NBA Player News

With the top record in the league, Milwaukee didn’t play much of their typical rotation in this game. Leonard recorded his 14th career double-double, with the most recent one before this coming in February of 2020. MarJon Beauchamp scored 10 points in 30 minutes as a starter. Bobby Portis played 18 minutes and scored 16 points, while Jae Crowder put up 13/4/6/2 line in 25 minutes. Lindell Wigginton, Goran Dragic and Thanasis Antetokounmpo also scored in double figures off the bench. The Bucks will have to wait and see how the play-in plays out before knowing who they’ll face in the first round.

With the Nuggets down four starters including Nikola Jokic and facing the Raptors on the road, a clunker of a game would’ve been understandable. Instead, Watson led the Nuggets to victory with 24 points seemingly out of nowhere. The 23-year-old guard is averaging just 10.7 points per game this year. Raptors forward Brandon Ingram even told reporters after the game he didn’t expect Watson to play as well as he did. Still, his scoring isn’t nearly consistent enough to be worth rostering in most fantasy leagues.

Deni Avdija was production on Wednesday fell below his standard. Still, he had a well-rounded performance to end the calendar year, finishing as the Trail Blazers’ leader in rebounds and assists on the night, while tallying the second-most points. Turnovers brought his fantasy production down, however — he had seven of them. But he’ll have a chance to get back on track on Friday in New Orleans against the Pelicans.

Cissoko led all Trail Blazers in scoring despite logging just 27 minutes. The majority of his fantasy value on the night came as a three-point shooter, where he set a new season-high in makes. The third-year guard has consistently played a sizable role for this Blazers team of late. With Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson still out of the lineup due to injuries, there’s a chance Cissoko remains a starter moving forward.

Barnes became the first player in Raptors history to have a game with at least 20 points, at least 14 rebounds and at least 10 assists. It’s his second triple-double in his last three games. Over his last three games, he’s had 50 rebounds. While the 24-year-old small forward is still testing the limits of his game, he’s established himself as one of the best players in all of fantasy basketball this season. The Raptors finish up the week against the Hawks Saturday.

Joe was one of several Thunder players to find success on the offensive end on Wednesday. He, along with six other OKC players, scored in double figures, and he did so in less than 20 minutes off the bench. The sharp-shooting guard did all of his work from beyond the arc and was quiet in all other categories. He doesn’t have much value as a fantasy option, but remains a reliable piece in the Thunder’s nightly rotation.

Trailing by three with 2.7 seconds left, the Raptors fouled Bruce Brown, who promptly missed both free throws. The second free throw was corralled by Scottie Barnes and quickly moved up the floor to Ingram, who appeared to tie the game with a last second three-pointer off the glass. Upon further review, the ball was clearly still in Ingram’s hand when time ran out. The call was overturned and the Raptors fell to 20-15 on the season, but Ingram was a split second away from sending this one to overtime.

In a December full of near-double-doubles, Holmgren was able to collect his second game of at least 10 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday — he needed just 25 minutes to achieve the feat. Yet, what the former Gonzaga Bulldog did defensively was perhaps even more impressive, tallying eight stocks and setting a new season-high in blocked shots in the process. A blowout win prevented him from doing more damage, but he still finished with a productive night from a fantasy basketball standpoint.

The Knicks were 19-0 when leading entering the fourth quarter entering play Wednesday. New York couldn’t hold a nine-point lead against the Spurs, losing 134-132. The final score was closer than it maybe should’ve been, thanks to two threes from Brunson in the game’s last 30 seconds. The Knicks return home Friday for the first game of a back-to-back against the Hawks.

The reigning MVP was limited to 29 minutes of game action, given the wide margin on the scoreboard, but still found a way to register another efficient 30-point outing. He logged his usual production from the charity stripe and did the bulk of his work inside the arc. Gilgeous-Alexander also tied a season-high in steals along the way to help the Thunder secure a third straight win. He finishes 2025 having averaged 30.0 points or better in each of the first three months of the season.

Exhale. While a slight hyperextension in the knee doesn’t sound good, the meat of Charania’s reporting here is that Wembanyama avoided a major injury. That bodes well for the rest of the season, though it’s unclear if Wembanyama will have to miss a game or two later this week. The Spurs have back-to-back games with the Pacers and Trail Blazers on Friday and Saturday.