NBA Player News

Wagner missed both games of Orlando’s Tuesday-Wednesday back-to-back set, but he’s got a chance to suit up for the Magic’s penultimate game of the regular season. If Wagner is unavailable, more minutes should be available for Joe Ingles, Anthony Black and Gary Harris (available).

Porzingis got the start, but only played 23 minutes in his return from offseason surgery. It’s unclear if he would’ve played more minutes if the game was closer. In the 32-point blowout win, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was content to give Neemias Queta 25 minutes off the bench. Still, the early returns on Porzingis were good despite Boston easing him back in minutes-wise.

The Clippers had allowed fewer than 100 points in four straight games, but had no answer for the Celtics offense in this one. In the 2nd quarter, Boston dropped 51 points, which was the highest scoring quarter in the league this year, and tied an NBA record with 12 3-pointers. Tatum only played 30 minutes in the blowout win and there will be more of them to come as the Celtics have reached another level with the return of Kristaps Porzingis.

Averaging a double-double for the season, Johnson has recorded one in three straight and five of his last six games. As valuable as he was in fantasy basketball last season, he’s been a little better through the first month of the 2024-25 campaign. Johnson is ranked just outside the top 25 in 9-cat formats and within the top 20 in 8-cat.

A non-factor for most of this season, Dinwiddie’s name was called early and often on Monday. With Luke Doncic, Klay Thompson, and Quentin Grimes sidelined, he scored a season-high 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Dinwiddie will need another night with those three Mavericks guards sidelined to be worth the streaming risk moving forward.

Once again, Marshall stepped up to provide value to the Mavericks with Luka Doncic sidelined. Over the last week, he’s averaged nearly 21 points per game despite coming off the bench more often than not. Marshall started on Monday and shot 75% from the field. Rostered in 17% of Yahoo leagues, he’s worth streaming until Doncic returns.

Hardy started on Monday, with Luka Doncic, Klay Thompson, and Quentin Grimes sitting out due to injury. And he was terrific, recording a season-high in points and a career-high in steals. The issue for Hardy was turnovers, as he racked up six. However, given the circumstances, fantasy managers who streamed him can’t complain too much. Hardy will be worth streaming if the Mavericks remain shorthanded for Wednesday’s game against the Knicks.

Irving wasn’t guaranteed to play on Monday, as an illness landed him on the injury report. He looked fine once the game started, leading all scorers with 32 points while providing solid value in rebounds, assists, and 3-pointers. Irving will continue to have increased value as a scorer while Luka Doncic sits with a sprained wrist.