NBA Player News

Ayton’s continued absence means Donovan Clingan stays in the starting lineup. Also impacted is Duop Reath, who should play backup center minutes with Robert Williams sitting out the second game of the back-to-back.

Williamson led his team in scoring and dimes and tied for team on the glass. Phoenix’s interior defense got crushed, allowing 50 boards and 58 paint points, and Williamson took full advantage of the defensive lapses. The assists tie a career-high, and Williamson now has a triple-double under his belt. He’s best known for his scoring and rebounds, but Williamson has averaged better than 4.6 assists for the last three seasons. The Pels get the Suns for a rematch on Friday for the second leg of a back-to-back set.

Brown, who signed a 10-day contract with Dallas on February 19, made his third appearance and first start for the Mavericks on Thursday. He didn’t provide much value in his first two games, but he was a streaming superstar on a night with only five games. Brown split the center minutes with Dwight Powell, who contributed six points, six rebounds and three assists in 16 minutes off the bench. Brown may be worth streaming against the Bucks on Saturday, unless he isn’t brought back on a second 10-day deal.

Marshall entered the starting lineup on Thursday in place of PJ Washington, who was sidelined with an ankle injury. Marshall has generally been productive as a starter this season, but he struggled to get any shot to go down on Thursday. Still, he was able to provide some solid value in rebounds and assists, though that was the extent of his contributions to fantasy managers in this game. If Washington remains out against the Bucks on Saturday, Marshall should start again and hopefully have a more productive night offensively.

To make room for Nance’s roster spot, Milwaukee waived Liam Robbins. Nance was on a two-way deal with the 76ers earlier in the season but was waived a few weeks prior to this. He’ll likely spend most of his time in the G-League.

Braun made his 11th consecutive start on Thursday and delivered his third double-double in that span. Over those 11 games, he’s been locked in with averages of nearly 18 points, seven boards, three dimes and nearly 1.5 steals. Braun is ranked inside the top 65 in per-game fantasy value on the season, but he’s jumped into the top 40 over the last month.

Carter Jr. continues to start at center for the Magic, but it hasn’t resulted in a massive leap in production. He has been solid on the glass, but it hasn’t come consistently; he has grabbed double digit rebounds in three of his last five starts. Carter Jr. remains the best fantasy center in Orlando, but neither he nor Goga Bitadze has provided standard league in recent weeks. Carter Jr. ranks just inside the top-150 in nine-cat leagues over the past two weeks.

Lopez finished behind only Giannis Antetokounmpo for the team lead in scoring and field goal attempts. He made only seven of his 16 shots, but he got to the line with ease and cashed seven of eight from the charity stripe. Lopez finishes February with a scoring average just north of 15 points per game. He’ll look to carry that momentum into Saturday’s tilt with Dallas’ skeleton crew frontcourt.

Per usual, Wagner and Paolo Banchero were the main sources of offense for Orlando. They combined to score 68 of Orlando’s 115 points, which wasn’t enough to counter Stephen Curry’s 56 points. Wagner has had a spectacular season, though he has been quieter in recent weeks. That can likely be attributed to sharing the ball and court with Banchero. Wagner ranks just outside the top-75 in nine-cat leagues over the last two weeks, which is a far drop from his season-long value, which is just outside the top-25.

Antetokounmpo logged 32 minutes for the third straight game, and this was easily his best performance since returning from the All-Star break. Though he continues to nurse a calf injury, Antetokounmpo is clearly getting back to game speed, as evidenced by his dominant showing against Nikola Jokic and Co. The Bucks’ next game is Saturday against a depleted Mavericks frontcourt, and Giannis could be in line for another huge showing.

That makes 27 triple-doubles through 53 games. With 23 games left on the schedule, Jokic is just five away from breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s single-season record for triple-doubles by a center. Joker is also on pace to become the first center to average at least 10 assists for an entire season. Jokic will need to be at his best on Friday when the Nuggets visit a red-hot Pistons team that has reeled off eight straight wins.