NBA Player News

Johnson has been playing a significant role since December, but Monday’s performance was one of his best in a while. This was his highest-scoring night since he had 25 points on February 5, and it was only his third game with at least 20 points in March. The 23-year-old has shown some flashes of upside throughout the season, and he should continue to play a significant role for the rest of this season. However, it remains to be seen if he has the potential to be more than the beneficiary of a tanking team in Brooklyn.

Alexander-Walker is dealing with a low back strain. The Hawks suddenly have a long list of injuries with Trae Young, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kennard already ruled out and Jalen Johnson questionable as well as Alexander-Walker. Expect Dyson Daniels to handle to ball quite a bit here and Keaton Wallace could see additional minutes if Alexander-Walker is ruled out.

Porzingis had 17 points on 16 shots in Friday’s loss to the Raptors, but made his presence known with four blocked shots on the defensive end. The 30-year-old center has been a top-50 player in nine-category leagues so far this year. Without Porzingis on Saturday, it’s likely the Hawks turn to Onyeka Okongwu to get the start.

Johnson is dealing with a right quad contusion. While he’s questionable, the Hawks are going to need him to play to have any chance against the Lakers with Trae Young and Kristaps Porzingis already ruled out. Johnson has taken his fantasy production up a notch since Young went down with the injury.

Poeltl had 12 points and 10 rebounds in the Raptors’ 109-97 victory over the Hawks on Friday night. The 30-year-old center will sit out the second game of the back-to-back. Poeltl missed a game last week with a back injury and Collin Murray-Boyles and Sandro Mamukelashvii handled the center duties in his absence.

Dosunmu missed Tuesday’s game against the 76ers with a quad injury. The 25-year-old shooting guard returned Friday night against the Bucks and had seven points and three assists in 20 minutes. The Bulls want to avoid giving Dosunmu heavy minutes while he’s still dealing with the quad injury and that lowers his fantasy ceiling.

Middleton had four points in 22 minutes in the loss to the Cavaliers on Friday, but he’ll sit out the second game of the back-to-back. The 34-year-old small forward’s absence won’t impact fantasy basketball as much as it’ll impact the Wizards’ overall depth with Bilal Coulibaly (leg) out and Kyshawn George (illness) questionable.

George missed Friday’s game against the Cavaliers with an illness and his questionable listing has his status up in the air for Saturday. Bub Carrington and Tre Johnson could end up playing a lot if George is ultimately ruled out in addition to Bilal Coulibaly (leg), who is set to miss another game.

Coulibaly left Wednesday’s game against the Celtics with a leg injury and then missed Friday’s game against the Cavaliers. The 21-year-old shooting guard is set to miss another game Saturday against the Mavericks. Bub Carrington and Tre Johnson will continue to pick up minutes in his absence.

DeRozan was limited to 29 minutes on Friday in the blowout loss to OKC. In his minutes, he shot efficiently and logged more three-point makes against the Thunder than he had combined prior to Friday’s contest. Still, the veteran scorer finished with fewer than 20 points and had minimal impact as a facilitator or defender. Aside from his contributions from beyond the arc, there wasn’t much for fantasy managers to get excited about.

LaVine returned from a one-game absence on Friday but struggled to make much of a positive impact. In the blowout loss, he totaled 29 minutes and attempted just five shots. He was efficient on his limited looks, but scored in single digits for the first time all season. LaVine will have a chance to knock off the rust and bounce back on Sunday against a Timberwolves team that has won three of its last four games.