Updated 7:30 pm ET
UPDATE 7:30 pm ET: A mild surprise here with Giannis Antetokounmpo (tooth) expected to play against the Wizards. he will likely have his minutes held in check during this one, but an active GA really caps some upside for potential Bucks punts like Frank Mason.
UPDATE 7:20 pm ET: Shabazz Napier (ankle) will not play and the Wizards will start Troy Brown at point guard. He’ll join Jerome Robinson, Isaac Bonga, Rui Hachimura and Thomas Bryant in the first unit. Brown is a great play.
UPDATE 5:05 pm ET: Dorian Finney-Smith is available for today’s game against the Blazers, and he should be good for minutes in the 30s. Seth Curry was ruled out this morning.
UPDATE 4:30 pm ET: Hassan Whiteside (hip) is available for Tuesday, as expected. He’ll be Jusuf Nurkic’s backup while Wenyen Gabriel gets out of the rotation.
UPDATE 3:30 pm ET: Daniel Theis is available for today’s game. Coach Brad Stevens was coy on how he’s going to treat the rotation, and said the team has a plan for load management. It sounds like the Celtics will have a normal rotation.
UPDATE 2:52 pm ET: The 76ers will not have Tobias Harris (ankle) and Al Horford (knee). It was already announced that they won’t have Joel Embiid and Josh Richardson, so they are extremely thin. Shake Milton should dominate the ball at the point with Alec Burks also in a great spot. The center minutes should be split with Norvel Pelle and Kyle O’Quinn with Pelle having attractive upside on FD for his blocks. Matisse Thybulle and Furkan Korkmaz are also in play.
UPDATE 2:00 pm ET: The Bucks are going rest happy here with no Eric Bledsoe, Khris Middleton, Donte DiVincenzo and Wes Matthews. Giannis Antetokounmpo is also questionable for this one after missing Monday. The Bucks should have plenty of minutes for Frank Mason as he shares the PG minutes with George Hill, who might also be limited. Brook Lopez isn’t on the injury report, so it’s tough to attack the frontcourt. Sterling Brown should also get some decent wing minutes.
UPDATE 1:43 pm ET: Derrick White (knee) is in the starting lineup with Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker IV, DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl. It’s a huge game for the Spurs, so White may do his best to gut it out after a knee injury on Sunday. This is a slight downgrade for Dejounte and Keldon Johnson.
UPDATE 1:25 pm ET: Seth Curry (leg) has been downgraded to out. The Mavs should get more minutes from Trey Burke, and there could be more playing time for Delon Wright and maybe Antonious Cleveland. J.J. Barea may not play in the B2B.
UPDATE 1:20 pm ET: Derrick White (knee) is available to play. This isn’t huge news just yet because they have enough inactive spots anyway, so don’t react to this news too much. We should have starting lineups shortly.
UPDATE 12:52 pm ET: Jeff Green will start for Danuel House. He could be looking at big minutes, so he’s a fringe option in a GPP.
UPDATE 12:32 pm ET: Danuel House has been ruled out for tonight against the Spurs. That’ll open up a few more minutes for Ben McLemore, Jeff Green Michael Frazier, Austin Rivers and maybe Chris Clemons. There’s not much going on here value wise.
UPDATE 12:24 pm ET: The Suns have upgraded Aron Baynes (knee) and Elie Okobo (ankle) to questionable. This really shouldn’t impact the key guys, but it may be a little tougher to go with Dario Saric. Jevon Carter and Cameron Payne are playing well, so Okobo almost has no shot to unseat them.
It’s a wild Tuesday with a lengthy injury report. Even without the Bucks, Raptors and Suns filing (back-to-back sets), the injury report has 25 players listed as out, three doubtful, seven questionable and two probable. A lot of those 25 have been out for a bit, but we’ve got some new lineups coming up today.
There is just so much going on here, so I’m going to do Top Injuries to Watch a little differently today.
