Daily Fantasy NBA News and Injury Updates - 3/11/18

There's been a lot of late-breaking news as we head towards the main slate of Sunday night daily fantasy basketball action. DFSR has all the latest you need to know before locking in your lineups. Don't forget to check our top plays here, broken down by our own James Davis.

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What We Know

James Harden has been ruled out for Houston.
The beard is dealing with a sore knee and has been ruled out for tonight's game against the Mavericks. Eric Gordon becomes a fantastic play with Harden out, and Chris Paul who we will touch on more in a bit becomes a top option on the slate.

Dennis Smith Jr. will play tonight following a one-game absence.
DSJ sat out Saturday's win over Memphis with a quadriceps injury, and the day off seemed to help as he will return to action tonight as the Mavericks welcome the Rockets to town. Smith will likely return to the starting rotation which will send J.J. Barea back to the bench and cut into both his and Yogi Ferrell's implied value.

Rodney Hood is out for tonight's game in L.A.
Hood is dealing with a lower back injury suffered Friday night against the Clippers. J.R. Smith, Kyle Korver, and Jeff Green could all see added time in Hood's absence, though Smith, who saw 34 minutes Friday following Hood's departure and ended the night with over 30FP draws the majority of my attention here, with some consideration for Green. In addition to Hood, Tristan Thompson remains out with an ankle injury that has held him out of three games already. This will continue to make Larry Nance an attractive option starting in Thompson's place. In the last three games, Nance has averaged 42.6 FDP in 32.3 minutes per game.

Brandon Ingram is out for the Lakers tonight.
Ingram will miss his fifth straight contest tonight with a groin injury. During his absence, Kyle Kuzma has seen an increase in workload averaging nearly 38 minutes per game and though his price has risen significantly in the short term, he is still worth considering in a strong matchup against a bottom five Cleveland defense.

Jaylen Brown is out with a concussion.
Brown will miss tonight's game against the Pacers while he works back from a concussion suffered Thursday in Minnesota. During his absence, Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier could each see an increase in workload. The last time Brown missed time was late December when he missed a pair of games, and Smart drew the starts seeing 34 minutes in each game.

Al Horford has been ruled out for the Celtics.
Horford is dealing with an illness that will keep him sidelined against the Pacers tonight. Aron Baynes will start in Horford's spot and will see increased usage with Daniel Theis and Greg Monroe, who will likely hold the highest upside.

Every Lineup Guys

Chris Paul FD - $8200 DK - $7800
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 40.75 DK - 41.28
James Harden has been ruled out tonight, and with that our NBA lineup optimizer loves Chris Paul against the Mavericks. Chris Paul sees his usage jump from 25.1 to 31.2% with Harden off the court per NBAWowy.com. Paul will be looking to bounce back tonight following a quiet outing against the Raptors on Friday in which Houston saw their win streak finally come to an end. Houston comes in a 10 point favorite tonight in a game with a projected total of 213 and much of the Houston offensive attack will now fall on Paul with the beard out of commision. The Mavericks are average defending against the point, ranked 16th overall, and even with DSJ back in the lineup they will have little hope of stopping CP3.

Joel Embiid FD - $9400 DK - $9500
Opponent - BKN
Proj Pts FD - 51.13 DK - 54.14
The Process heads north to Brooklyn tonight where Joel Embiid and the Sixers take on the Nets. Embiid is an excellent play tonight against the leagues absolute worst defense at defending against the position in a game with a combined 101.3 pace factor and a 219 O/U. JoJo's price has dipped significantly since the All-Star break, below $10K on both sites for the first time since late November and though he's been riding a run of subpar fantasy outings to open up the month, he should have little trouble getting back on track against a terrible Brooklyn defense that has little hopes of containing him with the likes of Jarrett Allen, RHJ, and Qunicy Acy. The position doesn't offer a whole lot to like after Embiid especially now with Horford ruled out, so be sure to trust the process tonight.

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