Injury Report

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Everyone except the Kings and the Pelicans play on Monday.

The Nuggets, Pacers, Rockets and Raptors have a Sunday-Monday back-to-back so their injury reports should come out during the day on Monday.

Boston Celtics @ Orlando Magic

Game Time: 7:00 pm ET

DraftKings Lines

BOS -9.5 (-455), ORL +9.5 (+350)
Game Total: 215

Key Storylines

Celtics: I don’t have many new thoughts here. Al Horford is a bit less rosterable in 12-team leagues with Kristaps Porzingis is playing though, but he will have his moments again whenever KP is out. 

Magic Mess: Moritz (Moe) Wagner is out for the season with a left ACL tear. Somehow, with Wagner going down and Wendell Carter Jr. being ejected in the first half vs. the Heat, the Magic mounted a 25-point comeback to win off the back of Cole Anthony (Jalen Suggs – questionable for Monday – also missed that game). 

Stream of the Game

Goga Bitadze is likely rostered but now we know he should have a higher ROS floor as a permanent rotation piece since he had previously fallen out of the rotation when the team was fully healthy. Keep him rostered.

Streamer wise, Tristan da Silva, Cole Anthony and Anthony Black all have potential.

Alternatives: Al Horford, Sam Hauser if he plays, Wendell Carter Jr., Jonathan Isaac

Utah Jazz @ Cleveland Cavaliers

Game Time: 7:00 pm ET

DraftKings Lines

UTA +14.5 (+700), CLE -14.5 (-1100)
Game Total: 230.5

Key Storylines

The Youth are gone: Kyle Filipowski and Cody Williams have practically been out of the rotation recently. With John Collins questionable, I’d be curious to see if “Flip” gets minutes again or if they just start a wing like Johnny Juzang (Svi Myhkailiuk started for the sidelined Keyonte George last game), pushing Lauri Markkanen to the four. George is questionable. 

All good in CLE: Ty Jerome has picked back up ever so slightly, but Caris LeVert is the real sixth man of this team. Max Strus also recently returned and is ramping up his minutes, so we are monitoring those rotational developments. 

Stream of the Game

Jordan Clarkson for offensive stuff, assuming Caris LeVert is rostered.

Alternatives:

Brice Sensabaugh?, Johnny Juzang or Svi Mykhailiuk if George and Collins miss…

Max Strus, Georges Niang or Sam Merrill for 3s, Dean Wade, Ty Jerome – especially with a blowout likely 

San Antonio Spurs @ Philadelphia 76ers

Game Time: 7:00 pm ET

DraftKings Lines

SAS +5 (+185), PHI -5 (-225)
Game Total: 217.5

Key Storylines

7’5″ SG: The Wemby shooting nine triples a game thing is controversial, sure, but as far as fantasy goes, he’s catching up to Nikola Jokic ever so slightly and it’ll be fun to watch. We’re also looking at how the rotations with Jeremy Sochan, Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie and company continue to evolve. Vassell and Sochan are trending up. 

Oh yeah, it looks like Charles Bassey has taken over the backup center duties from Zach Collins. Bassey is a major big-man stat getter for deep leagues if this rotation persists.

Embiid still has it: The knee won’t get better after all the injuries he has had and played through, but as he has shown in his last few appearances, he remains an unstoppable offensive force. Try to sell for top-25 value if you can, preferably on the higher end of that. 

Also, remember he dropped 70 on the Spurs last year…but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, right?

Stream of the Game

Kelly Oubre if available, if not: Julian Champagnie

Alternatives: Keldon Johnson, Harrison Barnes, Charles Bassey, Stephon Castle, Tre Jones

Houston Rockets @ Charlotte Hornets

Game Time: 7:00 pm ET

DraftKings Lines

HOU -6 (-245), CHA +6 (+200)
Game Total: 217

Key Storylines

Is Eason alright?: He has been out with left lower leg injury management. In case you forget, a left lower leg injury ended Eason’s season last year. You should still be holding though. On the other side, Jabari Smith Jr. is trending up, maybe because a concussion and now this issue have sidelined Eason in recent weeks. Note: the Rockets are on a B2B so look out for their Monday report. Also, please be patient during Fred VanVleet’s shooting slump. He isn’t a 20-to-25% shooter from the field. 

Still no Miller: The Hornets started Seth Curry in one of the games sans Miller, but then made the more natural switch to Cody Martin the next game. Regardless, Martin has been the better choice even when coming off the bench. Also, Mark Williams looks good in his limited minutes but we want to see those minutes trending up. 

Stream of the Game

Cody Martin for all-around stats.

Alternatives: Dillon Brooks, Nick Richards, Josh Green

Toronto Raptors @ New York Knicks

Game Time: 7:30 pm ET

DraftKings Lines

TOR +14 (+700), NYK -14 (-1100)
Game Total: 226.5

Key Storylines

Olynyk up to 25 minutes: While it wasn’t an amazing line on Sunday, Olynyk getting that many minutes should catch managers’ attention. That can be be enough from him to get into the fringe 12-team conversation. Also, Ja’Kobe Walter just had 27 points and six treys, but he will probably be the one benched if RJ Barrett (illness) can return, unless they bench Ochai Agbaji which I don’t think is likely at this point of the season. 

Also, Jamal Shead got the backup PG minutes with a points-assists double-double while Davion Mitchell was a DNP on Sunday.

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