‘Out’ Situations
*Caris LeVert, Joe Harris, Jarrett Allen and Garrett Temple are out. Rodions Kurucs is the safest with Tyler Johnson, Chris Chiozza, Jeremiah Martin and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot in play.
*Brandon Ingram, Jrue Holiday and Zion Williamson are out. Nickeil Alexander-Walker looks like a great play with most of the second unit benefiting.
*James Harden is out. Russell Westbrook could smash while Austin Rivers should get another chance.
*No De’Aaron Fox and Richaun Holmes for the Kings. Buddy Hield has to get his chance here while Alex Len and Harry Giles are in play.
*No Joel Embiid and Josh Richardson (more on 76ers below). If no Al Horford (questionable), Kyle O’Quinn and Norvel Pelle should split the C minutes. Shake Milton should handle the ball a ton.
* Terrence Ross (personal) is out. The Magic should manage their key guys’ minutes.
Top Questionable/Doubtful Injuries to Watch
*Derrick White (knee) is questionable. If he can’t go, Dejounte Murray should be able to handle the ball more while Keldon Johnson should get more playing time. Patty Mills may also benefit here.
*On top of Embiid and J-Rich, Tobias Harris and Al Horford are questionable. Shake should be safe regardless, but no Tobias and Horford opens things up for Alec Burks, Matisse Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz and Glenn Robinson (in that order) while Norvel Pelle and Kyle O’Quinn man the C minutes.
*Shabazz Napier (ankle) is questionable. Troy Brown saw more PG minutes while Ish Smith and Jerome Robinson also benefit.
*Daniel Theis (foot) is probable, but the Celtics are expected to manage their guys in one of the next two games. Keep an eye out for Robert Williams. I’d treat Theis as more of a questionable tag.
* Russell Westbrook (quad, questionable) is fully expected to play, but Danuel House (toe) is questionable. On top of more Rivers, Ben McLemore, Michael Frazier, Chris Clemons and Jeff Green could also benefit if House is out.
*Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Michael Carter-Williams (foot) are doubtful. It’ll be more James Ennis, Gary Clark and Wes Iwundu getting more run again with none of those guys offering much upside.
Brooklyn Nets vs. Orlando Magic, 1:00 pm ET
Unlike Sunday, the Nets have ruled out Caris LeVert (thigh), Jarrett Allen (ankle), Joe Harris (groin), Garrett Temple (rest) and Jamal Crawford (hamstring). This looks a little like the game against Milwaukee, but they won’t have Garrett Temple here (and six minutes from Jamal Crawford). Just because of the lack of bodies, we should have a pretty good idea of what the rotation looks like. It’ll be Chris Chiozza, Tyler Johnson and Jeremiah Martin manning most of the guard minutes, and all three are worth consideration (Martin has been fantastic per minute on small volume as a GPP play, Chiozza and Tyler are both very attractive). Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot should get another start at SF next to Lance Thomas, and it’ll be Justin Anderson and Dzanan Musa behind them. Rodions Kurucs will be a chalky play as the starter at the five with Donta Hall behind him.
The Magic are also gutted with Terrence Ross out; Aaron Gordon (hamstring), Michael Carter-Williams (foot) and Evan Fournier (illness) are also doubtful. Ross played a whopping 37 minutes in the last game and chances are Nikola Vucevic won’t be getting to 38 minutes, so that could leave 50ish minutes on the table. Coach Steve Clifford has really talked about getting Markelle Fultz’s conditioning up, and Fultz finally got big volume with 33 minutes in the last game (28 in regulation). You’d assume it’ll be Wes Iwundu, James Ennis and Gary Clark getting minutes close to 30 with some Melvin Frazier and Vic Law in the mix. If Cliff really cuts back on starters, B.J. Johnson would get in there.
