DFS Alerts

Mike Conley (hamstring) and Kyle Anderson (hip) available to play Wednesday; Joakim Noah (heel) ruled out

Conley has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers after missing Monday’s loss due to a sore left hamstring, while Anderson has been cleared to play and Joakim Noah has been ruled out with a sore right heel. Conley admitted that he will need to continue to manage his ailing hamstring but didn’t specify if that management would result in a slightly stricter minute cap on a nightly basis or if he was just referring to the additional treatment the injury typically requires. Shelvin Mack has started each of the past two games in place of Conley and Anderson, but he was relatively ineffective from a fantasy perspective despite averaging 27 minutes in those contests. With Conley and Anderson firmly on track to play, Mack will head back to the bench to resume his reserve role, but he could begin losing some playing time to Jevon Carter, who logged at least 23 minutes off the bench in each of the last two games.

Blake Griffin (illness) will start Wednesday

Griffin has officially been upgraded from probable and will start in Wednesday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves despite battling an illness that forced him to miss shootaround this morning, while Glenn Robinson III and Ish Smith both remain sidelined because of their respective ailments. Reggie Bullock returned to the Pistons’ starting lineup two games ago and has logged at least 30 minutes in each contest, which has really eaten into the minute floors of Luke Kennard, Stanley Johnson, Langston Galloway, and Bruce Brown, who now appears to be on his way out of the rotation entirely. Assuming Griffin is a full-go, he’s poised to be an intriguing tournament target on FanDuel, specifically, as he’s significantly less expensive than on DraftKings and still owns a 31.7% usage rate while averaging 1.26 FanDuel points per minute on the season.

Jaylen Brown will start in place of Marcus Morris (knee) on Wednesday

Morris was officially ruled out and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns due to a sore right knee, while Al Horford will miss his sixth consecutive game due to patellofemoral pain syndrome. In their absences, Brown will draw the start alongside Jayson Tatum in the frontcourt after settling into a low-20s minutes role off the bench the last few games in the Celtics new-look rotation. Aron Baynes has started the last three games at center in Horford’s absence, but he’s yet to play more than 19 minutes in any of those contests since head coach Brad Stevens has opted for a center-by-committee approach with Daniel Theis and Robert Williams both consistently seeing double-digit minutes off the bench. Unsurprisingly, Kyrie Irving has been the main beneficiary from a usage standpoint with Horford off the court this season, as he leads the Celtics with a 34.6% usage rate (+3.1%) and is averaging 1.43 DraftKings and 1.41 FanDuel points per minute in this scenario.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (quad) available to play Wednesday

Hollis-Jefferson has officially been upgraded from questionable and will be available to play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls despite dealing with a bruised left quad he sustained during the first leg of the Nets’ back-to-back on Tuesday night, while Allen Crabbe will miss his fourth consecutive game with a sore right knee. Spencer Dinwiddie had typically started alongside D’Angelo Russell in the backcourt when the Nets were down a starting wing and did so when Joe Harris was sidelined for a stretch of games earlier in the year. However, Rodions Kurucs has started at small forward in the past three contests and logged at least 28 minutes on two of those occasions, making it likely he’ll start once again after seeing his playing time gradually increase over each of the Nets previous three games prior to Crabbe’s injury. Dinwiddie has thrived without Crabbe on the court this season, and he is averaging 1.16 DraftKings and 1.13 FanDuel points per minute with a 30.6% usage rate (+4.9%) in this scenario.

Darius Miller will start in place of Julius Randle on Wednesday

Randle was ruled out in advance of Wednesday’s matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks due to a sprained right ankle, while Nikola Mirotic remains sidelined for the third consecutive game with a sore right ankle and Ian Clark is unavailable because of an illness. In their absences, Darius Miller will draw the start alongside Solomon Hill in the frontcourt, and he’s quietly logged at least 27 minutes off the bench in two of the Pelicans last three games despite the uninspiring results from a fantasy perspective. Unsurprisingly, Anthony Davis has been a massive beneficiary with Randle, Mirotic, and Elfrid Payton off the court this season, as he owns a 39.9% usage rate (+9.4%) and is averaging an outrageous 2.22 DraftKings and 2.36 FanDuel points per minute in 95.4 minutes sample size.

