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The 2024 PGA season is here. Get the industry’s best projections

Washington Wizards vs. Boston Celtics, 12:00 pm ET
Team Totals:
Pace rank: Wizards 5th, Celtics 17th
Wizards expected starters: Jerome Robinson, Isaac Bonga, Troy Brown Jr., Rui Hachimura, Thomas Bryant
Celtics expected starters: Tremont Waters, Carsen Edwards, Romeo Langford, Grant Williams, Robert Williams

Injury news: The Celtics are sitting their core six guys with Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis.
UPDATE: Shabazz Napier is out after listing him as available yesterday

Wizards rotation notes: Coach Scott Brooks said he wanted to start Troy Brown Jr. at PG next to Napier (Napier was hurt when Troy started at PG on Tuesday).

Celtics rotation notes: The Celtics sat these six guys in their last scrimmage (Enes Kanter also rested), minutes in that one: Romeo Langford 33, Carsen Edwards 32, Grant Williams 27.4, Tremont Waters 27.1, Javonte Green 26.2, Semi Ojeleye 23.6, Robert Williams 23.5, Brad Wanamaker 22.9, Vincent Poirier 15.4, Tacko Fall 9.4.

*Stevens really praised Romeo Langford on Aug. 7. “His chance of getting on the court in the playoffs or games where we’re fully healthy is to be a ball-mover and a cutter, make an open shot and guard. I think that’s what it boils down to right now.” Romeo had already earned Stevens’ trust to be a potential rotation piece in certain playoff matchups. He also worked on his shot, so he might get more chances to show it off today.

*Scott Brooks did drop a hint that Troy Brown had a rough go after his disappointing start at PG on Tuesday. Brooks said he is “a bad former point guard,” so maybe Troy PG experiment was basically dead on arrival. Still, he gets some subpar competition in this one, so maybe he really crushes. He also wants to improve his defense, so maybe Brooks gives him heavy burn to close it out.

*Robert Williams did top out at 24 minutes in that last scrimmage. Even with some rotation players around him for most of the time in his five bubble games, Time Lord has per-24 minutes of 18.7 points, 7.7 boards, 1.6 dimes and 2.9 blocks for 40.8 FD points. If he’s starting, it’s going to be really tough to fade him. Even if he’s not, he’s still a great option.

 

Sacramento Kings vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 1:30 pm ET
Team Totals:
Pace rank: Kings 19th, Lakers 14th
Kings expected starters: Cory Joseph, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Harrison Barnes, Nemanja Bjelica, Alex Len (note: Beware of funny business here)
Lakers expected starters: Quinn Cook, Danny Green, LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, JaVale McGee (note: Thinking Anthony Davis gets the afternoon off here)

Injury news: Anthony Davis (knee) is questionable, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (foot) is out, Alex Caruso (neck) will not play, and LeBron James (groin) is probable with his usual issue.

Kings rotation notes: Bogdan said coach Luke Walton talked to his players to motivate them over the last game after being eliminated, Walton said it was nice to see Harry Giles have a nice game.

Lakers rotation notes: Anthony Davis has not rested yet with 38 minutes in his last outing, AD is top three in total minutes excluding Blazers and Grizzlies (high considering the Lakers had nothing to play for for a week).

*Luke Walton’s post-game presser on Tuesday was a little tricky. He talked about how important it was to play defense, but he did mention some guys played a lot of minutes and he’d want to see how they feel. After playing a somewhat normal rotation, it’s possible he mixes it up more for this one.

*Coach Frank Vogel has said each team can manage their guys differently, so maybe that means AD is out there. LeBron James still hasn’t looked right and maybe he needs more reps.

*The Lakers don’t seem too concerned about their offense being so bad. Their starters are at a bubble-worst 74.4 offensive rating with no lineup even close to them among those with 40-plus minutes (Raptors starters 97.6). “The one thing you can do is defend,” LeBron James recently said. Vogel also sounds like his team will just figure it out. “Our defense slipped the last two games because we’ve been focusing so much on gaining an offensive rhythm, working in new guys and whatnot, but I feel very confident we can tighten the screws on the defensive end very quickly.” The Lakers haven’t really managed their guys too much besides the back-to-back game and when they’re dinged up, so it doesn’t sound like chemistry is a major concern here.

 

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Memphis Grizzlies, 4:00 pm ET
Team Totals:
Pace rank: Bucks 1st, Grizzlies 7th
Bucks expected starters: Eric Bledsoe, Kyle Korver, Khris Middleton, Pat Connaughton, Brook Lopez
Grizzlies expected starters: Ja Morant, Dillon Brooks, Kyle Anderson, Anthony Tolliver, Jonas Valanciunas

Injury news: Giannis Antetokounmpo is suspended for this one, Ersan Ilyasova (elbow) is questionable, Wes Matthews (groin) is out, the Grizzlies have their usual injury report with no Tyus Jones (knee), Jaren Jackson (knee) and Justise Winslow (hip).

