-
February 28, 2025, 1:21 pm
Injury Report
Note that teams have until 1 p.m. local time on the day of a game to submit their report for the second leg of a back-to-back, so look out for updates throughout the day as appropriate.
Teams that have a Thursday-Friday B2B: Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns.
Denver Nuggets @ Detroit Pistons
Game Time: 07:00 pm ET
DraftKings Lines
DEN +2 (+105), DET -2 (-125)
Game Total: 237Key Storylines
Lack of Value: Outside of the Nuggets’ star players in Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, there is not much fantasy value in recent games for fantasy managers to find on this roster. Michael Porter Jr. continues to be inconsistent with his shooting, while Russell Westbrook, Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon all alternate better games with worse ones, making them difficult to trust in standard formats.
Ausar Not Listed: Ausar Thompson has thankfully avoided any injury and is off the injury report for Friday after suffering what appeared to be cramps in the Pistons’ game vs. the Celtics. Thompson continues to start for the Pistons despite Malik Beasley’s high level of production coming off the bench and remains an option in standard formats.
Stream of the Game
Isaiah Stewart’s minutes are limited but Stewart can provide defensive stats as a streaming option.
Alternatives: Aaron Gordon and Tim Hardaway Jr, Julian Strawther (deeper formats).
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Atlanta Hawks
Game Time: 7:30 pm ET
DraftKings Lines
OKC -12.5 (-750), ATL +12.5 (+525)
Game Total: 242Key Storylines
Caruso Resting: In Wednesday’s layup line I had written about the fact Alex Caruso was slowly but surely trending in the right direction, unfortunately the guard will now be unavailable on Friday due to “rest”. This might just be the Thunder exercising caution with Caruso, who has been injury-prone throughout his career. No Caruso opens up additional minutes for Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins.
No Reason To Hold Onto Capela: Clint Capela is playing exclusively as the backup to Onyeka Okongwu and does not need to be rostered in standard formats. Even in slightly deeper formats (14-team leagues), Capela should only be viewed as a streamer for rebounds and FG% moving forward.
Stream of the Game
Want to get access to the rest of this game preview Layup Line article? You’ll need to have an NBA FantasyPass membership. Click here to learn more and sign up!
Premium Access RequiredClick here to join us on Discord! And Follow us on Twitter by clicking here!
Join the SportsEthos team by filling out an application by clicking here!