NBA Player News

Curry and Waters are available after the Warriors initially listed them as questionable for Monday’s game. While Curry’s place within the rotation is well-known, that isn’t the case for Waters. He started Friday’s win over Memphis, the game in which he was injured, but the Warriors have multiple options to start next to Curry. If Waters gets another start, he’s only worth a look in deep leagues.

Hart was able to play 40 minutes on Sunday after missing New York’s first two games after the All-Star break, while Towns injured his knee in Sunday’s game, though he was able to return to finish the game. However, both players participating in practice is a good sign for their status for Wednesday’s game against the 76ers. If something changes, Precious Achiuwa and Miles McBride would both see a boost in minutes.

Head coach Jamahl Mosley did say that Suggs was able to do some running, though that is the same update that he provided after practice last Tuesday. Suggs has already been ruled out for a 13th straight game on Tuesday, and he has missed 23 of Orlando’s last 24 games, though he was previously dealing with a back injury. There doesn’t seem to be a clear timeline for Suggs to return to the lineup. Cole Anthony and Anthony Black will continue to fill the point guard minutes with Suggs sidelined.

Simons hasn’t been consistent this season, but when his shot is falling, he is able to make a big impact in the box score. This was the third time in Portland’s last four games that Simons had at least 25 points and three three-pointers. Portland has won two games in a row, and Monday’s win was the first of seven straight on the road. Their next two games are in Washington and Brooklyn, but they also have games in Cleveland, Boston and Oklahoma City. Simons will have some favorable matchups and some incredibly difficult matchups over the next two weeks.

Though it wasn’t an efficient shooting night for Avdija, he was still able to make a big impact in the box score. Avdija’s field-goal percentage has dropped off from last season, but it has gradually improved over the course of the year. He made at least 60 percent of his shots in Portland’s first two games after the All-Star break, but he regressed in Monday’s win. Still, he was able to tie his season-high for rebounds and provide value with his assists. This was the first of seven straight road games for Portland, which includes three more games this week.

Grant’s first two games after the All-Star break were abysmal on the offensive end, but he was able to figure things out on Monday. Grant scored a total of 11 points on 18.2 percent shooting during Portland’s last two games, and while he didn’t have an incredible shooting performance, it was a massive improvement. His five triples were the most that he has had in a game since he hit a season-high eight three-pointers in December. Grant will be a difficult player to rely on in fantasy as Portland likely shifts their focus to the lottery down the stretch of the season.

With the Kings trading De’Aaron Fox to the Spurs, fantasy managers likely hoped Monk’s fantasy value would increase. Unfortunately, the opposite has happened, and the combination of poor shooting and turnovers has much to do with that. Since February 5, Monk has shot 39.2 percent from the field and averaged 3.5 turnovers per game. The good news is that the latter hasn’t damaged Monk’s eight-cat value much, as he has been a seventh-round player since the trade. However, the Kings guard has provided 12th-round value in nine-cat formats since February 5. Monk hit double digits in assists for the fourth time this season on Monday, but he was also responsible for five turnovers. Managers who aren’t punting that category will hope he can clean up the turnovers.

Sensabaugh started a second-straight game for Utah with Jordan Clarkson sidelined, and this one went much better than the first. After scoring just 12 points as a starter on Saturday, Sensabaugh had his highest-scoring performance since early January. Sensabaugh has shown plenty of flashes as perimeter scorer since entering the league, but they haven’t come consistently. The Jazz will be in contention for the top pick, so managers should expect more games like this for the rest of the season to help improve their lottery odds. That should mean more nights like this from Sensabaugh.

Filipowski got the start at center for the shorthanded Jazz in a matchup with another team that is likely bound for the lottery. Filipowski did his job. He showed plenty of upside, but it wasn’t enough for Utah to win. He has had a 20-point double-double in each of his last two starts, but Filipowski was able to add more production in other areas in this game. As the season progresses, Utah will likely lean harder into tank mode, which will lead to more starts for Filipowski.

After going off for an efficient 34 points in Friday’s loss to the Warriors, DeRozan cooled off on Monday. However, an 8-of-8 night at the charity stripe ensured the final point total wasn’t too far removed from his season average of 22.1. Since former Bulls teammate Zach LaVine made his Kings debut on February 5, DeRozan has been a top-25 player in nine-cat formats. While Domantas Sabonis (seven points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in 27 minutes) has seen his fantasy value take a hit, that has not been the case for Deebo.

This was a rough shooting night for George, but he nearly came up big late to help Utah get the win. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and hit a pair of three-pointers with less than 15 seconds left. George nearly hit a third at the buzzer that would’ve won the game for the Jazz. Overall, George’s production was limited by inefficient shooting, but he nearly overshadowed that with some late game heroics. George had been on fire in Utah’s first two games after the All-Star break, and he’ll look to get back to that against Sacramento on Wednesday.