DFS Alerts

Tyreke Evans (back) out Monday

Evans is a late addition to the Pacers’ injury report and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the Golden State Warriors due to a sore lower back. Since Victor Oladipo will miss the remainder of the season with a ruptured right quad tendon, the Pacers will be relatively thin in the backcourt with Evans sidelined and may be forced to start rookie Aaron Holiday alongside Darren Collison in the backcourt. Cory Joseph is also a candidate to join the starting lineup, but head coach Nate McMillan typically prefers to keep him in a reserve role whenever possible. While Holiday and Joseph will be the primary beneficiaries in terms of playing time without Evans and Oladipo, it’s actually Collison that owns a 22.2% usage rate (+4.9%) and averages 1.14 fantasy points per minute them off the court this season.

Kyrie Irving (hip) out Monday

Irving is a new addition to the Celtics’ injury report and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets due to a strained left hip. When Irving was unavailable for last Wednesday’s win because of illness, Terry Rozier drew his sixth start of the season at point guard and smashed his salary-based expectations in 30 minutes of action. These types of performances have become a bit of a norm for Rozier when he’s called upon as a spot starter, and he’ll automatically be one of the top options on tonight’s entire slate, despite the sizable increase in his salary on DraftKings since last week. While Rozier is the clear primary beneficiary with Irving sidelined, Marcus Morris, Jaylen Brown, and Gordon Hayward all own at least a +2.6% usage rate differential and experience a minimum increase of +0.10 to their per minute fantasy production with Irving off the court this season.

Right Back To The Well

I really hope people continue to overlook that Taurean Prince has taken on a sixth man role with the Hawks, and his fantasy point per minute production is in a great place right now. He has been filling up the stat sheet more off the bench, and as long as he continues to come off the bench, I’m interested in playing him. He played 35 minutes off the bench against Portland last game.

Tournament Pivot

The Brooklyn Nets are dealing with a lot of injuries again, and Shabazz Napier is in line to receive the biggest bump. After only playing 11 and 12 minutes, Napier played 28 minutes with Dinwiddie out on Friday. Napier is averaging .86 fantasy points per minute with Crabbe, Dinwiddie, and LeVert off the floor this season. He had a 29.7% usage rate on Friday off the bench, and I expect to see close to the same thing tonight.

Don't Worry About Ownership

Burke sets up as a top option on the entire slate, and then you factor in his price and he’s considered the top value play on the slate. Burke has a 31.7% usage and averages .97 fantasy points per minute with Mudiay, Kanter, and Ntilikina off the floor this season. It’s hard to trust the Knicks, but he’s played 23 and 33 minutes in the last two games and should see around 30 minutes in tonight’s game.

JaMychal Green (knee) downgraded to questionable Monday

Green has officially been downgraded from probable to questionable for Monday’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets due to a sore left knee that limited him to just seven minutes in Saturday’s loss, while Omri Casspi will miss a second consecutive game with a sore right knee. The return of Kyle Anderson from an eight-game injury hiatus will send one of Jevon Carter or Justin Holiday back to the bench to resume a reserve role, but Carter had such a dismal outing in 26 minutes of action in his spot start that he appears to be the likeliest candidate to be demoted to the second unit. If Green is cleared and plays his normal allotment of minutes, Bruno Caboclo should see his role in the rotation diminished following an outstanding fantasy performance in 29 minutes of action off the bench with Green limited and Casspi unavailable in the Grizzlies contest.

Frank Ntilikina (groin) officially out Monday

Ntilikina didn’t travel with the team to Charlotte and has officially been ruled out of Monday’s matchup against the Hornets due to a strained groin he sustained during the first half of Sunday’s loss. Following Ntilikina’s exit, Trey Burke started the second half at point guard and was still serviceable from a fantasy perspective despite logging only 23 minutes, while Mario Hezonja snapped his streak of two consecutive DNP-CDs and played 30 minutes off the bench as well. The Knicks did recall Kadeem Allen from the G-League this morning to provide depth in the backcourt, but Burke and Allonzo Trier will likely still be locked into all of the point guard minutes with Emmanuel Mudiay still expected to miss at least two weeks with a strained left shoulder. Given Burke’s projected minute floor and his low price point across the industry, he should be a chalk value option for all formats on tonight’s slate, as he owns a 28.7% usage rate and is averaging 0.98 DraftKings and 0.95 FanDuel points per minute with Ntilikina, Mudiay, and Luke Kornet off the court this season.

One of the Best Spends of the Slate

The Clippers are easily my favorite team to target in this small five-game slate. They are playing without Danilo Gallinari and get to face the Hawks, who are ranked first in pace of play and dead last in points allowed per game. With Gallinari off the floor this season, Harris sees a 0.17 FP/min boost, which equated to six extra fantasy points every 36 minutes. Everything is lining up perfectly for a big outing from Harris.

