NBA Player News

After a few years of mediocrity, Boucher has been an excellent source of offense off the bench for Toronto this season. It hasn’t come consistently, but he has had some productive scoring nights, with his 22 in this game being his second-highest total this year. Boucher isn’t a player to rely on in standard leagues, since he has had plenty of unproductive games this season. His numbers have been hit or miss all season, but with a four-game week coming up, he may have a small amount of streaming appeal.

Malcolm Brogdon exited this game early with a foot injury, which opened the door for Kyshawn George (1/3/1/1 in 27 minutes) to start the second half in his place. However, it was Butler that ended up stepping up his production. He set a new season-high for points and had one of his best passing nights of the year. Butler’s role has been inconsistent this season, and his production in this game was entirely dependent on the absence of Brogdon, Jordan Poole and Bilal Coulibaly. He played well, but Butler can be left on the waiver wire.

This was only the fifth game that LaMelo has played in since the end of November, and it was his first back after a three-game absence. He struggled with his shot and had one of his worst assist outputs of the season. Ball has been an elite player in fantasy basketball once again this season, and he is averaging career-highs in both points and 3-pointers. They have four games next week, starting with a home game against the Suns on Tuesday.

Allen has once again been a top-40 player in 9-cat leagues this season, though his numbers haven’t been consistent. This game was one of his stronger performances of the season, and he didn’t miss a shot until the fourth quarter. His blocks have been down this season, but he has at least one in five straight games, which ties his longest streak of the season. They have two days off before the Thunder come to town on Wednesday, which will be a matchup of the two hottest teams in the league.

The Jazz played this game without four of their top five scoring options, and while Sensabaugh didn’t get the start, he was the one that stepped up on the offensive end. He led the team in scoring and now has 61 points and 12 threes over the last 24 hours. Sensabaugh was drafted because of his scoring and shooting ability, and while the opportunity hasn’t been there often during his first year and a half in Utah, it was on full display this weekend. We’ll see if he’ll have the chance to keep it going against the Hawks on Tuesday.

With Jalen Suggs (back) sidelined, Anthony slid into the starting unit for the first time this season. Anthony Black (back) returned to the lineup after a three-game absence, but Jamahl Mosley opted against putting him in the game. That allowed Anthony to log 28 minutes, though he wasn’t able to have a big night. In fact, after dishing out a season-high 11 assists in their last game, Anthony failed to record an assist in this game despite getting the start at point guard. Anthony has had a couple of strong performances this season, especially with their recent injury issues. However, he has largely been ineffective in fantasy basketball.

It has been a horrible season for Kuzma, and the lack of availability has only made things worse. However, this was his second straight start after he came off the bench in his first two games following a rib sprain. He was able to set a new season-high for points and make more than 50% of his shots for a third straight game after reaching that mark just three times prior to his length absence. Kuzma’s value this season is still terrible in comparison to previous years, but he is starting to pick things up.

The injury woes continue to plague the Pelicans, and Murphy is just the latest one that they may have to deal with. Murphy still played enough to make a huge impact for fantasy managers, but there is certainly a chance that he ends up missing time, especially with a back-to-back coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday. Brandon Boston Jr. entered the game when Murphy came out late in the third, and there is a chance that he replaces Murphy in the starting lineup if he misses a game. This isn’t the same ankle that he injured a few weeks ago, which could be seen as a positive.

The Pelicans’ two matchups with Washington this season came over the course of a three-day stretch. During that, McCollum was able to score 75 points while hitting 16 threes. They didn’t have any answers for him, and while the encore to his 50-point night wasn’t as effective, McCollum still did enough to help the Pelicans win consecutive games for just the second time this season. He has scored at least 20 points in five straight games and will look to keep that streak, as well as the winning streak, going against Minnesota on Tuesday.

Shooting efficiency continues to plague Murray, and he has shot worse than 40% from the floor in five straight games. His 36.5% shooting this season is by far the worst mark of his career, but he was still able to help them get their second straight win. Dejounte recorded his first triple-double as a Pelican, which is something that he has come close to doing multiple times this season. Unfortunately, his fantasy value will continue to be capped by his poor shooting. He’ll look to get back on track on Tuesday with Minnesota coming to town.

Murray will be back after missing their last two games with an ankle issue. However, De’Aaron Fox is sidelined with a glute contusion, which means that Keon Ellis will get another start. Monk and Sabonis should be the primary playmakers in this game.