DFS Alerts
Josh Richardson (foot) ruled out Sunday
Richardson will not play in tomorrow night’s game against the Loa Angeles Clippers after leaving Saturday’s practice with a soft tissue injury in his left foot that has reportedly been bothering him for a few days now. With Richardson now officially ruled out, expect Wayne Ellington to be inserted into the Heat starting lineup, while Rodney McGruder will remain at small forward. Dion Waiters will still likely come off the bench, as he is currently limited by a minutes restriction while working his way back from injury.
As reported by: Chris Haynes
Five Lakers listed as probable for Sunday
D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Luol Deng, Jordan Clarkson, and Tarik Black have all officially been listed as probable for tomorrow night’s game against the Orlando Magic. This is more of a precautionary measure by the Lakers’, as all the aforementioned players were able to play through their respective ailments in Friday’s contest. They are fully expected to play and see their usual allotment of minutes on Sunday.
As reported by: Mark Medina Other tagged players: Julius Randle, Luol Deng, Jordan Clarkson, Tarik Black Matthew Dellavedova (hamstring) will play Sunday; Malcolm Brogdon will remain in starting lineup
Dellavedova will play in tomorrow night’s game against the Washington Wizards after missing the Bucks’ previous five games with a strained right hamstring. Despite Dellavedova’s return from injury, Malcolm Brogdon will remain in the starting lineup. Brogdon won’t be the cash game lock going that he’s been over the past few games now that Dellavedova is back in the rotation, but he is certainly worth a look in tournaments in hopes the Bucks bring Dellavedova along slowly at first.
As reported by: cfgardner Other tagged players: Malcolm Brogdon Pistons-Blazers game in danger of being postponed due to inclement weather
The NBA is currently monitoring the weather situation in Portland, with significant snow and ice expected, and the game between the Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers could potentially be postponed. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide any updates should they become available.
As reported by: Rod Beard George Hill (concussion) will play tonight, confirmed in starting lineup
Hill will play in tonight’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves after passing the concussion protocol. His return to the starting lineup will send Shelvin Mack back to the bench to resume a reserve role. Hill draws a juicy matchup right off the bat against Rick Rubio and the Timberwolves shaky defense, making him an intriguing tournament option for an affordable price tag across the industry.
As reported by: David Locke David Lee (knee) ruled out tonight
Lee will not play in tonight’s game against the Charlotte Hornets due to a left knee contusion. In his absence, expect Dewayne Dedmon and Davis Bertans to soak up a majority of the front court minutes vacated by Lee. However, neither are particularly intriguing options outside of a pure tournament punt.
As reported by: Official Twitter Account of the San Antonio Spurs DeAndre Bembry (personal) ruled out tonight
Bembry will not play in tonight’s game against the Dallas Mavericks as he deals with a personal matter. The Hawks recently acquired Mike Dunleavy in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers for Kyle Korver. However, Dunleavy will not be available to play in Saturday’s contest. With Bembry and Dunleavy unavailable, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Taurean Prince will handle a majority of the backup wing minutes for Atlanta this evening.
As reported by: Chris Vivlamore Cody Zeller (concussion) questionable tonight, expected to be a GTD
Zeller is officially listed as questionable for tonight’s game against the San Antonio Spurs after missing the Hornets’ previous three games due to a concussion. Roy Hibbert would remain in the starting lineup at center should Zeller be ruled out but is essentially a starter in name only. With Zeller sidelined, Frank Kaminsky and Spencer Hawes have been the biggest beneficiaries of additional playing time and have been relatively consistent fantasy producers when given the opportunity. Each big men will entirely viable options this evening if Zeller is unable to suit up.
As reported by: Rick Bonnell Jeremy Lamb will start for Nicolas Batum (knee) tonight
Batum will not play in tonight’s game against the San Antonio Spurs due to a hyperextended right knee he sustained in Thursday’s loss to the Detroit Pistons. Batum is expected to be sidelined for the next one to two weeks with the aforementioned injury, so this news isn’t particularly surprising. Marco Belinelli and Jeremy Lamb should be expected to be the primary beneficiaries of additional playing time, while Kemba Walker should pick up some additional usage with the starting unit. Lamb will get the first crack at the starting shooting guard spot in Batum’s absence, but, according to our CourtIQ tool, Belinelli actually leads the Hornets with a 3.3% usage rate differential (22.0%). That usage bump combined with extra playing time will make Belinelli (along with Lamb) an interesting daily fantasy option going forward while Batum remains sidelined.
