There are three teams on a back-to-back situation tonight, but none play before 8:30 p.m. ET. That could add a layer of difficulty. 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 11 games for NBA DFS and a lot of ground to cover on a large slate.
NBA Injury Report & Starting Lineups Today | Nov. 3
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
Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings
Portland Trail Blazers at Cleveland Cavaliers
Trail Blazers – None
Cavaliers – Kevin Love, Isaac Okoro – Out
Judging by this past game, the loss of Love and Okoro together has condensed the Cleveland rotation down to seven players. Cedi Osman played 20 minutes and Ricky Rubio played 24, leaving every other starting member of the team to log at least 35 minutes. The usage is really split up as no player has a higher rate than 26.8% for Collin Sexton and the fantasy points per minute all sit between 0.87 (Evan Mobley) and 1.05 (Lauri Markkanen).
Running the starters this many minutes might not be sustainable for the season, but all Cleveland players hold some appeal considering Portland is 19th in defensive rating and eighth in pace. The Trail Blazers are also going to have their hands full defending the front court duo of Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
Toronto Raptors at Washington Wizards
Raptors – Pascal Siakam – IR
Scottie Barnes – Out
It is almost always wise to be cautious with players coming off a career game like OG Anunoby is, having scored 36 points in the last game. With Barnes out, both Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr. played at least 41 minutes, and it is tough to get that amount of court time in regular season games. The leader right now is Jayson Tatum at 38.7 minutes and the Celtics have been involved in multiple overtime games.
With Barnes off the court, Anunoby leads the Raptors in minutes and has a 28.1% usage with 1.18 fantasy points per minute. He is still pushing $8,000 on DraftKings which is hard to swallow. Trent is the path of least resistance is Trent, and he still took 22 shots in the past game. Fred VanVleet also will continue to run the offense and he was pushing 40 minutes as well with 0.95 fantasy points per minutes. That sounds subpar until his 38.1% true shooting rate is noted.
Wizards – Thomas Bryant – IR
Rui Hachimura, Davis Bertans – Out
The Wizards are mostly status quo as Hachimura has not logged a minute yet. The addition to the NBA Injury Report is Bertans, who was playing around 16 minutes per night. Additionally, he had a 15.8% usage and just 0.61 fantasy points per minute. Deni Avdija is a candidate to see a few more minutes, but it is not a fantasy-relevant role if everyone is active for Washington.
New York Knicks at Indiana Pacers
Knicks – Nerlens Noel, Taj Gibson – Questionable
Noel has not played yet, and Gibson missed time at the start of the season and in those couple of games, Obi Toppin played 28 and 23 minutes. He has managed to rack up 0.95 fantasy points per minute and he is extremely cheap. Toppin is also not guaranteed to see any major minutes since the Knicks run their starters so much.
Pacers – T.J. Warren – IR
Jeremy Lamb – Out
Malcolm Brogdon – Questionable
The official listing on the NBA Injury Report is questionable but Brogdon himself is saying he is ready to play tonight. That really leaves the Pacers in an interesting spot for fantasy. Brogdon and Caris LeVert have not shared to court together this year and that dynamic only has 403 minutes from last season. When those two shared the floor with Domantas Sabonis, they all had a usage over 22% with LeVert leading at 25.6%. This trio also all exceeded 1.01 fantasy points per minute and Sabonis led in that category at 1.25. LeVert is still building up his minutes but all three could bite into each other just enough to make all three a little pricey on DraftKings.
Boston Celtics at Orlando Magic
Celtics – None
Magic – Markelle Fultz, Michael Carter-Williams – IR
Gary Harris – Questionable
Harris has been on and off the NBA Injury Report but has not played a large role for this young Magic team.
Chicago Bulls at Philadelphia 76ers
Bulls – Coby White, Patrick Williams – IR
76ers – Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons, Danny Green – Out
It will be interesting to see the Sixers starting lineup. With Green now out, we could well see Georges Niang enter the starting five as he was the direct sub for Green, or they could elect to go Matisse Thybulle. The guess in Niang but either way, there are a ton of shots available. He took 16 shots last game and the same goes for Seth Curry. Yes, Joel Embiid is back but the 76ers are still down three starters. Furkan Korkmaz likely continues to start as well with Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Curry, and the last spot that is likely Niang.
The usage and fantasy points per minute are a little tough to decipher here. Niang, Korkmaz, and Shake Milton look great with usage rates over 22% but these players are on the second unit. The 76ers are going to be mixing quite a bit in this game and the Bulls are top-six in defensive rating. The starting lineup should be in before lock to react to, but Philadelphia is approaching Milwaukee status of missing starting caliber players.
