Larry Nance Jr. (wrist) did not practice Thursday but did some shooting.
Nance Jr. has missed the last two games with the injury he can't seem to shake off. Getting some shots up is a great first step, but not practicing makes it harder to believe he'll play against the Bucks on Friday. It's not impossible, though. Check in again to see what his status is closer to tip-off.
Rockets coach Stephen Silas said that there's a "small chance" that David Nwaba (left ankle sprain) will be able to play Thursday vs. Memphis.
Nwaba, who was officially listed as questionable for Thursday's game, will go through pregame warmups in order to gauge how he feels. If all are satisfied, then he will be back in the rotation. If Nwaba is unable to play, Danuel House and Ben McLemore would have the most to gain when it comes to playing time.
The Nets have transferred Reggie Perry to the team's G-League affiliate.
Less than a week after he posted his first career double-double, Perry is on his way to the G-League bubble in Orlando. This isn't a surprising development, as the Nets recently signed Norvel Pelle to add some size to the frontcourt. Perry wasn't going to be a fantasy option this season, but in spurts the rookie showed that he could be a solid contributor down the line.
Otto Porter (back spasms) is not expected to play in Friday's game vs. the Magic, Bulls coach Billy Donovan said.
Chicago is scheduled to play the Magic in Orlando on back-to-back nights, and Porter will travel with the team. But Donovan doesn't expect to have the veteran forward available for Friday's game, which likely ensures that Denzel Valentine will remain in the rotation. Valentine is worth a look in deep leagues, but Thaddeus Young is by far the best option if he's still floating around on your waiver wire. No decision has been made regarding Porter's availability for Saturday.
Onyeka Okongwu (left Achilles soreness) is listed as questionable for Thursday's game vs. Utah.
Okongwu has missed each of the Hawks' last two games due to the Achilles soreness, and he was originally listed as questionable ahead of Wednesday's matchup with the Mavericks. At best, the rookie is currently a stash option in deeper leagues due to his upside.
Terrance Ferguson (health and safety protocols) has been ruled out for Thursday's game against the Blazers.
Ferguson has appeared in just six games this season, with this being his second lengthy stint on the injury report for health and safety protocol reasons. He isn't a factor when healthy, so Ferguson should already be on the waiver wire in all leagues.
David Nwaba (left ankle sprain) is listed as questionable for Thursday's game against the Grizzlies.
Due to the injury, which he suffered on Monday, Nwaba was held out of Wednesday's loss to the Thunder. Should be miss another game, that would free up a few more minutes for Danuel House and maybe even Ben McLemore. Those two played 25 and 12 minutes, respectively, Wednesday night. Neither is worth picking up for Thursday's action, especially with John Wall and Eric Gordon good to go.
Anthony Davis said that while he has been encouraged to shooter more 3-pointers, he doesn't "want to be that guy that's just out there shooting 3's."
Despite the encouragement from teammates and coach Frank Vogel, Davis is averaging nearly one less 3-point attempt per game than he did last season (2.6 vs. 3.5 in 2019-20). But he's become a more efficient scorer in the paint, making 76.5% of his attempts in the restricted area and 59% in the non-restricted area paint, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic. While he is willing to put up perimeter shots, Davis remains focused on the paint. "I’ve seen a lot of guys be able to shoot the 3, but they were in a post and now they kind of just shoot 3s," Davis said. "I want to make sure we establish a presence in the paint." Davis is currently providing top-20 value in both 8- and 9-cat formats, which isn't on par with his Yahoo ADP (3), but the separation isn't enough to label him a disappointment by any stretch of the imagination.
Jordan Poole and Nico Mannion (G-League assignment) have been ruled out for Thursday's game against the Mavericks.
Both players, who were at best fringe rotation players, are with the Warriors' G-League affiliate in Orlando. Poole and Mannion will get consistent playing time there, which should help with regards to their development. Neither should be rostered in any fantasy league.
Killian Tillie (left foot soreness) has been ruled out for Thursday's game vs. Houston.
Tillie, who has been nagged by injuries for much of this season, isn't worth holding in any league. Even when he's healthy enough to play.
Chris Paul hit 4-of-7 shots and a 3-pointer for 10 points, zero rebounds, four assists and one steal in just 25 minutes of Wednesday's ugly blowout loss to the Pelicans.
The Suns hung in there for the first half and then threw in the towel after getting blown out in the third quarter, when the Pelicans scored 40 points. Paul has been playing ridiculous minutes lately, seeing at least 31 minutes in all but one of his January games and he logged 38 minutes against the Mavericks on Monday. In other words, he was due for a break and tonight was a good time to give it to him, given the 123-101 final score. The Suns are off until Friday when they get a visit from the Pistons, so Paul will hopefully be back to form for that on.