Corner Three

I never thought there would be a slate where I write up two blurbs on the New York Knicks but here we are. Stylistically, this is a good spot for Damyean Dotson who will be virtually unowned but like the other Knicks guards should see extended minutes (high 20’s is the optimistic but realistic outlook) due to a shortened rotation. The Hornets are allowing the second highest field goal percentage in the league (42.2%) on Corner Three’s. Of Knicks players that are active and will see minutes, Damyean Dotson is most able to exploit this. Dotson shoots 57% on Corner Three’s and they account for 7% of his shot attempts. Dotson is cheap enough where 4-5 three’s and a couple peripherals make him a smash play at his price tag.

Stacking in Los Angeles

We have the ultimate recipe for a successful NBA DFS stack – a short-handed team with an elite matchup. The Clippers will be without Danilo Gallinari once again, which opens up 32 minutes in the rotation and and a ton of usage in the offense. Over the last few games, the Clippers have had no choice but to tighten their rotation. For whatever reason, the sites have yet to adjust their salaries. Avery Bradley has averaged 35 minutes and 24 fantasy points over his last four games and is still priced below $4,000 on FanDuel and DraftKings.

Draymond Green (rest) out Monday

Green is a new addition to the Warrior’s injury report and won’t play in Monday’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers due to rest purposes, while Jonas Jerebko is still away from the team tending to a personal matter. When Green was sidelined for a stretch of games earlier in the season, head coach Steve Kerr cycled through a number of players to replace him in the starting lineup, but given the current state of the rotation, either Ander Iguodala or Kevon Looney appears to be the likeliest candidates to receive the starting nod this evening. However, DeMarcus Cousins has been roughly limited to about 24 minutes over the last two games, so regardless of starting lineup, Looney should be in line for a significant bump in minutes. Since Green is more of a distributor than a scorer on offense, his absence doesn’t really open up any additional usage for the likes of Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, or Klay Thompson, and Cousins has only recorded 7.6 minutes in his first four games with Green and Jerebko off the court.

High Usage Minutes

There’s no doubt that Trey Burke is the biggest beneficiary in terms of minutes with both Frank Ntilikina and Emmanuel Mudiay out but the entire Knicks rotation should see an uptick in value with a shortened rotation. THJ is the owner of the highest usage rate (30.9%) with Mudiay off the court this season and averages about a fantasy point per minute. Hardaway isn’t a afraid to shoot and he presents strong upside based on volume alone. If the Knicks are able to keep this game close (a big if) we could see mid-30’s+ minutes of high usage ball from Hardaway Jr.

Kyle Anderson (ankle) will start Monday; Omri Casspi (knee) ruled out

Anderson has officially been upgraded from questionable and will start in Monday’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets after missing eight consecutive games due to a sprained right ankle, while Casspi will miss a second straight contest because of a sore right knee and JaMychal Green remains probable with a sore left knee. The return of Anderson will send one of Jevon Carter or Justin Holiday back to the bench to resume a reserve role, but Carter had such a dismal outing in 26 minutes of action in his spot start in Saturday’s loss that he appears to be the likeliest candidate to be demoted to the second unit. Assuming Green is able to play his normal allotment of minutes, Bruno Caboclo should see his role in the rotation diminished following an outstanding fantasy performance in 29 minutes of action off the bench with Green limited and Casspi unavailable in the Grizzlies previous contest.

NBA Injury Rundown - Monday, 1/28

Golden State Warriors – Jonas Jerebko (O), Damian Jones (O)

Indiana Pacers – Victor Oladipo (O)

New York Knicks – Emmanuel Mudiay (O), Luke Kornet (O), Kristaps Porzingis (O)

Charlotte Hornets – Kemba Walker (P), Cody Zeller (O)

Brooklyn Nets – Joe Harris (Q), Treveon Graham (Q), Jared Dudley (O), Spencer Dinwiddie (O), Allen Crabbe (O)

Denver Nuggets – Jamal Murray (O), Isaiah Thomas (O), Michael Porter Jr. (O)

Memphis Grizzlies – JaMychal Green (P), Kyle Anderson (Q), Omri Casspi (D), Garrett Temple (O), Dillon Brooks (O)

Los Angeles Clippers – Danilo Gallinari (O), Luc Mbah a Moute (O)

Richaun Holmes (foot) will play Sunday

Holmes has officially been upgraded from questionable and will play in Sunday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers after missing four consecutive games due to a sprained right foot, while Deandre Ayton will miss a fifth straight contest because of a sprained left ankle. The Suns are also expected to be without T.J. Warren and De’Anthony Melton for the foreseeable future because of their respective ailments, so Josh Jackson and Elie Okobo appear to be in line to receive extended looks with the Suns starting lineup in the coming games and both have logged at least 28 minutes in each of the previous two contest. Kelly Oubre also recorded 31 minutes off the bench in Friday’s loss, but Devin Booker continues to be an intriguing tournament target if the Suns can keep games competitive, as he owns a 38.4% usage rate (+3.8%) and is averaging 1.37 DraftKings and 1.33 FanDuel points per minute with Ayton, Warren, and Melton off the court this season.