MLB Best Bets – Free (Wednesday 7/24)
Josh Gross
Welcome to the FTN injury report, where we give the info on the injuries that are going to impact the NBA on a daily basis. Here’s a look at the Sunday slate.
Washington Wizards vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
If you thought Saturday was crazy with the amount of injury news we had to juggle throughout the day, you won’t find any relief on Sunday’s slate. Luckily, the Wizards will let us ease into the action this morning. Shabazz Napier is listed as probable with an ankle issue and should be expected to play. The rest of the Washington roster is healthy as of this writing.
Oklahoma City labeled Steven Adams (leg) and Dennis Schroder (personal) as out for this game on Saturday evening, so we can look to the Thunder backcourt for some nice spend-up options at guard. Nerlens Noel should start for Adams at center and should provide another day of value for your DFS lineups. Be wary of one change to the front court rotation from last game though, as Mike Muscala has cleared concussion protocol and is no longer listed on the injury report.
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Toronto Raptors
Our second game on this wonderful Sunday of hoops is an easy one for injury purposes. The struggling Grizzlies got a gift in the form of a Trail Blazers loss Saturday, and they will try to pick themselves up off the mat and right the ship. There are no changes to the Memphis injury report, and the rotation should remain similar to what we have seen from the first two games since Jaren Jackson Jr. went down with a season-ending injury. In a must-win game for the Griz, I have a feeling we will be targeting some guys from this roster in DFS Sunday.
Toronto has listed Serge Ibaka probable with an eye injury. Coach Nick Nurse has not shown that he will focus on resting his main guys in-game by design to this point of the bubble (they got plenty of rest in the blowout of the Celtics Friday) and unless we hear otherwise, I don’t expect him to pull the rug out from under us here. Still, the Raptors are priced correctly and are secondary plays at first glance.
San Antonio Spurs vs. New Orleans Pelicans
This should be a fun game, with both teams needing a win to keep serious hopes for the play-in series alive. The Spurs will be without Bryn Forbes once again, and Tyler Zeller will sit for the second straight game. With a 240 total and just a 3.0-point spread in favor of New Orleans, the Spurs are great targets across the DFS landscape Sunday. If you’ve been watching the Fast Eddie Fear daily livestream, you’ll know I haven’t been very high on DeMar DeRozan thus far in the bubble. Here, that changes as he will be a main target for me in cash and GPPs against the Pelicans.
New Orleans will return Zion Williamson to the court this afternoon, and the team is unscathed elsewhere on the roster. A fully healthy Pels team that is fairly priced on both main sites doesn’t get me very excited to have them as a focal point of my Sunday lineups. However, with the San Antonio exposure I expect to have, it could be optimal to run back a Pelican in lineups with two Spurs.
Orlando Magic vs. Boston Celtics
The Magic have been one of the many teams bitten hard by the injury bug in the bubble, but they upgraded Aaron Gordon to questionable for this matchup against Boston. Michael Carter-Williams is also questionable with his foot injury. Both players being active would be a huge boon to this Orlando team that needs a win to attempt to wrest the 7-seed away from the upstart Brooklyn Nets. I’m not sure Coach Steve Clifford actually cares if they’re the No. 7 or 8 seed, but one would think the Raptors are less of a hopeless matchup than the Bucks, who await the eighth seed in the East. If both players are indeed in, the Magic may be a full fade at their prices. Tune in to the Fast Eddie Fear show (free today!) before lock to hear how you should handle Orlando in NBA DFS on this Sunday slate.
Across the ball, the Celtics remain a healthy squad, and with Kemba Walker’s minutes limit remaining at 30 minutes for the rest of the regular season, the DFS appeal of this team is mediocre for Sunday’s outing. Everyone should be active barring late news, and Boston is priced correctly across the sites, with the possible exception of Walker on FD.
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Shout out to our good buddy DontEmbiidMyStatus in the NBA DFS Discord chat, as he and the rest of the Philly fans have been going through a rough patch with their 76ers. With Ben Simmons officially leaving the bubble for knee surgery, the 76ers chances to make a Finals run appear to have decreased to near zero. Glenn Robinson III has been upgraded to questionable with the hip injury that has prevented him from participating thus far in the bubble. His status shouldn’t affect too much for us DFS-wise, and the status of rest of the Philadelphia roster is the same as last game. Expect Al Horford to draw another start in Simmons’ absence.
Oh boy did things get spicy after that Trail Blazers collapse Saturday. Without getting into it much (if you didn’t see Damian Lillard’s comments back and forth with Patrick Beverley and Paul George, do you even NBA Twitter?), we should expect a fired-up Lillard to come out guns blazing in this one in a must-win game for his club. Hassan Whiteside missed Saturday’s loss with a hip injury and should be considered questionable at best for Sunday at the time of this writing. We should see the same tight eight-man rotation (Mario Hezonja will take Whiteside’s minutes again if he is indeed out) from Portland and the majority of them will be good or great plays on Sunday’s slate.
Houston Rockets vs. Sacramento Kings
There’s no reason to dance around it for long here: Russell Westbrook is out again, and it makes James Harden the highest projected player on the slate. Eric Gordon isn’t ready to return from his ankle injury and will remain sidelined. The rest of the Houston rotation will be targets on both sites today, as Mike D’Antoni played essentially seven guys in the blowout of the Lakers on Thursday night.
The Kings will be missing Richaun Holmes in this one, and that has some big implications playing against the Rockets. Kent Bazemore is upgraded to questionable with his calf injury, but the focus here should be on the front court regardless. We’ve seen some teams attack Houston’s small lineups with bigger centers, but I’m not sure that Alex Len is the man for the job for the Kings. It could be a smash spot for Nemanja Bjelica, who is a great small ball five man for this Sacramento team. We should also look for Harry Giles to get into the mix for some more minutes with Holmes out.
Brooklyn Nets vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Having clinched a playoff spot, the Nets look like they’re going to rest their “main” guys again here. Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen and Joe Harris are all listed as doubtful and Jamal Crawford will remain out with his hamstring injury. A whole bunch of Brooklyn players are probably going to end up as good value tonight, tune into the Fast Eddie Fear show leading up to lock this morning to hear how to safely play “Nets roulette” here (maybe “safe” is the wrong word to associate with them, but you get the point).
After defeating the desperate Trail Blazers without Kawhi Leonard Saturday morning, the Clippers will likely rest some of their other “main” guys Sunday. I would expect to see at least Paul George rest, and maybe Marcus Morris joins him. Los Angeles has plenty of youth on their roster than they can let run up and down with this G-League quality Nets roster they face and minimize injury risks to the most important players on a team with title hopes.
Tune into the Fast Eddie Fear livestream (free today!), which will go live at 11 a.m. ET this morning with Eddie and I breaking down Sunday’s seven-game slate, including all the late-breaking news.
