DFS Alerts

NBA Injury Rundown - Friday, 1/11

Atlanta Hawks – Tyler Dorsey (P), Kent Bazemore (O), Miles Plumlee (O), Taurean Prince (O)

Philadelphia 76ers – J.J. Redick (Q), Markelle Fultz (O), Zhaire Smith (O), Justin Patton (O)

Milwaukee Bucks – Giannis Antetokounmpo (P), Ersan Ilyasova (P), D.J. Wilson (D), Donte DiVincenzo (D)

Indiana Pacers – Myles Turner (Q), Darren Collison (Q)

New York Knicks – Enes Kanter (Q), Frank Ntilikina (D), Mitchell Robinson (O), Kristaps Porzingis (O)

Brooklyn Nets – Jared Dudley (O), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (O), Allen Crabbe (O), Caris LeVert (O), Dzanan Musa (O)

Toronto Raptors – C.J. Miles (Q), Jonas Valanciunas (O)

Dallas Mavericks – Dirk Nowitzki (P), Dennis Smith Jr. (O)

Minnesota Timberwolves – Derrick Rose (Q), Robert Covington (O)

Cleveland Cavaliers – Rodney Hood (Q), Larry Nance (O), David Nwaba (O), Kevin Love (O), John Henson (O)

Charlotte Hornets – Devonte’ Graham (Q), Cody Zeller (O)

Portland Trail Blazers – Damian Lillard (Q), Maurice Harkless (O)

Utah Jazz – Raul Neto (O), Dante Exum (O), Ricky Rubio (O), Thabo Sefolosha (O), Grayson Allen (O), Tony Bradley (O)

Chicago Bulls – Zach LaVine (P), Denzel Valentine (O)

Golden State Warriors – Shaun Livingston (P), Damian Jones (O), DeMarcus Cousins (O)

Luke Kennard will start in place of Blake Griffin (rest) on Thursday

Griffin was officially ruled out prior to Thursday’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings due to rest purposes on the second leg of the Pistons’ current back-to-back set, and he’ll join Ish Smith and Zaza Pachulia on the inactive list. Griffin has only missed one game this season, and in that contest, Jon Leuer ended up drawing the start alongside Andre Drummond in the frontcourt but was massively disappointing from a fantasy perspective in 31 minutes of action, so head coach Dwane Casey has opted to go small by starting Luke Kennard at small forward. Since Henry Ellenson is also unavailable, Leuer will likely have to spend a fair amount of time at center when Drummond is off the floor, which could allow Stanley Johnson to see more run at the four in smaller lineup combinations or even allow Glenn Robinson to rejoin the rotation in a meaningful role off the bench. Unsurprisingly, Andre Drummond has been the main beneficiary with Griffin off the court this season, as he owns a 29.7% usage rate (+5.5%) and is averaging 1.43 DraftKings and 1.49 FanDuel points per minute in this scenario.

Iman Shumpert (finger) will start Thursday

Shumpert has officially been upgraded from probable and will start in Thursday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons after missing three consecutive games due to a sprained right index finger. Shumpert is unlikely to be subject to a minute restriction given the nature of the injury, so he should be fully cleared to displace Bogdan Bogdanovic from the starting small forward position in his return this evening. Bogdanovic was largely effective from a fantasy perspective in his latest stint as a member of the starting lineup and averaged 32.3 minutes over the Kings last three games. That amount of playing time isn’t out of the norm for Bogdanovic, even off the bench, so the availability of Shumpert will mostly affect Justin Jackson, who has logged at least 34 minutes in two of the last three games with him sidelined.

Pau Gasol will start ahead of Jakob Poeltl on Thursday

Contrary to what head coach Gregg Popovich told reporters during his pregame media availability, Gasol has been announced as active and available to play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder after previously being ruled out due to rest purposes on the second leg of the Spurs current back-to-back set. Meanwhile, Poeltl will head back to the bench to resume a reserve role, and Gasol will draw the start at center alongside LaMarcus Aldridge in the frontcourt. This news is relatively surprising given Gasol’s fluctuating status and since Davis Bertans received the starting nod at power forward ahead of Poeltl to begin the second half of Wednesday’s loss. However, even though he’ll begin the game with the other starters, Gasol is nothing more than a speculative tournament option on tonight’s slate considering he logged 20 minutes in yesterday’s contest, the most since he returned from a stress fracture in his left foot.

Ish Smith (groin) remains out Thursday

Smith has officially been downgraded from doubtful and won’t play in Thursday’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings due to a torn right adductor muscle that’s now kept him sidelined for 18 consecutive games, and he’ll join Blake Griffin and Zaza Pachulia on the Pistons’ inactive list for tonight’s second leg of a back-to-back set. Griffin has only missed one game this season, and in that contest, Jon Leuer ended up drawing the start alongside Andre Drummond in the frontcourt but was massively disappointing from a fantasy perspective in 31 minutes of action. Since Pachulia and Henry Ellenson are also unavailable, Leuer will likely have to spend a fair amount of time at center when Drummond off the floor, which could allow Stanley Johnson to see more run at the four in smaller lineup combinations or even allow Glenn Robinson to rejoin the rotation in a meaningful role off the bench. Unsurprisingly, Andre Drummond has been the main beneficiary with Griffin off the court this season, as he owns a 29.7% usage rate (+5.5%) and is averaging 1.43 DraftKings and 1.49 FanDuel points per minute in this scenario.