D'Angelo Russell scored 20 points on 8-of-20 shooting Wednesday, to go with two rebounds, five assists, one 3-pointer and three blocks over 31 minutes in a loss to the Spurs.
Russell had been connecting on just 35.4% of his shots in the four games prior, and while he wasn't phenomenal tonight, perhaps this is a sign that he's ready to start shooting in the 40-range more regularly. The heavy minutes would suggest that his quad is fine, but the Timberwolves are not, as they've now dropped nine of their past 11 games. Ryan Saunders spoke to their troubles after the game, saying, "You win as a group and you lose as a group. It’s not one player. It’s them, it’s me, it’s the assistants, it’s everyone here. We gotta just keep coming together in those situations."
Ricky Rubio didn't do much in 28 minutes off the bench on Wednesday, contributing just eight points, seven rebounds, seven assists, one steal and two turnovers in a loss to the Spurs.
Rubio has simply been awful this season, averaging career-lows across the board with just 6.1 points, 5.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.0 turnovers per game on 34.8% shooting from the floor. He’s also only averaging 23.4 minutes a night while operating primarily in a reserve role for the first time in his career, so we wouldn’t anticipate things to improve as long as he’s in Minnesota. Perhaps a trade to the right situation could get him going again, but that’s just a pipe dream, as we haven’t even heard whispers of Rubio receiving trade interest.
Devin Booker played through a tender hamstring on Wednesday and hit 9-of-20 shots and 7-of-8 free throws for 25 points, four rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes of a 123-101 loss to the Pelicans.
His hamstring must be fine if they gave him 32 minutes in a blowout loss. He was 0-for-4 from downtown in this one, making this the first game of the season he didn't hit at least one triple. Make sure he's back in your lineup.
Naz Reid (wrist) returned to the starting lineup on Wednesday and finished with eight points (3-of-7 FG), 11 rebounds, three assists, two 3-pointers, two steals and one turnover through 32 minutes of floor time.
Reid was playing so well tonight that Ed Davis, who had been starting, finished with a DNP-CD — but the end result was still a loss for the Wolves. Jarred Vanderbilt finished with two points, 11 rebounds, two assists, one block and two turnovers in just 16 minutes off the bench, and both these guys will maintain value while Karl-Anthony Towns (COVID-19) is out, with Vanderbilt being the better long-term play.
Jeff Teague struggled in a spot-start on Wednesday, going 1-of-6 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line for seven points over 23 minutes.
Teague added one 3-pointer, one rebound, one assist, one steal and one turnover while he was out there, but this was quite the disappointing stat line for anyone who deployed him in DFS. The reserve PGs didn't do much better, though, as Carsen Edwards finished with just one 3-pointer and nothing else in eight minutes off the bench — and Tremont Waters hit 1-of-8 shots for three points, two boards, five assists and two steals in 23 minutes. Kemba Walker will be back on Friday, which will render all these other guys irrelevant.
Steven Adams started on Wednesday and hit 4-of-10 shots for 11 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and a steal in 29 minutes after missing Monday's game with a calf injury.
Adams looked good and should be good to go on Wednesday against the Pacers, so make sure he's back in your lineup.
Lonzo Ball hit 7-of-13 shots and 4-of-7 3-pointers for 18 points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal in Wednesday's 123-101 win over the Suns.
Lonzo was shooting just 29 percent from downtown through his first 12 games of the season but has been on a tear over his last five, knocking down 20-of-38 3-pointers, good for 53 percent. He's averaging 4.0 triples over that stretch and while the Pelicans haven't been winning a lot, Ball is playing well for his fantasy managers. He'll look to keep it going against the Pacers on Friday. This was just the second game of the season where Ball didn't have at least two assists.
Robert Williams saw 19 minutes off the bench in Wednesday's loss to the Kings, finishing with nine points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, one block and three turnovers.
The Time Lord was limited to just eight minutes against the small-ball Warriors on Tuesday, but he surpassed that mark by halftime in today's game, and he even saw some crunch-time minutes. His inconsistent role is due to the presence of Daniel Theis and Tristan Thompson, but he's shown time and again that he only needs about 20 minutes to make an impact in fantasy hoops with his shot-blocking upside. He should be rostered in deep leagues, but in standard formats, he's more of a stash due to the inconsistency.
Tristan Thompson posted a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double over 22 minutes in Wednesday's loss to the Kings.
Thompson went 7-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from the stripe, but he was benched down the stretch in favor of Robert Williams and Daniel Theis. "They were small a lot of that time," said head coach Brad Stevens of the Kings lineups. "I thought Rob [Williams] was playing well during his stint. Then they were spreading us out more, so we went back to [Daniel] Theis late." Theis logged 27 minutes in the loss and finished with 11 points (3-of-5 FG, 3-of-4 FT), four rebounds, four assists, two 3-pointers and one block. It's tough to trust any of the bigs in Boston.