Los Angeles

Lakers

James wasn’t as productive as he was in Thursday’s loss to the Magic, a game in which he scored 13 in the fourth quarter alone. Denver had dominated the series with the Lakers in recent years, and Saturday was no different, with the visitors taking over in the third quarter. James and the Lakers will look to bounce back when they visit the Suns on Tuesday, the first of four games in Week 6.

After scoring 19 points on 50% shooting in a November 15 win over San Antonio, Reaves endured a three-game stretch in which he shot 12-of-41 from the field. While Saturday’s game did not produce the result Reaves and the Lakers hoped for, his snapping out of his shooting funk is one positive aspect of the defeat.

While Davis has been able to put up gaudy stat lines in most of his meetings with Nikola Jokic, that was not the case on Saturday. Not only were the 14 points a season-low for the Unibrow, but this was also his first game failing to score at least 20. Davis is too good of a player not to bounce back immediately, so the Suns should be on high alert ahead of Tuesday’s meeting in Phoenix.

While Knecht’s minutes did not suffer much with Rui Hachimura returning, his scoring opportunities did. Sharing the court with the Lakers’ second unit is far different from being able to play off of LeBron James and Anthony Davis for longer stretches, as Knecht did while Hachimura was sidelined. JJ Redick made an adjustment during Saturday’s game: sub in the rookie earlier in the third quarter, but that shift did not significantly impact Knecht or the Lakers. Fantasy managers should hold onto Knecht but keep an eye on the minutes.

Hachimura was back in the Lakers’ lineup after missing four games with a sprained ankle. The minutes should increase as he shakes off the rust, and the 3-point shooting (2-of-4) was encouraging. While Hachimura is ranked outside the top 100 in 9-cat formats, he’s played well enough to merit being rostered in 47% of Yahoo leagues. The Lakers play four games in Week 6, beginning with a Tuesday/Wednesday back-to-back.

Hood-Schifino remains sidelined, and his absence does not impact the Lakers’ rotation or fantasy basketball.

Initially probable for Saturday’s game, this was the expected outcome for Davis. He’ll be in the starting lineup opposite Denver’s Nikola Jokic.

Hachimura is back after missing four games with a sprained ankle and will reclaim his place in the starting lineup. With Reddish retaining his spot due to the need for defense, rookie Dalton Knecht will come off the bench. However, the Lakers want to make better use of Knecht than they did earlier in the season, so managers who have him rostered should not pull the plug.

Hood-Schifino’s continued absence will not have an impact on fantasy hoops or the team’s rotation.

Bronny’s continued absence will not impact the team’s rotation or fantasy hoops.