Atlanta Hawks at Brooklyn Nets
Hawks – Bogdan Bogdanovic, Trae Young – Probable
John Collins – Questionable
Collins played over 31 minutes so perhaps there is not a lot of concern here. However, they play both tonight and tomorrow night which could change the calculus. If they sit Collins tonight, Danilo Gallinari or Gorgui Dieng would be in the running for the starting spot. Dieng has the most minutes without Collins on the floor to this point but the matchup against the Nets might be a better fit for Gallinari’s skill set. It is only 13 attempts, but Gallinari has shot 46.2% from 3-point distance. He is also only averaging 16 minutes thus far so the afternoon update for Collins is important.
Nets – Kyrie Irving, Nic Claxton – Out
The loss of Claxton is a relatively big deal because it makes it even more difficult for the Nets to guard the paint and it just so happens that Hawks center Clint Capela just played 33 minutes, a season-high. Capela is already 11th in paint points scored and Brooklyn is dead last in paint points allowed. He is also seventh in paint touches total, averaging almost 17 rebounding chances per game, and Capela is in one of the best spots he can find himself in. The Nets could try Blake Griffin or LaMarcus Aldridge to defend him, but there is a reason they are last in paint points allowed.
Denver Nuggets at Memphis Grizzlies
Nuggets – Jamal Murray – IR
Grizzlies – Dillon Brooks – Out
This has been the constant state of the NBA Injury Report for both teams and does not have any new effects.
Los Angeles Clippers at Minnesota Timberwolves
Clippers – Kawhi Leonard – IR
Serge Ibaka, Marcus Morris, Sr. – Out
This version of the Clippers has been steady for the past few games so there is not much of a shift. Nicolas Batum managed to find a ceiling in the last game as he shot 50% from 3-point distance but more importantly, he is continuing to log big minutes. It has also brought some extra work to Luke Kennard since he has been playing at least 30 minutes in the past three games. Both are nearly identical in fantasy points per minute at 0.86 for Batum and 0.84 for Kennard. With Paul George and Reggie Jackson both having a usage of at least 25%, there is not a huge amount left for anyone else. It is a solid spot to target Batum and Kennard since the Timberwolves allow the eighth-highest frequency of 3-point attempts at 44.2%.
Timberwolves – D’Angelo Russell – Out
Patrick Beverly – Questionable
Russell is a big loss for this team and that means even more work for Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. They both are at a 30% usage or higher and Towns sits at 1.40 fantasy points per minute while Edwards is at 1.20. Malik Beasley could be popular as well because while he may not break the slate, his $4,100 salary on DraftKings is just too low. He cleared 30 minutes last game so even if he does not start, he is going to play a ton and shoot plenty. He took a season-high 16 field goal attempts and has 0.95 fantasy points per minute with a 48.8% true shooting rate.
Russell left after the second quarter in the past game and Jordan McLaughlin played in that spot right away, accumulating 20 minutes. However, the usage at 10.8% and the 0.77 fantasy points per minute are not super appealing. It seems like Beverley could be a bigger loss, but his true shooting rate is 80% and his usage matches McLaughlin.
Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs
Mavericks – Not Yet Submitted
Last night saw Kristaps Porzingis and Maxi Kleber sit out and it is possible both could be healthy and ready to go tonight. If both remain out, Dwight Powell is a salary saver at just $3,800 on DraftKings and he played 25 minutes last night with 23 DraftKings points to show for it. This situation will be one that needs update with the afternoon NBA Injury Report.
Spurs – Doug McDermott – Questionable
McDermott could make it back after missing a couple of games but is not a player to go out of the way to jam into the lineup. The usage is under 15% and the fantasy points per minute is just 0.63 so that speaks for itself.
Charlotte Hornets at Golden State Warriors
Hornets – None
Warriors – Klay Thompson, James Wiseman – IR
Nothing of significance is on the NBA Injury Report for these teams, just a fascinating late night hammer for the slate with both teams sitting in the top-five in pace.
New Orleans Pelicans at Sacramento Kings
Pelicans – Not Yet Submitted
New Orleans played in Phoenix last night and were missing Zion Williamson as they have all year and Brandon Ingram. The latter player told the TNT broadcast that his hip issue is just going to be a matter of pain tolerance, and it might be around for a little bit. If that is the case and he is not ready yet, Jonas Valanciunas stands out once again since he is under $9,000 on DraftKings. There should be little concern about the minutes as he has played 32 and 33 minutes in back-to-back games earlier. Sacramento has held their own in the paint as far as points go at seventh fewest, but they are 28th in paint rebounds allowed.
Josh Hart should be popular as well since he is back in the starting lineup, and he is under $5,000 to play 30 minutes. Herb Jones was injured last night and New Orleans could be short-handed in a major way tonight.
Kings – Not Yet Submitted
The Kings played in Utah last night and had no injuries to report. Unless something changes, that would be the expectation for today’s version of the NBA Injury Report.
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