Houston Rockets (B2B) vs. San Antonio Spurs, 2:00 pm ET
The Rockets will not have James Harden (rest) and Eric Gordon (ankle) for this game, and Russell Westbrook (quad) and Danuel House (toe) are questionable. Russ is fully expected to play, though. Obviously everyone is going to be on Austin Rivers after his 41-point explosion on Sunday night. After him, it should be Michael Frazier getting some guard minutes. If House can’t go, that would likely mean Chris Clemons finds rotation minutes. We’re expecting Russell Westbrook to play, and he will be in a smash spot, but just keep an eye out on minutes (D’Antoni is usually very honest on this topic).
Derrick White (knee) is questionable after his injury on Sunday. If he can’t go, that would likely set up more minutes for Quinndary Weatherspoon, Keldon Johnson, and Patty Mills. Dejounte’s touch time has fallen off in a big way as the games have gone on, so he’d have some new life here. This game means a lot for the Spurs, so White could still be out there.
Phoenix Suns (B2B) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (B2B), 4:30 pm ET
The Suns won’t have their injury report out until later, but hopefully their guys remember to take their COVID-19 test.
The 76ers have a loaded injury report with Joel Embiid (ankle) out, Josh Richardson resting, Tobias Harris (ankle) is questionable, and Al Horford (knee) is also questionable. Chances are Harris and/or Horford will sit out either Tuesday or Wednesday. The 76ers still have a decent amount of bodies, so maybe they just rest everyone. Either way, we can expect Shake Milton to be very busy while Alec Burks and Raul Neto fill out the ball-handler minutes. Also on the perimeter, Matisse Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz, Glenn Robinson III and maybe even Marial Shayok could see time if everyone sits. At the five, if no Horford, it’ll be Kyle O’Quinn and Norvel Pelle likely close to splitting the minutes, and both guys have some attractive per-minute upside.
Boston Celtics vs. Memphis Grizzlies, 5:00 pm ET
The Celtics have Daniel Theis listed as probable. Robert Williams is ahead of Enes Kanter right now, and Williams is likely looking at minutes regardless. He’d be a great play if Theis sits. Also, coach Brad Stevens said he could manage his main guys over the last three games and he didn’t in the first of three, so there’s a very good chance some guys get their minutes cut.
Nothing new in Memphis with Tyus Jones, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Justise Winslow.
Portland Trail Blazers vs. Dallas Mavericks (B2B), 6:30 pm ET
Hassan Whiteside (hip) is probable for this one, so presumably he will slot into the C2 spot for Wenyen Gabriel.
The Mavs rested Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis and Dorian Finney-Smith on Monday, so they should be back.
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Sacramento Kings, 9:00 pm ET
Bye, Pelican, bye. They will not have Jrue Holiday, Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson. The easy part of this is Nickeil Alexander-Walker will likely get big minutes and has been fantastic per minute. Frank Jackson could also benefit here to help in the backcourt. Josh Hart should also have a clear path to playing time with more minutes for Nicolo Melli, Jaxson Hayes, E’Twaun Moore, Kenrich Williams and maybe Sindarius Thornwell. Besides NAW, most of these guys would be GPP options at best.
The Kings will not have De’Aaron Fox and Richaun Holmes for this one. This should really open up minutes for Buddy Hield, who has been a disaster. Cory Joseph will likely start, but he’s not great per minute. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kyle Guy should also benefit. Alex Len and Harry Giles figure to get most of the center minutes. Kent Bazemore is also questionable, but there’s real no reason to play him. DaQuan Jeffries should be in the rotation.
Milwaukee Bucks (B2B) vs. Washington Wizards, 9:00 pm ET
The Bucks played on Monday, so we won’t get their injury report. I’d expect some heavy rest. Khris Middleton is a very strong bet to sit.
The Wizards have Shabazz Napier (ankle) questionable to play in this one. We have seen more Troy Brown Jr. PG minutes to open up playing time for Jerome Robinson, and there could be more Isaac Bonga time, too. Troy’s a great play regardless, and Ish Smith could be in play, assuming he starts.