Nene Hilario (rest) out Wednesday

Nene is a late addition to the Rockets’ injury report and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Washington Wizards due to rest purposes on the front end of a back-to-back set, but he will be back in action for the game against the Miami Heat on Thursday night. Nene has only averaged 14.2 minutes off the bench since making his season debut, so his absence won’t necessarily free up a ton of playing time in the frontcourt rotation. When Nene was sidelined earlier in the year, P.J. Tucker served as the primary backup center, while Isaiah Hartenstein filled in with nominal minutes at the position and has been recalled from the G-League, making it likely he’d be in front of Marquese Chriss in the rotation if head coach Mike D’Antoni even decides to extend his rotation past the normal nine players.

Matthew Dellavedova (knee) out Wednesday

Dellavedova has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers due to a sore left knee, while Jordan Clarkson will play after missing the first leg of the Cavaliers current back-to-back set in order to rest a sore lower back. Dellavedova has been an integral part of the Cleveland rotation ever since making his debut, as he’s recorded at least 16 minutes off the bench in all five games, so his absence will certainly open up some playing time in the backcourt rotation. With Clarkson sidelined for the previous contest, Rodney Hood logged a whopping 35 minutes as the starting shooting guard, but he’ll likely see that playing time regress back closer to their normal levels with Clarkson back in the mix and David Nwaba gradually get back up to full speed following his lengthy injury absence, though he will still be subject to an unspecified minute restriction this evening.

Marcus Morris (knee) out Wednesday

Morris is a late addition to the Celtics’ injury report and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns due to a sore right knee, while Al Horford will miss his sixth consecutive game due to patellofemoral pain syndrome. There’s been no confirmation on who will replace Morris in the starting lineup but it will almost certainly be Gordon Hayward or Jaylen Brown unless head coach Brad Stevens prefers to keep them in their accustomed bench roles and decides to start Semi Ojeleye at power forward instead. Aron Baynes has started the last three games at center in Horford’s absence, but he’s yet to play more than 19 minutes in any of those contests since head coach Brad Stevens has opted for a center-by-committee approach with Daniel Theis and Robert Williams both consistently seeing double-digit minutes off the bench. Unsurprisingly, Kyrie Irving has been the main beneficiary from a usage standpoint with Horford off the court this season, as he leads the Celtics with a 34.6% usage rate (+3.1%) and is averaging 1.43 DraftKings and 1.41 FanDuel points per minute in this scenario.

Dennis Schroder and Raymond Felton will serve one-game suspensions on Wednesday

Schroder and Felton have each been suspended one game and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings due to their involvement in Monday’s on-court altercation and leaving the bench area. Felton hasn’t been in head coach Billy Donovan’s rotation for the majority of the season, but Schroder typically sees minutes in at least the high-20s, so his absence will certainly have an impact on the rotation. There’s been no word if Deonte Burton will be available to play, but if he’s not, the Thunder will be left without a natural point guard to back up Russell Westbrook, which could lead to Paul George or one of the other wing players assuming the ball-handling responsibilities when he’s resting on the bench.

Bogdan Bogdanovic (foot) and Iman Shumpert (hip) out Wednesday

Bogdanovic has officially been downgraded from questionable and won’t play in Wednesday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to a sore right foot, while Iman Shumpert will miss a third consecutive game with a right hip contusion after a beat reporter assumed that Shumpert intended to play because he was at shootaround this morning. In their absences, Justin Jackson will likely draw the start at small forward, and he could be in line for a massive minute load in tonight’s contest considering he already typically see minutes in the mid-20s when both Bogdanovic and Shumpert are healthy and active. With Marvin Bagley III still sidelined, Nemanja Bjelica should continue to absorb heavy minutes at power forward, and he is averaging 1.06 fantasy points per minute with him off the court this season, making Bjelica an intriguing bounce-back candidate at an affordable price tag on DraftKings, specifically, since he is significantly less expensive there than on FanDuel this evening.

