NBA Injury Report & Starting Lineups Today

The NBA Injury Report is already very busy and it is not even game day yet. It’s a slate that could be missing a lot of big names.. With this article, the work of the other staff members and the amazing NBA DFS projections, those scenarios can be handled much more easily. That allows for pivoting at the drop of a hat, and the NBA Starting Lineup page is an extremely important tool as well. There are six total games for NBA DFS and that includes five games on the main slate and a showdown slate in the early evening.

NBA Injury Report & Starting Lineups Today | Nov. 5

Remember to always place players from the later games in guard, forward and utility slots on DraftKings. Allow maximum flexibility to react to the news that comes out after lock, which will happen in NBA. Additionally, take advantage of the wealth of Awesemo NBA content to get ready for these slates.

Teams Playing the Second of a Back-to-Back

Portland Trail Blazers

Houston Rockets at Denver Nuggets

Rockets – Daniel Theis – Questionable

Theis has missed the past two games and rookie Alperen Sengun has started and played at least 23 minutes in each game. That’s not exactly a huge boost since he averages about 20 per game over the course of the season, and that is notable. When Theis is off the floor, Sengun has a 22.5% usage rate and 1.09 fantasy points per minute. That’s fine, but not spectacular if he’s not seeing extended run.

The star fantasy-wise for the Rockets has been Christian Wood, who has a 26.2% usage rate and 1.41 fantasy points per minute. He also sees a 2.2% usage bump without Theis and early on, he leads the league in points per possession on the isolation play type. He scores 3.4 points per game and Denver is fourth-worst in points per possession. It is fair to note that they haven’t faced that play type at a high frequency, but knowing they haven’t defended it well helps Wood in this matchup.

Nuggets – Jamal Murray – IR

Murray is still a while away from playing again so there is not anything new on the NBA Injury Report for the Nuggets. The reigning MVP Nikola Jokic has 1.77 fantasy points per minute and that has come on just a 30.7% usage rate. He’s second in the league in touches on the season and the matchup against Wood is going to be a fun aspect of this game to watch.

Utah Jazz at Miami Heat

Jazz – Donovan Mitchell, Royce O’Neale – Questionable

O’Neale would appear to be in line to play because he played over 30 minutes in this past game. Perhaps something changes but it’s typically a good sign when a player is on the court for his normal minutes. “Typically” is a key word because that logic backfired with Mitchell last game. He rolled his ankle but played through it only to be ruled out, which was a little surprising. If he’s not quite ready to get back yet, the main three targets are Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, and Joe Ingles but don’t forget Bojan Bogdanovic.

Clarkson has his usage increase to 33.6% and he played about an extra six minutes in this past game. With 1.01 fantasy points per minute with a 48.3% true shooting rate, any extra court time is a very big deal. Ingles entered the starting lineup and even though the usage is down at 13.4%, his DraftKings salary shouldn’t be under $5,000. Conley has stayed stagnant in the sample this year as far as fantasy points per minute and usage. His assist rate is approaching 30% without Mitchell even though he is the most expensive of the bunch. Lastly, even though the sample size is small with only around 40 minutes, the usage for Bogdanovic skyrockets to 30.8%.

What is really interesting is the Miami Heat allow the fourth-most points per game against spot up shooting. Conley (eighth) and Ingles (third) are in the top 10 in points per possession and Bogdanovic is in the top 20 in points per game. Miami is second in defensive rating but some of the advanced metrics favor the style of shots the Jazz are very good at. If Mitchell misses this game, so much for the Jazz open up and three of the four players are under $6,000 on DraftKings.

Heat – Kyle Lowry, KZ Okpala – Questionable

Okpala is not relevant for fantasy but Lowry’s presence on the NBA Injury Report is a big deal. In the game that Lowry has missed this season, Gabe Vincent started and played 25 minutes. If there wasn’t a game log to see that, it may not look like it because he only generated 8.75 DraftKings points. While the defense of Malcolm Brogdon of the Pacers in that game didn’t help his cause, the 11.6% usage rate and 0.66 fantasy points per minute are not the most appealing factors ever. What is kind of odd is Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro don’t see any type of upswing in their metrics when Lowry is off the floor. Herro gets a 1.6% bump but if he’s going to play 40 minutes as he did on Oct. 23, he doesn’t need a big increase.

The player that has shown a negative effect has been Bam Adebayo, with a usage that falls by 3.9%. He also faces a difficult matchup inside the paint in Rudy Gobert. Not only is it just his reputation, Adebayo is 11th in field goal attempts as the roll man in the pick and roll. Gobert has faced the sixth-highest frequency defending that play type and has allowed the lowest points per possession in the league and is holding the opposition to a 9.1% field-goal percentage.

Philadelphia 76ers at Chicago Bulls

76ers – Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons, Matisse Thybulle – Out

Danny Green, Furkan Korkmaz – Questionable

Philadelphia is an adventure for the NBA Injury Report. They were missing Korkmaz and Green in the last game and only six players saw the court for more than 17 minutes. With Thybulle out, Green or Korkmaz are sorely needed and even though Chicago has been excellent with a top-five defensive rating, these minutes on the court override any poor matchup. Shake Milton jumps off the page as far as his $4,500 salary on DraftKings because his minutes restriction is gone and he has a 23.6% usage rate and 1.06 fantasy points per minute when Harris is off the floor.