Bucks rotation notes: Coach Mike Budenholzer left the door open for funny business despite the importance of this game for the Western Conference playoffs.

Grizzlies rotation notes: Tolliver at just 4.3 minutes in the second half on Tuesday, Ja Morant was on pace for a 24-minute second half if not for garbage time.

*With Giannis out, Bud did basically say he doesn’t care too much about teams like the Suns, Spurs and Blazers rooting for them to beat the Grizzlies. “(We’ll) be respectful of the bigger league and what we’re doing, but I think every team is always just trying to figure out what’s best for themselves and it won’t be any different Thursday when we play Memphis.” Earlier in the week, Bud said he just has to think about the Bucks and be “in great physical condition, great health, great rhythm” going into the playoffs. Brook Lopez also said earlier this week that the Bucks are ready for the Magic.

*Ja Morant has a shot at 48 minutes, and he would’ve been at 45 in the last game if not for garbage time. The Bucks defense is a bit of a funnel on drives as they allow a ton of drives, but they also are easily the toughest defense to score on per drive. Although, without Giannis and probably a limited Brook Lopez (maybe DNP?), Morant is set for a huge role with big scoring volume. Morant is at 26.6 drives per game, which destroys the pre-bubble leader (Westbrook 20.5). He’s also at 20.6 potential assists per game. He’s an easy play today.

*As much as we hate to see Tolliver out there, that lineup has actually fared well with a +8.3 net rating in the bubble. The second unit with Ja has also been solid at +13.3 (Ja, Melton, Allen, Dieng, Clarke), so Jenkins is probably going to hang his hat on those two units.

 

Dallas Mavericks vs. Phoenix Suns, 4:00 pm ET
Team Totals:
Pace rank: Mavericks 18th, Suns 9th
Mavericks expected starters: Luka Doncic, Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., Dorian Finney-Smith, Boban Marjanovic
Suns expected starters: Ricky Rubio, Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Deandre Ayton

Injury news: The Mavs have Kristaps Porzingis (heel) questionable, Maxi Kleber (knee) probable, Dorian Finney-Smith (hip) probable, Seth Curry (leg) questionable; the Suns have Cameron Johnson (knee) listed as probable, Kelly Oubre (knee) listed as doubtful.

Mavericks rotation notes: Maxi Kleber has played 82 minutes at center in the bubble (44.0% of his minutes), minutes for guards next to Luka and THJ in the bubble: Trey Burke 66, Curry 48 (injury), Delon Wright 22, J.J. Barea 11.

Suns rotation notes: Monty Williams stuck with Cam Payne in the second half on Tuesday even after major foul trouble.

*The Athletic beat writer Tim Cato said it might do Seth Curry some good to get him to 30 minutes in this game after having so many limits on him due to injury. Carlisle also said the back-to-back set is why Curry sat out for the last one.

*Carlisle did also drop a hint that he could play this one out, and it’s worth a mention he is the president of the coaches’ association. “I do believe the competitiveness, the closeness of these games, some of the learning situations we’ve gone through and responded well to (have helped). We’ve got to get strategically prepared. We’ve got to get prepared health-wise as best we can and then get ready to go from there.

*You probably don’t need any notes on the Suns here. They’re as safe as it gets, and they get a matchup against a team that is bleeding points at 119.1 D rating (20th in bubble, Blazers, Nuggets).

 

San Antonio Spurs vs. Utah Jazz, 6:30 pm ET
Team Totals:
Pace rank: Spurs 11th, Jazz 24th
Spurs expected starters: Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Lonnie Walker IV, DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl
Jazz expected starters: Donovan Mitchell, Jordan Clarkson, Joe Ingles, Royce O’Neale, Tony Bradley

Injury news: The Jazz will hold out Rudy Gobert (back) and Mike Conley (knee) for this one, Emmanuel Mudiay (knee) is questionable, Bryn Forbes (quad) remains out, and still no Tyler Zeller.

Spurs rotation notes: Spurs will be rooting for either the Suns or Grizzlies to lose, but if they both win then they’ll be eliminated.

Jazz rotation notes: Snyder said the priority in the last two games is to ensure health of the team and develop the young players and bench into a rhythm

*The Spurs continue to play extremely fast at just a tick behind the Rockets for second in bubble pace. The Jazz guards have also been vulnerable at times and not having Gobert makes them a defense to attack, especially since the Spurs should have major incentive.

