-
February 21, 2025, 10:20 pm
Injury Report
Teams that have a Friday-Saturday B2B:
Rockets, Jazz
Phoenix Suns @ Chicago Bulls
Game Time: 5:00 pm ET
DraftKings Lines
PHO -3.5 (-162), CHI +3.5 (+136)
Game Total 239.5Key Storylines
Another Bol Flameout: The nice run of games ended with a 10-minute game on Thursday. That doesn’t mean we won’t see Bol producing again this season, but remember, fantasy production does not equate to real-life impact. Bol isn’t the best decision-maker on the floor despite his raw physical gifts allowing him to be a “fantasy stud” as a stat collector.
Ball and Buzelis Watch: Those two are starting as Ayo Dosunmu moved to the bench last game with Ball back. Ball has a fantasy-friendly game on paper (threes, assists, steals) but hasn’t put it together consistently so far. Buzelis is just a player that we hope will have the rookie breakout. He doesn’t lack confidence, but we want to see it translating better.
Stream of the Game
Lonzo Ball: Assists, threes and steals upside.
Alternatives:
Royce O’Neale
Matas Buzelis
Ayo Dosunmu – questionable
Grayson Allen
Nick Richards–deep league line–
Zach Collins (with Jalen Smith – concussion – out)
Tre Jones
Julian Phillips (with Patrick Williams – knee – out)Brooklyn Nets @ Philadelphia 76ers
Game Time: 7:30 pm ET
DraftKings Lines
BKN +10 (+310), PHI -10 (-395)
Game Total 214Key Storylines
Russell out, Cam Thomas close, Clowney further away: In case you missed the update a few days ago, Noah Clowney aggravated his ankle injury further prior to the All-Star break so he will be out for a while. That gives Day’Ron Sharpe some freedom to be the per-minute hero that he is, who hopefully gets fill-in chances (they would typically start Clowney at C if given the chance). Now, it’s just to see how Thomas looks when he is back.
To Be or Not to Be: The Sixers’ season is in the balance. If they take a run of losses, I would not be surprised if they call it a day and allow Joel Embiid to have that knee surgery that he needs to try to recover some semblance of who he used to be (70%-to-80% of old Embiid is still pretty good though). If they do pack it in and tank, Quentin Grimes, Jared Butler and Guerschon Yabusele would be the most intriguing players. Maybe Ricky Council IV too.Lonnie Walker IV is expected to make his debut, but should only be a bench-gunner and his points plus threes fantasy profile limits his upside.
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!