NBA Player News

Mathurin led the Pacers in scoring as Indiana lost Game 5 by 17 points to the Knicks. The 22-year-old played 25 minutes off the bench, by far the most he’s played in these playoffs. Mathurin has scored 43 points in 37 minutes over the last two games. He figures to be involved once again as the Pacers will look to close out the series at home in Game 6 on Saturday.

Johnson was dominant in this game, recording the third triple-double of his career and his first of the season. On top of that, he set new career-highs for points, rebounds, assists and steals while matching his career-high for three-pointers. Usually it’s difficult to say if a game is truly the best of a player’s career, but it doesn’t feel hyperbolic to say that for Johnson. He started to break out last season, but shoulder injuries cut his year short. Now, he’s healthy enough to put the league on notice, and the absence of Trae Young (knee) has allowed Johnson to see a bump in usage. With Young likely still a few weeks away from returning, Johnson will continue to run the show in Atlanta, which should lead to more elite production from him. What will be interesting to see is how this team adjusts to Young’s return; the Hawks have the second-best defensive rating in the league in the month of November and have won four in a row without him.

Markkanen got off to a scorching-hot start to this game, scoring 25 points in just the first half. He was still effective after the break as well, but it wasn’t enough for the Jazz to get the win. It has been an excellent year for Markkanen, which has been great to see after a disappointing 2024-25 campaign. After a dramatic dip in scoring and shooting percentage, Markkanen is back to playing at an All-Star level. This 40-point performance was the second time he has eclipsed that threshold this season, with the first coming in his season-best 51-point night in October. Utah is likely heading back to the lottery, but Markkanen’s early success is a good thing for the future of the Jazz. Whether he’s used as a trade piece to bring back more draft capital or to help them turn into a competitive team next season, Markkanen playing well and increasing his trade value will help the Jazz long term.

With Kristaps Porzingis (rest) sitting out the second night of the Hawks’ back-to-back, Okongwu got the starting nod, as expected. What wasn’t expected was how effective he’d be from deep. He shattered his previous career-high for triples and set a new career-high for points as well. Okongwu has improved as a deep-range shooter throughout his career, but the strides he has taken this year can’t be understated; he’s averaging 1.6 three-pointers per game this year, which is more than double what he averaged last year. OO is developing into a true stretch five, which makes him and the Hawks even more dangerous. He’s at his best in the box score when Porzingis isn’t available, but the two centers have been able to share the floor at times this year as well. Okongwu will continue to be a reliable option in fantasy basketball, regardless of what format you’re playing in. However, he turns into a fantasy superstar when Porzingis is out, which is worth noting since the Hawks have another back-to-back coming up next weekend.

Injuries opened the door for Krejčí to return to the rotation a few games ago, and he made the most of the opportunity. That earned him more playing time, and he’s stayed hot over the last four games. During this stretch, he is averaging 19 points and 4.8 three-pointers per game while shooting 63.4 percent from the floor. Until Trae Young (knee) is back, Krejčí appears to be worth rostering in deeper formats and is making a push to be a standard-league option.

Two days after scoring 20 points for the first time in his career, Bailey surpassed that mark, setting a new career-high for a second straight game. The No. 5 overall pick last summer, Bailey’s career got off to a slow start, but he’s really starting to figure things out. Currently rostered in just 28 percent of Yahoo! leagues, Bailey’s starting spot feels secure, so he should be worth rostering for the rest of the season.

Nurkić had some turnover issues, but he was able to have a dominant night in the box score. This was his second straight double-double and a new season-high for both assists and steals. Nurkić seems to be locked in as the starting center in Utah for now, and he played 28 minutes in this game, while Kyle Filipowski played 18 minutes and Kevin Love played 15. This type of performance won’t come consistently, but Nurkić is a must-roster player at this point.

After a few rough performances, Booker was able to get back on track in this game. He opened the year by scoring at least 30 points in five of his first six games but entered this game having scored fewer than 30 points i four straight. Booker led Phoenix in scoring in a dominant win over the Pacers, which pushed their win streak to five games. He’ll look to wrap up the week with another strong night against the Hawks on Sunday.

Brooks did most of his work in the first half, and he entered the break with 24 points, which was a career-best for any half for him. That led to a new season-high for scoring, even if it felt like it was going to be a bigger night. The lopsided score limited him to 28 minutes, so perhaps it could’ve been a bigger night if the game was closer. This was a strong game, but don’t expect this to be the norm for Brooks moving forward.

Grayson Allen (quad) didn’t return for the second half of this game, which allowed Gillespie to start the third quarter in his place. Gillespie had already been producing well as a reserve, but if Allen remains out beyond this game, Gillespie will quickly become a must-roster player. This wasn’t his best performance, but he has been solid off the bench this year. Gillespie is currently available in 84 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

Nick Richards got the starting nod in place of Mark Williams, who sat out the second leg of the back-to-back. However, Ighodaro was way more productive off the bench than Richards was as a starter. Williams should be back for the Suns’ next game, but they have another back-to-back on Nov. 28 and 29, which could be another opportunity to stream in Ighodaro.