NBA Player News

Initially questionable for Tuesday’s game, George has been upgraded to available. With Utah having its usual point guard in the fold, Isaiah Collier and Walter Clayton Jr. will miss out on increased playing time.

While Murray will have plenty of opportunities to completely takeover the Nuggets offense with Nikola Jokic (knee) out for the next month, the 28-year-old point guard just had a different running mate Wednesday. It was Peyton Watson who stepped up with 24 points in Jokic’s absence. Murray still came through in the clutch with a layup with 13 seconds left to put the Nuggets up three. The Nuggets will be back in action Friday against the Cavaliers.

Sharpe struggled with his efficiency on Wednesday, tallying nearly as many missed shots as he had points — zero made three-pointers, and limited production from the free-throw line led to the fourth-year guard’s lowest points total of December. He’s struggled as a scorer against OKC in the three matchups with them this season, but fortunately for Sharpe’s fantasy managers, Portland and OKC won’t face each other again this regular season. He’ll shift his focus to Friday’s game against the Pelicans.

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.