NBA Player News

Risacher reached double figures for the fourth time in five games on Saturday, although he didn’t offer much value outside of the points and blocked shots. And there was added clarity on De’Andre Hunter’s status, as he’s expected to return sometime next week. Risacher won’t fall out of the rotation, but his fantasy value will take a hit once Hunter returns.

Williams absolutely dominated this game, and it showed up in the box score. He set a new season-high for scoring and stuffed the stat sheet in their second game without a true center in the starting unit. JDub has practically been the team’s center, and he should retain that role for the foreseeable future. Williams has provided first-round value so far this season, and that will stick if he continues to put up numbers like he has over their last two games. He is in the midst of a breakout season and has turned into one of the premier players in fantasy basketball.

Lopez stepped up in a wild overtime game against the Pistons. Without Damian Lillard in the lineup, Lopez knocked down five 3-pointers on his way to 29 points. He and Giannis Antetokounmpo combined for 88 of the Bucks’ 127 points. Lopez was also a force on the defensive end with three steals and five blocks. He was -8 in 40 minutes in the seven-point victory. Lopez and the Bucks will get a few days off before taking on the Hornets Saturday.

Giannis had a massive game with 59 points that included 16-of-17 made free throws and a 3-pointer to give the Bucks and eight-point lead in overtime. With Damian Lillard still sidelined, Giannis and Brook Lopez led the way for the Bucks as the pair combined for 88 of the Bucks’ 127 points. Giannis was +7 in 44 minutes including overtime in the seven-point win. Milwaukee will have a couple days off before taking on the Hornets on Saturday.

For the second straight game, Boston Jr. had a poor shooting night. For the second straight game, Boston Jr. found other ways to contribute in the box score. The turnovers were bad, but without a true point guard healthy, the playmaking fell on Boston Jr. and Brandon Ingram against one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. That helps justify things, and the other numbers were still helpful. He’s rostered in just 39% of leagues and should continue to provide strong numbers due to the amount of injuries they’re dealing with.

It wasn’t a dominant stat line, but Missi met the minimum requirement to post a double-double. This was his second straight after recording the first of his career two nights prior to this. Missi is rostered in just 17% of Yahoo leagues, but he should be locked in as the team’s starting center for the remainder of the season. He’s starting to figure things out, and there should be a lot more double-doubles in his future. As those happen, his 9-cat value will only rise.

With the injuries that New Orleans is dealing with, this is basically the BI show, with only a few supporting actors that casual fans will recognize. Unfortunately, ratings haven’t been good with Ingram as the star of the show. Sure, he’s still putting up some decent numbers, but those have been accompanied by poor shooting and turnovers. In the three games since Zion went down, BI is averaging 17.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.7 assists amd 2.3 triples, though that has come along with 38.9% shooting and 6.0 turnovers per game. The team has also lost all three of those games and scored exactly 88 points in two of those. This spin-off of the main show hasn’t gone well, but there isn’t anything they can do other than simply wait for the other stars to get healthy.

Oubre Jr. was efficient with 20 points on 14 shots. He made 2-of-5 attempts from behind the 3-point line and was 2-of-2 from the free throw line. With he 76ers shorthanded, Oubre Jr. figured to take on an increased scoring role. While he did to some degree, he ultimately took a backseat to Jared McCain. Philadelphia plays again on Friday against the Magic.