• Injury Report

    To stay up-to-date on all of the injury news with up-to-the-minute updates, make sure to check out our LIVE Injury Report!

    New York Knicks @ Charlotte Hornets

    Game Time: 12:10 pm ET

    Key Storylines

    Change Of Role?: Cameron Payne filled in admirably for Miles McBride as the “lead guard” coming off the bench for the Knicks while McBride was sidelined for five games. On Wednesday night, Payne logged more minutes than McBride. Should this trend continue, it would make McBride droppable in deeper formats while making Payne a lot more intriguing as a streaming option moving forward.

    Cooking: LaMelo Ball’s numbers have been outrageous over the past four games, averaging 40.3 (!) points per game. His numbers are being carried by a super high usage rate, due to the Hornets being very short handed at the moment. While these numbers are obviously unsustainable, we could see Ball go off for a few more games at this level until the Hornets start getting healthier again. Unfortunately, Ball has now been confirmed OUT for Friday’s game and while we await more information regarding Ball’s status moving forward, it leaves Brandon Miller with a massive workload to carry offensively on Friday.

    Stream of the Game

    Cody Martin continues to benefit from the Hornets missing a number of rotation players at the moment and can be streamed in standard formats.

    Alternatives: Tidjane Salaun, Moussa Diabate, Vasilije Micic (with LaMelo Ball unavailable now) , Miles McBride and Cameron Payne (deeper formats)

    The FantasyPass isn’t just for drafts anymore! This year, take your team to the next level with in-season TOOLS like Head-to-Head Matchups and Dynamic Daily/Weekly Projections, SCHEDULE ANALYSIS, PICKUP ADVICE and more… starting at just $7/month!

    Cleveland Cavaliers @ Atlanta Hawks

    Game Time:  2:40 pm ET

    Key Storylines

    Core Four: The Cavs “core four” of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen are all currently ranked inside the top-35 in per-game value in 9-cat formats and are not showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon. Fantasy managers who invested into these players during drafts should be feeling great about the return so far.

    20/20 Vision: Trae Young is coming off a career-best 22 assists last time out vs. the Cavs and will look to keep it rolling in a rematch on Friday. Young has struggled with Achilles tendinitis to start the season but has looked better as of late.

    Stream of the Game

    De’Andre Hunter  is the preferred option to stream in should he be available on waiver wires.
    Ty Jerome is another strong option to consider if available.

    Alternatives: Zaccharie Risacher, Georges Niang and Sam Merrill (deeper formats).

    Since Caris LeVert is now questionable, he might be worth a look if cleared early.

    Memphis Grizzlies @ New Orleans Pelicans

    Game Time:  7:40 pm ET

    Key Storylines


    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 Required

    Click 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!