Iman Shumpert (hip, personal) intends to play Wednesday

Shumpert was at shootaround Wednesday morning and confirmed with reporters that he intends to play in tonight’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder after missing two consecutive games due to personal reasons and a right hip contusion. Meanwhile, Bogdan Bogdanovic was limited during shootaround and appears to be nearing the wrong side of questionable because of a sore right foot. Bogdanovic was one of the Kings starters limited to less than 18 minutes in Monday’s blowout loss, but he typically sees minutes in the low-30’s off the bench with Shumpert serving as a nominal starter when the frontcourt is at full strength. With Marvin Bagley III still sidelined, Nemanja Bjelica should continue to absorb heavy minutes at power forward, and he is averaging 1.06 fantasy points per minute with him off the court this season, making him an intriguing bounce-back candidate at an affordable price tag on DraftKings, specifically.

Dominant Big Man Gets Soft Matchup Tonight

The value at the center position tonight is overshadowing an excellent matchup for one of the best big men in the game, Joel Embiid. The Knicks rank 27th in the league in points allowed per game, and 28th in the league in points in the paint allowed, with opposing center Enes Kanter ranking 57th among 61 centers in the NBA in Defensive Real Plus-Minus (DRPM). While the cheaper plays like Mo Bamba and Greg Monroe are tempting for their point-per-dollar value, Embiid is definitely worth a look, particularly in GPPs.

This Young Bench Player Should See Minutes Tonight

Derrick Rose should be a popular player tonight, for good reason as he moves into the starting lineup in place of Jeff Teague. One other player to consider, however, is young Josh Okogie, who averages 0.8 fantasy points per minute with Jeff Teague off the floor in the post-Jimmy Butler era. Okogie saw 28 minutes with Teague out on Monday, and put up 10 points with 3 assists and 3 rebounds (plus 2 steals and a block). Okogie is still near minimum-priced across sites tonight and is a solid GPP pivot off of (or even with) Rose.

Can I Have Some Moore?

Sorry for the terrible pun in the header; been hanging out with old corny people way too much lately. In any case, the Pelicans are going to be without Mirotic, Randle, and Payton tonight, and if we run CourtIQ we clearly see that Davis should go absolutely nuts tonight, but what we also see is that Moore gets a massive boost. He has only played 46.8 minutes on the floor with these 3 players out, but in that time he has a 23.9% usage rate and is averaging over 1.06 DK points per minute. With all the injuries, Moore could be in for 35+ minutes, and with the second highest total on the board in a close game, we could legit see him go for 40 here at just $4,600. With the huge amount of value on the board, Moore might get overlooked, so he is a fantastic GPP play.

Yahoo Note: Moore is only $2 over the minimum and is playing at a moderately thin SF position. He is a great play on Yahoo.

Mike Conley (hamstring) intends to play Wednesday

Conley was a full participant at shootaround Wednesday morning, and he confirmed with reporters that he intends to play in tonight’s matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers after missing Monday’s loss due to a sore left hamstring, while Kyle Anderson remains listed as probable and Joakim Noah remains listed as questionable with their respective ailments. Conley admitted that he will need to continue to manage his ailing hamstring but didn’t specify if that management would result in a slightly stricter minute cap on a nightly basis or if he was just referring to the additional treatment the injury typically requires. Shelvin Mack has started each of the past two games in place of Conley and Anderson, but he was relatively ineffective from a fantasy perspective despite averaging 27 minutes in those contests. With Conley and Anderson firmly on track to play, Mack will head back to the bench to resume his reserve role, but he could begin losing some playing time to Jevon Carter, who logged at least 23 minutes off the bench in each of the last two games.