As reported by: Charlotte Hornets PR Other tagged players: Nicolas Batum Cameron Payne (foot) available to play tonight
Payne has been officially recalled from the Thunder’s D-League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, for tonight’s game against the Denver Nuggets after undergoing foot surgery in the offseason. Payne has been activated by the Thunder and will be available to play off the bench this evening. It has yet to be confirmed if Payne will have a minutes restriction in his return, but he did average 20 minutes per game in his two-game stint in the NBA Development League for Oklahoma City. His return to the rotation will likely significantly reduce the roles of Semaj Christon and Alex Brines in the second unit.
As reported by: Brett Dawson Cameron Payne (foot) recalled from D-League, could be activated for tonight's game
Payne has been officially recalled from the Thunder’s D-League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, for tonight’s game against the Denver Nuggets after undergoing foot surgery in the offseason. It has yet to be confirmed if Payne will have a minutes restriction if he is activated of Saturday’s contest, but he did average 20 minutes per game in his two-game stint in the NBA Development League for Oklahoma City.
As reported by: Royce Young Patrick Patterson (knee) questionable tonight
Patterson has officially been listed as questionable for tonight’s game against the Chicago Bulls after missing the Raptors’ previous three games with a strained left knee. Lucas Nogueira drew the start at power forward Thursday and played 25 minutes in the win over the Utah Jazz. He is certainly in play this evening against the front court duo of Taj Gibson and Robin Lopez. Theoretically, Jonas Valanciunas, who played at least 30 minutes in two of the last three contests, should see similar run against a Bulls squad that prefers to play big, but his minutes and production are still too volatile to be confidently recommended as anything other than a tournament option at center.
As reported by: Eric Smith J.J. Barea (leg) says he will play tonight
After shootaround today, Barea told reporters that he will play in tonight’s game against the Atlanta Hawks after previous being ruled out with a strained leg muscle that had forced him to the Mavericks’ last seven games. Barea won’t be on set minutes restriction, but the Mavericks’ coaching staff obviously plans to bring him along slowly and gradually increase his minute workload. The Dallas back court becomes much more crowded with Barea’s return, and it will be interesting to see if either Seth Curry or Devin Harris lose substantial playing time or if Mavericks’ head coach Rick Carlisle decides to roll out out three-guard lineups more often, leaving the trio of Barea, Curry, and Harris’ minutes relatively unchanged.
As reported by: Earl K. Sneed Rudy Gay (hip) will play tonight; Ty Lawson starts ahead of Ben McLemore
Gay will play and start in tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers after previously being listed as probable on the Kings’ injury report due to a strained right hip flexor that had forced him to miss nine of the Kings’ last 10 games. His return will send Matt Barnes back to the bench to resume a reserve role after playing at least 27 minutes in each of the previous four games with Gay sidelined. Additionally, Ty Lawson has been inserted in the starting lineup alongside Darren Collison, replacing Ben McLemore at shooting guard. The Kings seem intent on trying out two-point guard starting lineup and both Lawson and Collison are viable options on the late slates now that they wont be cannibalizing each other’s minutes as often.
As reported by: Sean Cunningham Other tagged players: Ty Lawson, Ben McLemore, Matt Barnes Julius Randle (finger) will play tonight
Randle will play and start in tonight’s game against the Miami Heat after X-rays on his left ring finger came back negative. Randle draws an amazing individual matchup with Luke Babbitt and should be able to take advantage of whomever Miami decides to throw out him since the Heat will be with out their two best defenders in Hassan Whiteside and Justise Winslow. The news of the sprained finger obviously adds some additional risk to rostering Randle on the late slates, but he still remains one of the highest upside power forwards on the board.
As reported by: Mike Trudell