Updated: 2:30 pm ET
MONDAY 6-GAME SLATE
UPDATE: Michael Porter Jr. is in the starting lineup. This isn’t “injury news” but it’s worth a mention given how much Mike Malone disliked MPJ on Saturday.
UPDATE: Dennis Schroder (personal) and Terrance Ferguson (leg) are out, so the Thunder are really going to have to lean on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chris Paul to run their offense. Hamidou Diallo should see more time along with more Deonte Burton and Abdel Nader.
Top Injuries to Watch
1. The Pacers have listed Malcolm Brogdon (neck) as questionable and Victor Oladipo (rest) as doubtful for Monday in the front end of a back-to-back set. Coach Nate McMillan said that Brogdon hurt his neck in the final scrimmage, and he said he couldn’t turn his neck at shootaround on Saturday before announcing he was out. You’d think there’s a pretty good chance he’s not going to play in this-back-to-back set. In a dream matchup, people are going to be all about T.J. Warren after his 53-point explosion, and Myles Turner is also in a spot to smash. Also, this puts Aaron Holiday is a very good spot while T.J. McConnell could also be a really nice play.
Update: Oladipo is out and Brogdon is in. That will make the starting lineup likely Brogdon, both Holiday bros, T.J. Warren and Myles Turner.
2. The Nuggets once again will not have Will Barton (knee) and Gary Harris (hip) again after missing Saturday. For the second game in a row, Jamal Murray (hammy) is listed as questionable after he sat out on Saturday. If Murray can’t go, it’ll be Monte Morris starting again and likely looking at minutes in the low 30s, P.J. Dozier as a backup and more Point Jokic. Michael Porter Jr. was a colossal flop on Saturday, and he could bounce back. Torrey Craig is also on the board. It’s a little tougher matchup here against an OKC D that looked great on Saturday, but still a lot of minutes are up for grabs.
UPDATE: Jamal Murray is out, as expected. Morris should be busy, but the matchup isn’t great.
3. Monday is the first day where teams will play on the back end of a back-to-back set. Per the NBA, those teams will have to submit their reports five hours prior to tip. That’s important because we may not get word on the Spurs, Wizards and Grizzlies before the first game starts. The Spurs have a very good chance to sit DeMar DeRozan or other players, the Grizzlies absolutely could sit Jonas Valanciunas, and you may want to keep an eye out for some Wizards. There could be a really big edge here on guys like Keldon Johnson, Brandon Clarke and some value would open up on the Wizards.
4. The Heat are starting their B2B today, and they have Goran Dragic (back) and Bam Adebayo (quad) as probable. This makes Dragic a little risky, and maybe there’s a chance for Kendrick Nunn. The Heat sound like they are locked in on their starters with Jae Crowder, so it’ll be really tough to bet on anyone else. Bam should be fine, but he gets a really tough matchup against the Raptors (see: Davis, Anthony).
UPDATE: Bam and Dragic are available, but be careful on Dragic’s minutes.
Toronto Raptors vs. Miami Heat (B2B), 1:30 PM ET
Bam Adebayo (quad contusion) and Goran Dragic (back) are probable to play. It is a back-to-back set here, but the good news is it’s the first game of the day. You probably want to be careful on Dragic, and maybe you can get a couple extra minutes for Kendrick Nunn. It’ll be tough to lean on Tyler Herro with Spo changing his rotations a bunch.
UPDATE: Bam and Dragic are available, but be careful on Dragic’s minutes.
Oshae Brissett (knee) and Pat McCaw (knee) will not play in this one. Terence Davis II is ahead of McCaw anyway, and this slightly helps Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
Denver Nuggets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 4:00 PM ET
The Nuggets once again will not have Will Barton (knee) and Gary Harris (hip) again after missing Saturday. For the second game in a row, Jamal Murray (hammy) is listed as questionable after he sat out on Saturday. If Murray can’t go, it’ll be Monte Morris starting again and likely looking at minutes in the low 30s. Michael Porter Jr. was a colossal flop on Saturday, and he could bounce back. Torrey Craig is also on the board.
UPDATE: Jamal Murray is out, as expected. Morris should be busy, but the matchup isn’t great.
Dennis Schroder (personal) and Terrance Ferguson (leg) are out, so the Thunder are really going to have to lean on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chris Paul to run their offense. Hamidou Diallo should see more time along with more Deonte Burton and Abdel Nader.
Indiana Pacers (B2B) vs. Washington Wizards (B2B), 4:00 PM ET
The Pacers have listed Malcolm Brogdon (neck) as questionable and Victor Oladipo (rest) as doubtful for Monday in the front end of a back-to-back set. Coach Nate McMillan said that Brogdon hurt his neck in the final scrimmage, and he said he couldn’t turn his neck at shootaround on Saturday. You’d think there’s a pretty good chance he’s not going to play in this-back-to-back set. In a dream matchup, people are going to be all about T.J. Warren after his 53-point explosion, and Myles Turner is also in a spot to smash. Also, this puts Aaron Holiday is a very good spot while T.J. McConnell could also be a really nice play.
Goga Bitadze (knee) is questionable again, but we’re not expecting him to play. JaKarr Sampson will be the backup five and Myles could see extra minutes in a big spot. Doug McDermott and Justin Holiday also slightly benefit here.
The Wizards played on Sunday, so their injury report won’t be out until around 11 or perhaps a little earlier. Today is the first day we’re getting teams on B2B, so we’ll see how it goes. The NBA said reports have to be in five hours prior to tip. They won’t have Garrison Mathews.
Memphis Grizzlies (B2B) vs. New Orleans Pelicans, 6:30 PM ET
The Grizzlies played on Sunday, so we may not get their report until Monday afternoon (see notes on Wizards above). We know they won’t have Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow. As mentioned above, it might be Brandon Clarke season, Jaren Jackson Jr. is also a monster as a five.
The Pelicans have not listed anyone on their injury report. Zion Williamson will be on a minutes restriction again, however.
San Antonio Spurs (B2B) vs. Philadelphia 76ers, 8:00 EDT
The Spurs played on Sunday, so we’ll get their report in the afternoon, most likely. Expect that Marco Belinelli (foot) is out, and Bryn Forbes (quad) is very unlikely. In a B2B, it’s probably Keldon time big time.
Glenn Robinson III (hip) is doubtful and Mike Scott (knee) is out. Nothing really going on here besides Alec Burks getting a few extra minutes.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Utah Jazz, 9:00 PM EDT
It’s the usual probable tags here, and presumably they are all good with LeBron James (groin), Kyle Kuzma (ankle) and Anthony Davis (eye) all probable. They have been listed for the same reasons in each of the first two, so they’re good to go.
The Jazz have Royce O’Neale (foot) listed as probable. He should be good, but if not this will help Georges Niang and Jordan Clarkson.
