NBA Player News

Sengun popped up on the injury report as questionable with a calf injury Wednesday night ahead of the Rockets’ Christmas Day matchup with the Lakers. If the 23-year-old center can’t go, it’ll be bad news for Houston. Steven Adams and Clint Capela would handle the center minutes for the Rockets.

Murray made three three-pointers against the Kings, but even more impressive was his consistent mid-range game. The 25-year-old small forward was 3-of-5 from behind the three-point line and 6-of-12 from inside it. Murray didn’t get much help from his teammates, though, as the Kings lost by 27. He’s scored at least 20 points for just the second time in his last 13 games. Murray will look to keep the hot hand going against the Bucks on Sunday.

Westbrook passed Oscar Robertson to become the highest scoring point guard in the history of the NBA with 26,711 points. The 37-year-old point guard also has the most rebounds of any point guard in league history as well as field goals made. Westbrook has had an incredible career and can still play at a high level. He averaged 16.2 points per game, 7.5 assists per game and 5.8 rebounds per game in December. The Kings conclude the week with a game against the Bucks on Sunday.

Williams bounced back after scoring just two points in 24 minutes in Wednesday’s loss to the Cavaliers. The 24-year-old center had 15 points and nine rebounds in 22 minutes in the win over the Kings. It’s likely Williams would’ve played a few more minutes if the game was closer. He’s provided fifth-round per game value over the last two weeks.

Gillespie continues to be one of the best surprises of the season. The 26-year-old shooting guard has established himself as a key member of the Suns’ lineup, contributing points, rebounds, assists, steals, threes and field goal percentage. Gillespie is 15th overall in per game value over the last two weeks. While his rise has mostly happened with Grayson Allen (knee) out of the lineup, don’t expect much to change with Gillespie upon Allen’s eventual return.

Booker’s lone three of the game came in the first quarter, when he put the Kings’ Drew Eubanks on skates and hit a step-back three-pointer. The 29-year-old shooting guard has scored 87 points over his last three games while making only four three-pointers. While it’s a testament to Booker’s scoring ability that he can have that many points without many threes, his 30 percent three-point shooting percentage this year would be a career-low. He’s provided seventh-round per game value over the last two weeks. Booker and the Suns close out the week against the Thunder on Sunday.

Black continued to display his improved scoring with 18 points against the Bulls on Friday. The 21-year-old shooting guard averaged 18.9 points per game in the month of December. Black has been a revelation for the Magic this year and remains one of their best fantasy options regardless of whether he starts or comes off the bench.

While Yves Missi was the choice to replace the injured Derik Queen in the Pelicans’ starting lineup on Friday, all three bigs who logged rotation minutes provided value. Matković was the most productive scorer, and the four defensive contributions didn’t hurt, either. Meanwhile, Missi (5/3/2/1/3 in 21 minutes) also had four defensive contributions while Kevon Looney (4/12/2/1/1 in 24 minutes) hit double figures in rebounds for the second straight game. While none are significant streaming options, Missi has been the best this season when given more minutes.

With New Orleans missing Trey Murphy and Herb Jones, Poole made his fifth start of the season and first since November 4 on Friday. Eleven of the guard’s 16 shot attempts came from beyond the arc, and Poole led the Pelicans in assists. Despite barely hanging onto a top-150 spot in eight-cat formats, Poole is rostered in 85 percent of Yahoo! leagues. Simply put, many of those managers are rooting for him to take on a more prominent role, which may not be possible in New Orleans.

Banchero continues to carry the offense with Franz Wagner out. The 23-year-old power forward has 84 points over his last three games. Unfortunately for the Magic, Banchero’s 31 points weren’t nearly enough as the game was out of reach late for the Magic. Orlando will have a chance to get back in the win column Sunday against the Pacers.

After totaling nine points on 4-of-13 shooting in his two previous appearances, Fears had a far better night offensively on Friday. Inconsistent scoring has been an issue for the rookie over the past two-plus weeks, with Fears averaging 10.1 points per game on 38.7 percent shooting. His fantasy value is ranked well outside the top-200 during this period, with Fears’ role as New Orleans’ starting point guard being why he’s still rostered in 16 percent of Yahoo! leagues.