Daily Fantasy NBA News and Injury Updates - 12/16/17

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Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert left Friday night's game against Boston after a collision, Favors is questionable for tonight's game against the Cavaliers, while Gobert is unlikely to play.
Early on in Friday night's game against the Celtics, Favors rolled onto Gobert's leg, and both had to leave the game. Favors passed concussion testing and should be fine to start tonight. If he does start it will likely be at center as Gobert suffered an MCL sprain, and word is he will miss about a month. Favors was fantastic starting for Gobert when he missed several games last month with an injury to his other knee, and will be a solid play if starting at the five once again, since his price has dropped drastically in the time since Gobert has returned. In addition, Jonas Jerebko would likely slide into the starting power forward spot once again and also be a valuable play.

Austin Rivers missed last night's game with a concussion, while Milos Teodosic was rested, and Danilo Gallinari remained out for a third straight game for the ailing Clippers.
Rivers suffered a concussion on Wednesday in Orlando, and was not cleared for return last night, so his chances for tonight are looking slim. Jawun Evans was fantastic at the point with him and Milos Teodosic both sidelined paying over 10X PPD in 40 minutes. Teodosic was rested as he is still working his way back from a foot injury, but should be good to go tonight, which could cut into Evans value against the Heat. Gallo meanwhile is considered a game-time decision after missing his third straight last night due to a strained hip. The general feeling is the team is going to play cautious with the situation so don't look for Gallinari to rush back to action too quick, and consider him unlikely to go tonight.

Kawhi Leonard will be rested on the tail end of the Spurs back to back set tonight.
Leonard saw 16 minutes in his second game, but of course San Antonio doesn't want to over work the quad so they will sit him tonight as they host the Mavericks. This will move Rudy Gay back to the starting role and make him an attractive play at the three.

Steven Adams has been ruled out with a concussion tonight.
Adams apparently suffered a concussion at some point in the Thunders triple OT win against Philly last night and will be ruled out until he clears protocol.

Dennis Smith Jr. remains out during the Mavs current road trip.
Smith has missed four straight games now with a strained hip. He did not travel with the team to Golden State and will not join them tonight in San Antonio. Yogi Ferrell, J.J. Barea, and Devin Harris have all benefitted from Smith Jr's absence in the Dallas back court.

Chandler Parsons has been ruled out to rest while Tyreke Evans is listed as questionable.
The Grizzlies will allow Parsons his typical rest day being on the tail end of a back to back set. Evans came into Friday night's game questionable after missing out on Wednesday's game due to his nagging hip but eventually suited up and saw 29 minutes and had a pretty good night. He is listed as questionable yet again, and if he is unable to play, look to Andrew Harrison to step up in his place.

What We're Waiting to Know

Kristaps Porzingis remains questionable for tonight's game against the Thunder.
Zinger may miss out on 'Melo's return to MSG after leaving Thursday's game early with knee discomfort. The team hasn't been forthcoming on the matter so far, so we can expect word on his status for tonight following shoot around. Look for Michael Beasley to see increased usage if Kristaps needs a night off.

Tyson Chandler is considered questionable for tonight's game against the Timberwolves after missing Wednesdays game due to a personal matter.
Chandler missed Wednesday's game for a personal matter and has been away from the team, if he rejoins the team in Minnesota tonight he is in a nice spot as a cheap center play, otherwise you can consider Greg Monroe who has been impressive in his starting opportunities since joining the Suns.

Every Lineup Guys

Rudy Gay FD - $5900 DK - $5900
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 25.61 DK - 25.5
We've got a different player appearing in the top 25 lineups being churned out by our optimizer depending on the site you're on, so we'll break each one down here though both are solid plays on both DraftKings, and FanDuel. Appearing in the top FanDuel lines we find Rudy Gay. Gay will start tonight for the still recovering Kawhi Leonard, who will sit out the second half of the Spurs back to back set as they host Dallas. It's a solid matchup for Gay who prior to last night's game in Houston where he only saw 17 minutes, was rolling along nicely with six straight double digit scoring performances, including a 21 points in 26 minutes contest against this same Mavericks team in Dallas on Tuesday. The Mavericks are terrible at defending the three and over their last five games have allowed the most fantasy points to the position, 57.2. He ended that game paying 6.35X PPD and could easily duplicate that performance tonight.

James Johnson FD - $6500 DK - $6000
Opponent - LAC
Proj Pts FD - 35.81 DK - 35.94
Our top lineup guy on DraftKings was spotlighted in tonight's picks article as a solid play at the power forward position, and our system is still loving him as he appears in all of our top DK lineups, James Johnson of the Heat. Justise Winslow and Hassan Whiteside each remain out leaving Miami thin in the front court They're going to throw a ton of minutes and usage Johnson's way, and he is ready to receive. Over his last four games Johnson has averaged 33 minutes per game and scored in double digits in each game with one double double. Last night he dominated against the Hornets for nearly 6X PPD and tonight he gets a similarly bad defense in the form of the Clippers who are allowing 22 points and 11 rebounds per game to opposing PF's. The price has gone up a bit on Johnson in the short term, but he's still at a point where he is well within play for the run he should receive tonight in a perfect matchup.

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