NBA Player News

Capela had six blocks in the first half alone, putting together a ridiculous encore performance after a career night on Wednesday that included 27 points and a career-high 26 rebounds. He’s now the first Hawks player with a triple-double including blocks since Dikembe Mutombo accomplished the feat in 2000. Teammate John Collins summed it up nicely, saying after Wednesday’s performance, "[Capela] is beasting down there right now. No other way to put it.” He’s grabbed double-digit rebounds in 12 straight games and the Hawks clearly aren’t worried about his workload, playing him monster minutes and both ends of a recent back-to-back. Fantasy managers are laughing all the way to the bank.

Collins will miss his second straight contest on Thursday while George will miss his third. Clarkson is new to the injury report after appearing in five straight games. Micah Potter and Svi Mykhailiuk are among the players who could get spot starts. Isaiah Collier has a chance to take on a larger reserve role.

Sarr and Coulibaly will return from one-game absences on Thursday. Carrington, on the other hand, hasn’t missed a game in his first NBA campaign. The Wizards’ rotation should return to how it’s run without Kyle Kuzma so far this season.

Sabonis has been dealing with an illness and is in danger of missing Thursday’s game. Trey Lyles started in the two games Sabonis has missed this season and will be in for a larger workload if he misses a third.

DFS appears to be set to return from a two-game layoff on Thursday. The Nets forward should reclaim his role as a starter ahead of the weekend should he suit up.

Walter has been a key part of the rotation as of late and has started in a handful of games since late November. The Raptors wing’s absence could open up space for Jamison Battle to contribute a little more off the bench.

Buzelis is set to miss just his second game of the season on Thursday. The rookie wing’s absence shouldn’t have a major effect on the rotation, but Julian Phillips could find some extra minutes.

Ball missed his team’s matchup against the Bucks earlier this week and is now set to miss a second consecutive game. The Bulls guard’s availability isn’t likely to affect Chicago’s regular rotation.

Beal tied Kevin Durant for team-high and game-high scoring marks, though Beal was the more efficient shooter, going 11-of-21 in the win. Beal is averaging just over 18 points per game for the second straight season, but he’s gone for at least 20 points in three straight while picking up the slack for the injured Devin Booker. Expect Beal to continue shooting and scoring more frequently for as long as Booker is sidelined.

KD couldn’t find his rhythm offensively on Wednesday, but he impacted the game in other ways and still tied Bradley Beal for team lead in points thanks to a perfect 9-of-9 performance from the charity stripe. Durant and Beal did the heavy lifting for a Phoenix team missing Devin Booker, and the pair combined for 47 of the Suns’ 88 shot attempts in this one. Durant gets another home matchup on Friday when the Suns host the Mavs, where he’ll look for a more efficient performance.

Jokic is averaging a career-high 30.9 points per game, but he didn’t reach the 30-point mark after doing so in Monday’s victory over Phoenix at home. Jokic still led his team in scoring and rebounds, but he failed to make much of an impact as a facilitator, which is an area in which he typically excels. Jokic’s rebounds and assists have been a bit unpredictable as of late, but he can still stuff the stat sheet better than nearly every other player in the Association. He’ll need to be at his best against the Cavaliers on Friday if he hopes to get his team back in the win column.