Pau Gasol (rest) now available to play Thursday; Jakob Poeltl will come off the bench

Contrary to what head coach Gregg Popovich told reporters during his pregame media availability, Gasol has been announced as active and available to play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder after previously being ruled out due to rest purposes on the second leg of the Spurs current back-to-back set. Meanwhile, Poeltl will head back to the bench to resume a reserve role, though Popovich declined to reveal who would replace him in the starting lineup. If the previous game is any indication, Davis Bertans will likely receive the starting nod at power forward alongside LaMarcus Aldridge in the frontcourt after replacing Poeltl to begin the second half of Wednesday’s loss. However, there’s also certainly a chance that Popovich turns to Dante Cunnigham as the starting power forward in an effort to slow down Paul George, despite Cunningham playing nine or fewer minutes in each of the Spurs last seven games.

Gary Harris (hamstring) out Thursday

Harris has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Thursday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers due to left hamstring tightness that has now forced him to miss two consecutive games. Harris and Paul Millsap only just returned to the starting lineup in Monday’s contest, and Millsap finally managed to eclipse the 30-minute mark for the first time in his last six games as he continues to work his way back from a fractured right big toe. With Harris unable to suit up, Malik Beasley will likely draw another start alongside Torrey Craig on the wing following a brutal fantasy performance in 36 minutes of action in Tuesday’s win, while Juan Hernangomez was relegated to a nominal role in the rotation, logging just nine minutes, despite typically seeing minutes in the low-30s as a member of the starting unit while Harris and Millsap were sidelined earlier in the year. The main beneficiary from a usage standpoint with Harris off the court this season has been Nikola Jokic, as he owns a 30.4% usage rate (+2.6%) and is averaging 1.55 DraftKings and 1.55 FanDuel points per minute in this scenario.

Blake Griffin (rest) and Zaza Pachulia (leg) listed out Thursday; Ish Smith (groin) listed as doubtful

Griffin has been listed out on the most recent version of the Pistons’ injury report and won’t play in Thursday’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings due to rest purposes on the second leg of a back-to-back set, while Zaza Pachulia will miss his sixth consecutive game with a right lower leg contusion and Ish Smith continues to be listed as doubtful with a torn right adductor muscle. Griffin has only missed one game this season, and in that contest, Jon Leuer ended up drawing the start alongside Andre Drummond in the frontcourt but was massively disappointing from a fantasy perspective in 31 minutes of action. Since Pachulia and Henry Ellenson are also unavailable, Leuer will likely have to spend a fair amount of time at center when Drummond off the floor, which could allow Stanley Johnson to see more run at the four in smaller lineup combinations or even allow Glenn Robinson to rejoin the rotation in a meaningful role off the bench. Unsurprisingly, Andre Drummond has been the main beneficiary with Griffin off the court this season, as he owns a 29.7% usage rate (+5.5%) and is averaging 1.43 DraftKings and 1.49 FanDuel points per minute in this scenario.

Iman Shumpert (finger) expected to play Thursday

Shumpert has officially been upgraded from questionable to probable and is expected to play in Thursday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons after missing three consecutive games due to a sprained right index finger. Shumpert is unlikely to be subject to a minute restriction given the nature of the injury, so he should be fully cleared to displace Bogdan Bogdanovic from the starting small forward position in his return this evening. Bogdanovic was largely effective from a fantasy perspective in his latest stint as a member of the starting lineup and averaged 32.3 minutes over the Kings last three games. That amount of playing time isn’t out of the norm for Bogdanovic, even off the bench, so the likely return of Shumpert will mostly affect Justin Jackson, who has logged at least 34 minutes in two of the last three games.

Taking Advantage Of Playing Time

With Rudy Gay already ruled out for tonight, Patty Mills should be in line to play 25+ minutes. He’s played at least 24 minutes in three straight games and has at least 24 fantasy points in each of those games. It’s really hard to trust anyone from the Spurs on a back-to-back, but at this price, I’m willing to take a shot on Mills. Mills is averaging 5.6 fantasy points over his season average in the last four games.

High Floor At This Price

After two rough games against the Jazz and Spurs, Jackson bounced back with a really good game against the Lakers last night. It worries me a little that they’re on a back-to-back, but he’s still really cheap across the industry. The Kings rank 21st in defensive efficiency against point guards, and the Pistons get the biggest pace bump on the slate. Jackson isn’t going to break the slate, but he has a high floor in this matchup at his price.

Safety, Upside, And A Great Matchup

We haven’t seen Griffin and Drummond put up monster games of late, but they still have a solid floor — generally in the mid-30’s for fantasy points. Today’s game profiles as one of those where we could see one of them get back to dominance. The Kings rank 2nd in the NBA in pace and in the bottom half in defensive efficiency, and the Pistons’ big men should be able to dominate the glass in this game. Griffin and Drummond have elite GPP upside as the top plays on the board outside of Jokic and Westbrook for me.

A Fine Mid-Range Option

Jamal Murray has come a long way with his consistency this year, especially in games that Gary Harris has missed. Even if Harris does play tonight, he will likely still be short of his full complement of minutes. This should be a close, high scoring contest between the Nuggets and Clippers, and this isn’t a solid Clippers defense. They rank a meager 23rd in the NBA in defensive efficiency this year, and Murray is a fine play as part of a balanced lineup in GPP formats.

Rock Solid Value

DFS players have not been targeting Jackson heavily over the past week even though the Kings are leaning on him for significant minutes since Iman Shumpert has been sidelined. He has played over 30 minutes per game over the last three contests, and he is averaging a solid 17 points and five boards per game in the process. Fire him up as a solid value, especially if Shumpert ends up missing another game.

Top Play on the Slate

Nikola Jokic is your top option on tonight’s four game slate. Who exactly is going to stop him? Marcin Gortat? Good luck. Montrezl Harrell? Somewhat undersized to slow down Jokic. It’s just not going to happen. The Denver big man is absolutely LOCKED in right now, as he has averaged 27 points, 13 boards, and eight assists per game over five January contests. He should continue to dominate in a favorable matchup here.