Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) goes in for a dunk against the Chicago Bulls during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Chicago, on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015. (AP Photo/Jeff Haynes)
Welcome to the daily updates and injury news article. We'll try and update it right up to line-up locks with as much information as comes across our desks. Let's get to it!
Last night's picks can be found here, so you can wrap your mind around what you need to be looking at before lineups lock tonight.
By the way - we keep our projection system updated with all of the changes as they occur throughout the day right up until lineup lock. Every day. If you want access to that system so you can cut out a lot of the research element, click the button below!
Waiters has missed three games already with a sprained left ankle and has not traveled to Boston with the Heat for tonight's game against the Celtics. Hassan Whiteside tweaked his ankle thursday night, but said it was nothing to worry over and is confirmed to play tonight.
Anderson rolled his ankle Friday against New Orleans, and is currently day to day. Erik Gordon will draw the start in his place, he and Sam Dekker both should see some added usage.
Jah has missed three of his last 4 due to a sore right knee. Richaun Holmes will draw the start at the 5 for the Sixers again and is a viable option in all formats this evening against the Pacers. Robert Covington and T.J. McConnell both also see a slight bump in usage with Okafor off the court making both considerations as well.
Garrett Temple and Skal Labissiere will be the starting forwards with Willie Caulie-Stein moving over to center. WCS is the only King who has seen some semblance of consistent minutes since the All Star Break, but Labassiere has been known to flash upside for his value price when presented with additional usage.
Reddick was ruled out of today's tilt with the Kings due to a sprained right ankle. Rivers will start in his place and along with Chris Paul becomes an interesting play, as they both see at least a 2.2% bump in usage with Reddick off the court since the break. This game has a 13 point spread, but if the Kings find a way to keep it competitive, Rivers and Paul stand to see huge upside as the kings are notable poor defending against opposing guards.
Bradley was hospitalized with a stomach virus Friday night for Bostons contest with Phoenix and is still battling the bug with his status for tonight uncertain. Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart would continue to see added usage if he misses again.
Ingram was pulled early from Friday nights game against Minnesota with tendinitis in his right knee. The Lakers plan to update his status following shoot around.
Boogie missed morning shoot around with a tweaked ankle and is considered a GTD for tonight's game in Denver. Should he sit this one out, Dante Cunningham would likely move in to the starting rotation and would see a sizable usage bump along with Solomon Hill.
Gasol is suffering from a foot strain and is currently looking unlikely to suit up tonight for the Grizzlies contest with Golden State. Brandan Wright would likely see additional minutes and usage if Gasol does sit this one out.
Since the FanDuel Main Slate encompasses the 3:30 and 6:00 games, and DraftKings main begins with the 6:00 games, I'm giving you 2 players for each main slate here.
It's a wild west showdown at 3:30 with the Thunder traveling in to Houston to take on the Rockets. The system loves Russell Westbrook now that his FanDuel price has dropped back below 13k. These are two of the top ten fastest teams in the Association, and that's evidenced by the projected Vegas total of 231, the highest total on the day. Sure, the Rockets are a top ten defense against opposing point guards, but this is Russell Westbrook we're talking about. I'm not too scared off by that. In 3 games against the Rockets this season Russ is averaging 55.47FDP good for about 4.5X but on the shorter slate, I expect the usage to be high enough that that is all we need.
In the 6:00 set of games, we have Myles Turner showing up everywhere. He is coming in in each of the top 10 lineups the projection system is putting out for both the FanDuel and DraftKings main slates. The Pacers play host to Philly today, the absolute worst team you can find against opposing big men. I actually would prefer this play even more if Jahlil Okafor were playing, but even against Richaun Holmes and Dario Saric, Turner should have no problem paying value as he has at this price in 5 of his last 6 games. Vegas has this game at a 6.5 spread, but the Sixers tend to find a way to stick around late in to most games, so I'm not too worried about it getting out of hand. Turner is an excellent play in all formats across the industry.
Finally, for the DraftKings main slate, we have Jrue Holiday. The Pelicans point guard has looked very good as of late. In his last 7 outings, he has averaged 15 points, 7.3 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. He's hit at least 1 from beyond the arc in 11 of his last 12 going 4-8 against Houston on Friday, a game in which he paid over 6X his salary. He has exceeded value at this price in 3 of his last 5 games overall. If he keeps performing at this level the price will be sure to continue to rise, so lets lock him in while he's still at a bargain.
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