Tyrese Maxey only has 0.78 fantasy points per minute but if he’s going to play 44 minutes, he has to be considered. Even when Thybulle was logging heavy minutes, Georges Niang was off the bench as well with over 30 in the past two games. The bottom line is any active 76ers player not named Andre Drummond (provided Joel Embiid plays) or Paul Reed is in the running to be played. Seven or eight man rotations are fantasy gold mines typically because for most player, minutes equal fantasy points.

Bulls – Patrick Williams, Coby White – IR

The Bulls are the same as they have been on the NBA Injury Report and Zach LaVine continues to play through a ligament issue in his non-shooting hand. DeMar DeRozan has been excellent for his new team so far but he’s fourth in points from drives to the basket. Embiid awaits him on the style of play and Philadelphia is first in points allowed in the paint, making it a possibly very poor spot for DeRozan.

Boston Celtics at Dallas Mavericks

Celtics – Jaylen Brown – Out

Josh Richardson – Questionable

Brown will be out for the Celtics tonight and Jayson Tatum is going to be a popular target, and it’s easy to see why. His usage without Brown is 35.8% and his fantasy points per minute is 1.17 on just a 48.7% true shooting rate. Tatum has not found his groove yet and is shooting 37.3% from the floor and his favored play type reflects those struggles. Tatum has taken the second-most field goal attempts in isolation (likely to go higher without Brown) and is shooting an abysmal 29% on those attempts. To this point in the season, the Dallas defense wouldn’t suggest he’ll break that slump tonight. They have allowed the second-lowest field goal percentage at 30% and they are tied for the fourth-most field goals faced per game.

Al Horford feels a little expensive on DraftKings at $7,600 but his 1.42 fantasy points per minute so far leads the team by a significant amount. He and Dennis Schroeder both have a usage rate of at least 23% and would be the clear secondary targets form this team. Horford is the one that has a favorable play type behind him because he is tied for seventh in points per game on post-ups while Dallas is tied for the second-most points allowed on that play type. They have also defended a post-up the sixth most in the league so far.

Mavericks – Maxi Kleber – Out

Kristaps Porzingis, Reggie Bullock – Questionable

Bullock is listed as questionable on the official version of the NBA Injury Report but coach Jason Kidd says he’s going to play. As far as Porzingis, he practiced on Friday and it would seem he’s ready to return to the lineup. He has played right about 80 minutes this season and has 1.01 fantasy points per minute and a 28.3% usage rate.

Having said that, it’s a large leap of faith to pay $7,500 on DraftKings for a player that has struggled with his health and has been inactive for over a week. One would think that Porzingis would have a negative impact on Jalen Brunson, but his usage and fantasy points per minute are almost the same with or without Porzingis on the floor.

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Atlanta Hawks at Phoenix Suns

Hawks – John Collins – Questionable

Bogdan Bogdanovic – Probable

Collins has been a mainstay on the NBA Injury Report with a foot strain but has not yet missed a game. The minutes haven’t reflected much of an injury either since he has played at least 30 in each of the past three contests. The play type data would point to a dynamic matchup for Collins and Clint Capela in the pick and roll game. Phoenix is dead last in points allowed to the roll man in the pick and roll, while Collins and Capela are both in the top 12 among starters in points per possession as the roll man. Collins himself is 12th in points and both men shoot an identical 62.5% in the play type. Trae Young is second in the league as the pick and roll ball handler, so the opportunity is palpable. All three of these player have a fantasy points per minute of at least 1.04.

Suns – Cameron Payne – Questionable

Payne has not yet made it back from his injury but would just slot in as the backup to Chris Paul. This side of the game also features an amazing matchup for the pick and roll, since Paul leads the league in frequency as the ball handler. Deandre Ayton is sixth in points per game in that play type and Atlanta is fifth-worst in allowing points to the roll man. Since he has missed a game and didn’t blow up when he returned, his DraftKings salary is just $6,500 and that could be a massive bargain. Ayton’s 1.15 fantasy points per minute is third on the team behind Paul and Devin Booker.

Los Angles Lakers at Portland Trail Blazers

Lakers – LeBron James, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, Trevor Ariza- Out

Anthony Davis – Questionable

Dwight Howard – Probable

Davis suffered a thumb injury in the past game and he missed the start of the second half, scaring about 40% of the field because he’s Anthony Davis. It wouldn’t be the first time Davis heading into the locker room burned DFS players. The sample sizes without LeBron and Davis on the court are hard to trust because only Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, and Malik Monk have played over 35 minutes. Westbrook is unsurprisingly off the charts with a 42.3% usage rate and 1.75 fantasy pointe per minute. Even at $10,900 on DraftKings, that would be difficult to ignore. If Davis plays, both he and Westbrook are over 1.50 fantasy points per minute and Davis represent he easier path since he’s $400 cheaper on DraftKings.

The starting lineup could be volatile as well if Davis were to miss. Anthony would be a candidate and he played 31 minutes this past game. He also had a path to 18 shots and the Trail Blazers are in the bottom-eight in defensive rating and allow the seventh-highest frequency of 3-point attempts allowed. Anthony is still shooting a ridiculous 52.% from 3-point distance and if the shot is falling, he could smash his DraftKings salary of $5,800. Avery Bradley played 31 minutes this past game without James and could do so again, but 0.55 fantasy points per minute is tough to get behind.

Trail Blazers – Not Yet Submitted

Portland was the lone team that played last night so the official version is not available yet. They were healthy last night so unless there is a change, they could be all systems go.

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