*It’s mildly interesting that the Jazz rested their guys against the Spurs in their first bubble meeting. They’re doing it again to at least some degree, and it might be heavy rest in the second half. Coach Gregg Popovich helped Quin Snyder get back into pro coaching when Snyder was the head coach of the Austin Toros, so maybe Snyder is returning the favor.

*Derrick White really looked hobbled in his last game after a knee injury on Sunday. Keldon Johnson has received a ton of praise from Gregg Popovich, which is rare for Pop on a rookie. Keldon is coming off career-highs 24 points and 11 boards. Pop trusted Keldon so much that he even put him on Russell Westbrook, and Pop said Keldon learned a lot. If the Spurs get bad news with Suns and Grizzlies wins, it might be Keldon time. It might be Keldon time regardless.

 

Portland Trail Blazers vs. Brooklyn Nets, 9:00 pm ET
Team Totals:
Pace rank: Nets 10th, Blazers 13th
Blazers expected starters: Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, Carmelo Anthony, Zach Collins, Jusuf Nurkic
Nets expected starters: Caris LeVert, Garrett Temple, Joe Harris, Rodions Kurucs, Jarrett Allen

Injury news: Chris Chiozza (groin) is questionable, Donta Hall (ankle) is questionable and Jamal Crawford (hamstring) remains out, C.J. McCollum is also playing through a fracture to his lower back.

Blazers rotation notes: Gary Trent Jr. did start the second half for Zach Collins in the last game, Trent played a whopping 21.0 minutes in the second half in the last one (Collins 6.6), Dame has hit 21-plus minutes in every second half.

Nets rotation notes: Jacque Vaughn said the Nets starters will be available “at the start of the game,” Chris Chiozza did not practice on Thursday after his injury on Wednesday (did not return).

*Coach Jacque Vaughn dropped a hint that he’s locked in on Caris at the point. He was talking about Chiozza’s injury and saying how they were still OK depth-wise, so LeVert will continue to have the ball in his hands. Still, the “start of the game” quote makes it really tough to use Nets unless we get a clearer picture.

*We found out on Tuesday that C.J. McCollum is playing through a back fracture to one of his vertebrae. It’s technically a fracture to his transverse process on his L3 (lumbar, lower back), and still C.J. knocked down some big free throws. Maybe if things go the Blazers way and this game isn’t all that important, McCollum could get some much-deserved rest.

*Dame was below a 30 usage rate in each game before the Pat Beverley comments, and he’s been over 40 in the last two. He’s obviously the most attractive target on the slate.

 

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Orlando Magic, 9:00 pm ET
Team Totals:
Pace rank: Pelicans 4th, Magic 26th
Pelicans expected starters: Lonzo Ball, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, E’Twaun Moore, Nicolo Melli, Jaxson Hayes (note: Would not be surprised to see Frank Jackson start for Lonzo)

Magic expected starters: D.J. Augustin, Wes Iwundu, James Ennis, Gary Clark, Nikola Vucevic

Injury news: The Pelicans will hold out Jrue Holiday (elbow), Zion Williamson (knee) and Brandon Ingram (knee) again with Josh Hart (knee) also questionable; the Magic won’t have Aaron Gordon (hamstring), Terrence Ross (illness), Evan Fournier (illness) and Michael Carter-Williams (foot).

Pelicans rotation notes: Gentry said Jahlil “played great” on Tuesday, Gentry said that Lonzo playing well on Tuesday was important, Gentry said Frank Jackson is understanding the game a lot more and was playing with a lot of effort and energy.

Magic rotation notes: Clifford said he wants his guys healthy for the playoffs, only had 10 guys available in the last game (second unit: Markelle Fultz, Melvin Frazier, B.J. Johnson, Vic Law, Khem Birch).

*Reading between the lines a bit on Gentry, it sounded like he really wanted to see Lonzo have a good game before the bubble run was over. Frank Jackson was the talk of the post-game pressers, so he might have more than 25 minutes headed his way after the big 18-point effort.

*Clifford has been prepping his team for Milwaukee in practice. He said they had done some walkthrough stuff because of all the games, so that suggests he wants to get his team rested a bit. Clifford also said that he wants Vooch locked in on the Milwaukee gameplan, and he said he feels “good about where he’s at” with his play in the bubble.

*Alvin Gentry is likely a goner as a coach, so it might be a heavy development day. We’ve seen EVP David Griffin talk about the young nucleus for a while, and J.J. Redick and Derrick Favors didn’t even play despite being on the active list. If Hart is out, both NAW and Frank-Jax could be options.