent spot starts. Assuming Towns isn’t limited, he’ll be an intriguing tournament target since he owns a 33.5% usage rate (+4.1%) and is averaging 1.70 Draftkings and 1.65 FanDuel points per minute with Teague, Rose, and Deng, and Covington off the court this season.

Kyle Lowry (ankle) out Sunday; Fred VanVleet (thumb) will play

Lowry has officially been downgraded from doubtful and won’t play in Sunday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons due to a sprained left ankle, while VanVleet has been cleared to play after missing 12 consecutive games recovering from left thumb surgery. Head coach Nick Nurse already confirmed that VanVleet will be subject to a minute restriction, so Jeremy Lin will start at point guard once again, and he was solid from a fantasy perspective in 21 minutes of action in Thursday’s win. The Raptors will also be without Serge Ibaka, who will be serving the second game of a three-game suspension this afternoon, so Marc Gasol will start at center once again following a solid performance in 26 minutes last time out. With Lowry and Ibaka off the court since the trade deadline, Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam each own at least a +1.0% usage rate differential and experience a minimum of a +0.13 increase to their per minute production.

Kyle Lowry (ankle) listed doubtful Sunday; Fred VanVleet (thumb) listed probable

Lowry has been listed as doubtful on the most recent version of the Raptors’ injury report for Sunday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons due to a sprained left ankle, while VanVleet has been upgraded to probable after missing 12 consecutive games recovering from left thumb surgery. As of now, there’s been no report of a potential minute restriction for VanVleet, so he could enter the conversation as a potential replacement starter, even though Jeremy Lin started at point guard in Thursday’s win and was solid from a fantasy perspective in 21 minutes of action. The Raptors will also be without Serge Ibaka, who will be serving the second game of a three-game suspension this afternoon, so Marc Gasol will start at center once again following a solid performance in 26 minutes last time out. With Lowry and Ibaka off the court since the trade deadline, Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam each own at least a +1.0% usage rate differential and experience a minimum of a +0.13 increase to their per minute production.

Dwyane Wade (hip) available to play Sunday

Despite previously being downgraded to doubtful, Wade will be available to play in Sunday’s matchup against the Charlotte Hornets despite dealing with a bruised right hip he sustained during Friday’s loss, while Justise Winslow was already ruled out with a right thigh contusion. The last time Winslow was sidelined, head coach Erik Spoelstra opted to shift Josh Richardson over to point guard and insert Rodney McGruder at the small forward position, but McGruder was limited to just 15 minutes in that contest. Goran Dragic has gotten a few games under his belt since then, so either he or McGruder were the likeliest candidates to start in Winslow’s place, though Dragic has only eclipsed the 20-minute mark once in the last four contests, so Spoelstra has decided to start Derrick Jones Jr. at small forward this afternoon. However, with Winslow off the court since the trade deadline, Dion Waiters actually owns a 22.3% usage rate and is averaging 0.95 DraftKings and 0.87 FanDuel points per minute in a 130.3 minutes sample size.

Mario Hezonja will start in place of Noah Vonleh (ankle) on Sunday

Dennis Smith Jr. was officially downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Sunday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers due to a sore lower back that has now forced him to miss two consecutive games, while Vonleh was also ruled out with a sprained right ankle he sustained in the first half of Friday’s loss. Vonleh was replaced by Luke Kornet to begin the second half of that contest, but Mario Hezonja will see his first game action in over a month and draw the start alongside Kevin Knox in the frontcourt to presumably match up with Kyle Kuzma and LeBron James at the forward positions this afternoon. In Smith’s absence, Emmanuel Mudiay drew the start at point guard but was rather ineffective from a fantasy standpoint in 36 minutes of action, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Allonzo Trier get some extra run in today’s contest, and he owns a 26.2% usage rate (+4.4%) while averaging 0.88 DraftKings and 0.81 FanDuel points per minute with Smith and Vonleh off the court since the trade deadline.

Cody Zeller (knee) officially out Sunday

Zeller has officially been downgraded from doubtful and won’t play in Sunday’s matchup against the Miami Heat due to a sore left knee that has now forced him to miss three consecutive games. In his absence, Bismack Biyombo will receive a second consecutive start at center after a relatively mediocre fantasy performance in 17 minutes of action in Friday’s win. Given the matchup with Bam Adebayo and Hassan Whiteside in the Heat’s frontcourt, Biyombo may be afforded a slightly longer leash in terms of playing time this afternoon, but Frank Kaminsky has also absorbed a large portion of the vacated center minutes with Zeller sidelined and has played at least 22 minutes in each of the previous two contests. With Kaminsky playing most of his minutes at the center position of late, it allowed Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to see his first meaningful minutes in quite some time, though he still remained irrelevant for fantasy purposes in his 16 minutes off the bench last time out.

Justise Winslow (thigh) out Sunday: Dwyane Wade (hip) downgraded to doubtful

Winslow has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Sunday’s matchup against the Charlotte Hornets due to a right thigh contusion, while Wade has been downgraded from questionable to doubtful with a bruised right hip he sustained during Friday’s loss. The last time Winslow was sidelined, head coach Erik Spoelstra opted to shift Josh Richardson over to point guard and insert Rodney McGruder at the small forward position, but McGruder was limited to just 15 minutes in that contest since Wade was available to soak up additional wing minutes off the bench. Goran Dragic has gotten a few games under his belt since then, so either he or McGruder will likely start in Winslow’s place this afternoon, though Dragic has only eclipsed the 20-minute mark once in the last four contests. However, with Winslow and Wade off the court since the trade deadline, Richardson actually owns a 25.8% usage rate (+7.1%) and is averaging 0.99 DraftKings and 0.92 FanDuel points per minute.