The amount of chalk last night was something else on DraftKings. At first glance, the pricing is much more competitive tonight with fewer free squares. 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 games total NBA DFS but only five of those games are on the main slate. All games will be a part of the NBA Injury Report so you have all the information.
NBA Injury Report & Starting Lineups Today | Oct. 24
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 back-to-back game:
Memphis Grizzlies
Charlotte Hornets at Brooklyn Nets
Hornets – Terry Rozier – Questionable
The report for Rozier is questionable, but he missed one game and left this past one early. That is not the most encouraging sign for him today. Kelly Oubre started for Rozier in the game he missed. He played 35 minutes in the game he started. The usage rate for him on the season is 20.5% but the Nets are already near the bottom of the league in defensive rating at 26th. These metrics are very unstable early on, but when they are similar to the previous season, they carry more weight. The Nets were 22nd last season, so that is in line with reasonable expectations.
Nets – Kyrie Irving – Out
Brooklyn appears to have all players ready for this contest.
Boston Celtics at Houston Rockets
Celtics – Jaylen Brown –Â Out
Update – Brown is officially out but we are waiting on the Celtics starting lineup. One player that could draw the start in addition to the other options is Payton Pritchard.Â
At least on paper, Boston should be able to handle the Rockets without Brown so this could be a game that Brown sits to be safe. The Celtics saw some turnover form last year and without the players on other teams, Jayson Tatum was unsurprisingly the focal point of the offense. He had a usage rate of 36.7% with 1.36 fantasy points per minute. The assumption would be either Dennis Schroder or Josh Richardson would step into the starting lineup and be the secondary option behind Tatum. There is an argument to be made to play the person who does not start, especially if Schroeder comes off the bench. That would fit his skill set better as he has been a sixth man with multiple teams before this year. It would also allow him to soak up a higher usage rate if he is covering minutes without Tatum. The fact that the Rockets are bottom five in defensive rating and top six in pace is a great mix for fantasy.
Rockets – John Wall – Out
This does not change anything for Houston on the NBA Injury Report since Wall is effectively no longer on the team.
Orlando Magic at New York Knicks
Magic – Chuma Okeke – Out
Michael Carter-Williams, Markelle Fultz – IR
Gary Harris – Questionable
We have yet to see if Jalen Suggs would start if Harris is healthy since the veteran guard has missed both games. He has a usage rate of 28% and will not continue to shoot 22.6% from the field. The other notable aspect from the last game to take was the minutes trending up for both Mo Bamba and Wendell Carter Jr. They both hit 30 minutes in this game and Carter Jr. had only played 19 minutes in the previous game. Bamba saw his minutes jump by seven all the way up to 34. Neither played is above 18.2% in usage rate, but with the Knicks featuring two big men in their lineup (Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson), they could play those minutes once again. Those minutes seemingly came at the expense of R.J. Hampton and Ignas Brazdeikis, who both saw a decrease of at least seven minutes.
Knicks – Nerlens Noel- Doubtful
Taj Gibson – Questionable
Noel being listed as doubtful likely means he misses his third straight game. If Gibson can make it back for this game, he would likely slide right into backup center duties, but the minutes would be in question. The Knicks play their starters at an extreme rate with only seven players averaging over 20 minutes. Gibson is a bit of stretch to play when Obi Toppin has played over 20 minutes in both games with 18% for his usage rate.
Philadelphia 76ers at Oklahoma City Thunder
76ers – Joel Embiid – Questionable
Andre Drummond – Doubtful
Ben Simmons, Shake Milton – Out
Embiid could be the biggest name in the NBA Injury Report. Drummond will likely sit and Embiid has to be slightly worrisome at this point. He is averaging under 30 minutes, and this is a long season. The 76ers should be able to beat the Thunder without him, in theory. This team simply cannot afford to lose Embiid for a long period with everything else going on. If Embiid sits, the candidates to replace him in the lineup would likely be Matisse Thybulle or Georges Niang. Charles Bassey would be in the discussion, but he has two minutes of NBA experience under his belt. The Thunder are not the biggest team in the league in the traditional sense so Philadelphia may not feel the need to start a center.
The sample size from last season is only about 40 minutes but with Embiid, Milton, and Simmons off the court, Tobias Harris had a usage rate of 33.7% and 1.27 fantasy points per minute. Not to be outdone, Tyrese Maxey had a usage rate of 29.3% and a 1.32 fantasy points per minute so these two would be very appealing if Embiid does sit. They are not priced correctly for that scenario.
Thunder – None
Golden State Warriors at Sacramento Kings
Warriors – Klay Thompson, James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga – Out
Andre Iguodala – Out
Update –Â Iguodala has been ruled out officially.
Kuminga is getting closer to his debut as he has been cleared for practices but is still around a week away from playing, at least. This is a game that everyone will want a piece of and Iguodala could wind up being an important player in the NBA Injury Report. His absence could open more minutes for Otto Porter who has only played about 15 minutes per game. Porter has a 40.2% field goal percentage from 3-point range in his career and he just has not found a groove with the Warriors yet. The Kings are once again starting out at the bottom of the league in defensive rating and are ninth in pace, in line with last season. Additionally, the Kings have allowed almost 40 attempts per game from 3.
Kings – Moe Harkless – Questionable
Harkless does not have a giant role on this team but one noteworthy player that came out of the previous game was rookie Davion Mitchell. The DraftKings score does not catch the eye, but he played 32 minutes including the entire fourth quarter. The Kings went small even though they were playing the Jazz and Rudy Gobert. That is intriguing, even though he is not getting the attention other rookies are at this point. The Warriors are a better fit to play small against.
Memphis Grizzlies at Los Angeles Lakers
Grizzlies – Dillon Brooks – Out
Brooks will be out for a bit longer and this is mostly to remind everyone that Memphis played last night.
Lakers – Wayne Ellington, Kendrick Nunn, Trevor Ariza, Talen Horton-Tucker – Out
The Lakers have had the same NBA Injury Report since the season tipped off and the only player that has worked himself into fantasy relevance is Carmelo Anthony. So far, Kent Bazemore starts but has not exceeded 13 DraftKings points in either game with 12% as the usage rate. Anthony has a 19% usage rate and can still hit from 3-point distance, going 6-10 to start the year.
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