Aaron Nesmith (hamstring) probable vs. Brooklyn

Making his first appearance since October 23, Murray played a reserve role on Sunday. After playing stints of six, four and five minutes in the first three quarters, the Kings forward played the last 7:46 of the fourth quarter. Murray took a hard fall during the second quarter when he landed on his upper back after a Bobby Portis shot fake got him in the air, but he did not require any attention on the Kings’ bench. As Murray’s minutes increase, Precious Achiuwa (7/14/2/1 with one block) will likely see his minutes decrease after logging 36 minutes on Sunday.

LaVine shot the ball well on Sunday, but the playing time was an eye-opener. He played 25 minutes against the Heat and did not return after being subbed out with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter. The Kings made no injury announcement, and LaVine was called for one foul, so foul trouble couldn’t have been the reason. Kings head coach Doug Christie played Darius Acuff Jr. and Malik Monk (9/2/3/1) in the backcourt for the entire fourth quarter, which left no room for LaVine. That’s something for fantasy managers to watch moving forward.

Against one of the NBA’s better perimeter defenders, Miami’s Davion Mitchell, Acuff posted one of the best stat lines of his rookie season on Sunday. Shooting over 50 percent from the field, the Kings guard recorded his second 30-point double-double. While Acuff recorded five turnovers, he did a good job navigating the two-man game throughout Sunday’s defeat. The Kings play three games next week, starting with the Magic on Tuesday.

Playing against the franchise that selected him in the first round of the 2021 draft, Mitchell had one of his best games of the season on Sunday. In addition to recording his sixth double-double of the season, “Off Night” matched his season high with 11 assists. Rostered in 82 percent of Yahoo leagues, Mitchell’s fantasy value exceeds his ADP by a significant margin, and that may not change anytime soon.

After a slow start to the season, Adebayo has scored at least 18 points in three straight and six of Miami’s last seven games. Against the Kings, he did most of his damage in the first half, recording a 16/5/2/2 line while shooting 6-of-9 from the field. In the second half, Adebayo took a back seat to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Klay Thompson, who combined to score 29 points. The Heat play three games next week, starting with the Jazz on Tuesday.

Apparently, all Thompson needed to gain some semblance of consistency was to hit the road. He’s scored at least 19 points in three of the first four games of Miami’s five-game road trip, which concludes on Tuesday against the Jazz. On Sunday, Thompson shot 7-of-13 from beyond the arc, the third time this season he’s made at least that many triples in a game. Klay remains mainly a points and three-pointers option in fantasy leagues, but his assists and blocks were also solid against the Kings.

While Giannis had a brutal night at the foul line, fantasy managers rostering the Heat forward know they’ll likely have to punt on free-throw percentage. Against the Kings, he made up for the poor night at the foul line with excellent shooting from the field and big numbers in rebounds, steals and blocks. The Heat play three games in Week 4, starting with the Jazz on Tuesday in the final game of Miami’s road trip.

Fears continues to spread his wings as the Pelicans’ point guard, scoring at least 19 points in three straight games and in five of his last six appearances. What’s especially encouraging for those rostering the second-year guard is that the return of Dejounte Murray (6/3/3 in 28 minutes) has not led to a decrease in production. Fears’ current fantasy value sits just outside the top-100, but that will change if he continues to play as he has over the last week.

After shooting 12-of-28 from the field in his prior three appearances, Murphy made over 50 percent of his shots on Sunday. Add in the rebounds, assists and three-pointers, and this was a good finish to Week 3 for the Pelicans forward. The 26 points matched Murphy’s season high, and he’ll look to build on this effort when the Pelicans begin a four-game Week 4 on Monday against the Warriors.

Williamson produced excellent percentages in his final game of the week, much to the delight of those rostering him in category leagues. Unfortunately, the production outside of the points and percentages was pretty lean in the Pelicans’ 139-123 defeat. That said, over three weeks, Williamson’s production has exceeded his ADP (69) by a safe distance. The hope is that he can avoid the extended absence that has been a common occurrence throughout his NBA career.